My first time picking my own berries! I think the last time I had German strawberries I was pretty disappointed and figured that no one could beat California's heirloom varieties, but these proved me wrong! I ended up with about 5 lbs of berries for under 4 euro (so a little over $4)! I can't wait to get more to try out some new recipes. This time around I made strawberry crumb bars (with only one variation: I added 1/2 cup more berries and only used 1/2 cup sugar), and a strawberry balsamic salad.
For the salad, I combined two different recipes: strawberry balsamic salad and Martha Stewart's arugula salad with strawberries. I added a generous tablespoon of balsamic vinegar to the chopped strawberries and let them sit while I made the rest of the salad. For the salad dressing, I used the first recipe but cut the quantity by half because I knew we wouldn't use it all. Also, I didn't want to use up my last 1/2 cup of olive oil! It worked out well—the dressing would work on any kind of salad or even as a marinade.
So here's my recipe (for 2 servings):
Dressing:
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 tablespoon honey
1 small shallot, peeled and chopped*
1 small clove of garlic, peeled
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
*I used a green onion, which was what I had on hand. I think red onion would work also.
Combine all ingredients in a blender until oil is emulsified.
Strawberries:
1 pint (2 cups) chopped berries
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary (optional)
In a medium sized bowl, mix 1 pint (2 cups) of chopped strawberries with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp rosemary, and let sit. (I actually had enough strawberries leftover for lunch the next day—don't skimp on it like I did, it's better with a generous helping.)
Salad:
2-3 cups of arugula
1 handful of chopped almonds
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
Tear or roughly chop arugula and add to salad bowls. Add a teaspoon or two of salad dressing to each bowl. Spoon strawberry mixture on top and add crumbled goat cheese. Finally, sprinkle chopped almonds on top. (It's pretty easy to chop almonds with a very sharp knife. Cup your hand over the nuts while chopping to prevent almonds from flying all over your counter.)
