As strawberry season approaches its last few weeks in India, we’re going to try and savor as much of the delicious fruit as we can. There are elegant, delicious and complex things that can be done with the juicy little berries, but to make the most of the too short strawberry season, we’ve put together a list of the simplest things to do with strawberries so you can enjoy their intense deliciousness with the least amount of time and effort.
Red fruit slushie
Place some cleaned and hulled strawberries in the freezer for a couple of hours. Toss your semi-frozen or frozen strawberries into a blender along with a roughly chopped up apple, cleaned orange segments, (and honestly any fruit you fancy), a splash of orange juice or soda and sugar or honey to taste. Blitz everything together to make a sparkling, thick, ice cold strawberry slushie.
Strawberries and cream The simple yet lush and indulgent dessert, strawberries and cream, can be done two ways. Simply sweeten some fresh cream andadd hulled and sliced strawberries to it and let the two marry beautifully in the refrigerator for a while. Or you could try and whip up some fresh cream, place some lush strawberries in a bowl and artfully slather them with your whipped cream.
Either way, this one is a winner. We’d have this every single day of winter if cream were a zero calorie treat.
If your strawberries are too tart, slice them up, sprinkle them with sugar and let the sugar do its magic. The sugar will sweeten and also bring out the brilliant strawberry flavor.
Strawberry and banana breakfast smoothie
Throw 5-6 hulled strawberries, one banana, 1/2 cup yogurt, 1/2 cup milk and sugar to taste into a blender, blitz it together to make a deliciously satisfying breakfast smoothie that looks as good as it tastes. You can use maple syrup or honey instead of sugar. Add a touch of vanilla extract and your breakfast will taste positively indulgent.
Spinach and strawberry salad
Clean about 2 cups of baby spinach leaves, hull and slice 1 cup of strawberries, and toss these together with some roasted walnuts (we think even smoked almonds might be delicious), a 1/4 cup of crumbled feta, and a dressing of extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a touch of maple syrup or honey. Top this with slices of grilled chicken breast or some beautifully grilled prawns to make yourself a salad that is just bursting with wholesomeness and flavor.
Strawberry Compote
And last, the simplest and handiest strawberry preparation. Hull and slice about 1kg of strawberries. Take 2/3 of the strawberries and place them in a sauce pan along with about 1/2 cup of sugar (more or less according to taste), and 1/2 cup Gran Marnier or a little over a tablespoon of lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 1o minutes till the fruit is soft enough to be pureed into the liquid. Add the remaining slices of sliced strawberries and stir through.
This compote is amazing over pancakes, along with a slice of rich chocolate cake, spooned over a bowl full of yogurt and even stirred into your morning bowl of cereal.
Try these out and make the most of the last of the fabulous strawberries. Until next year!