By DiAnn Mills @diannmills
May is National Strawberry month, and my mouth is watering thinking about juicy, red, sweet strawberries. These tasty treasures are packed with vitamin C and lots of other nutrients to help us maintain a healthy body.
The Cleveland Clinic addresses the questions if strawberries are good for us and the reasons to add them to our diet.
As a child, my dad grew strawberries, and I’d eat them right from the garden. Most of us now purchase them from the grocer, farmer’s markets, or roadside stands. I want to encourage you to clean them thoroughly before eating. Foodborne illnesses caused by bacteria, pesticides, mold, and tiny insects have the potential to make us sick. Southern Living offers great ways to clean strawberries. My go-to method is a vinegar solution. I find all my fresh fruits last longer with this cleaning method.
In celebrating strawberry month, what are some of the many ways to eat them?
- Fresh, plump, and washed strawberries! Eat them whole or slice them with other fruit. Dipping strawberries into chocolate, vanilla, peanut butter, yogurt, or whatever appeals to your imagination enhances the flavor.
- Smoothies are a healthy choice, yummy, and packed with body-pleasers.
- Salads are another super way of enjoying strawberries. My favorite is a spinach salad.
- Ice cream topper. I often use a boiled egg slicer to display them.
- Jams, jellies, and preserves allows us to eat them in and out of season. Freezer jam is great on toast, biscuits, pancakes, and ice cream
- Baked goods make my mouth water—pies, cakes, crisps, cobblers, pancakes, waffles, refrigerator bar, and the list goes on.
- Adventuresome? Try balsamic vinegar, especially the flavored varieties.
- Did anyone mention strawberry ice cream? Double dip, of course.
- Top strawberries on oatmeal for an added boast to breakfast.
- When is the last time you bit into a chocolate piece filled with strawberries?
Here are a three of my favorite strawberry recipes.
Strawberry Crisp
Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 1 hr 5 min | Servings: 8
Ingredients:
4 cups halved fresh strawberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cold butter
Butter-flavor cooking spray
2 cups vanilla fat-free ice cream
Directions:
Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 11×7-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.
In medium bowl, toss strawberries, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/3 cup flour, the nutmeg, vanilla and salt. Spoon into baking dish.
In separate medium bowl, mix 1/2 cup flour, the oats, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, the brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut in butter, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives though ingredients in opposite directions), until mixture looks like coarse meal. Sprinkle over berry mixture; spray topping with butter-flavor cooking spray.
Bake 40 minutes or until topping filling is bubbly and is golden. Serve warm with ice cream.
Strawberry-Poppy Seed Vinaigrette
Prep Time: 5 mins | Cook Time: 20 mins | Servings: 1 1/2 cups
Ingredients:
1 cup quartered fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
5 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Directions:
Toss together strawberries, sugar, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a bowl; let stand 15 minutes. Transfer the strawberry mixture to a blender, and process until smooth, about 30 seconds. Turn blender on low, and gradually add olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Return mixture to bowl, and whisk in poppy seeds. Whisk vinaigrette just before serving.
Strawberry-Spinach Salad
Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 15 mins | Servings: 10 serves
Ingredients:
1 small Vidalia onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup light olive oil
3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon plus 2 tsp. granulated sugar
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 (10-oz.) pkg. fresh spinach
1 pound fresh strawberries, stemmed and halved (2 1/2 cups)
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled (about 1 cup)
1 cup chopped candied pecans
Directions:
Process onion, oil, vinegar, sugar, mayonnaise, mustard, and salt in a blender until creamy and smooth, about 50 seconds.
Arrange spinach, strawberries, blue cheese, and pecans on a large platter. Drizzle with dressing.
What ways do you enjoy strawberries?
Comments 24
The Strawberry Spinach salad was fantastic as well as the vinaigrette dressing to go with it. But my favorite was the sSrawberry Poppy Seed vinaigrette dressing. This was wonderful; I made extra to give my daughter. It is our new favorite! The strawberry crisp is the next recipe I will try. Really appreciated these, DiAnn. Love your newsletters. Thank you! 🥰
Kim, I’m so glad! Thank you for getting back to me!
I like strawberries plain, with ice cream, with fruit dip, chocolate covered and in pie or cake. Strawberries are my favorite fruit followed by peaches.
Thanks, Carolyn! Nothing is better than a red, juicy strawberry. Peaches are amazing too!
I had strawberry shortcake with whipped cream on top today.So yummy
Hi Shirley, I think I can taste it!
I love them pretty much in anything but my grandmama made an out of this world strawberry cobbler.
Elizabeth, my mouth is drooling!
Ohhhhh strawberries! I too remember picking them and it was usually pick one eat two. Therefore it took awhile to get a quart. We had fresh strawberries, strawberry rhubarb pie, made jam , strawberry shortcake and just ate them fresh from the garden til the season ended.
Times have certainly changed, cleaning them is so important.
Thank you DiAnn , for the tips and of course, the recipes.
Bless you
Joyce, you hit my button with the mention of strawberry rhubarb pie. Here in Houston, we can’t get the fresh rhubarb that I remember as a kid growing up in Ohio.
These recipes sound fabulous!
Author
Thanks, Edwina! Enjoy!
My mouth is watering! Can you please tell us more about the vinegar solution you use to wash them? Do you use this for other fruits and vegetables as well?
Author
Hi Cindy, very simple and I use it for fruits and veggies: 1 cup of either distilled white vinegar or apple cider vinegar with 4 cups of water. I change the water for each type of fruit or veggie item.
My family picked wild strawberries. We ate some, but my mom used most of them to make strawberry jam. I like strawberries but have to limit how many I eat.
Author
Thanks, Beth. I remember wild strawberries too. Great combo with rhubarb.
I love strawberries. Thank you for the recipes. Have a blessed week! 🙂
Author
Thanks, Melissa, The recipes are good ones – may your week be blessed too!
Strawberries are my favorite fruit. I just had a bowl of them for breakfast . I cannot wait to try your recipe for Strawberry Crisp- Thanks
Author
Thanks, Susan. I had strawberries for breakfast too!
Yum! They all sound delicious.
Author
Thanks, Debbie. Strawberries are a power-packed fruit and yummy!
I’m happy to know May is the best months for strawberries. Now I can make a mad dash to the supermarket for the hunt of those scrumptious berries! I like them anytime anyway!
Thanks for the extra recipes, DiAnn!
Author
Thanks, Barbara. I eat them year around – so good and good for us.