Hulling season

Get your hullers out, strawberry season has finally arrived. The only fruit with its seeds on the outside, these ripe, juicy, gifts from the Food Gods kick off berry season with a big delicious bang. They're an excellent source of Vitamin C and are a good source of folate, which can reduce serum levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that may increase your risk of heart disease. But most of us don't eat them because they're good for us, we eat them because they taste like summer itself.

When it comes to flavour in the berry world, size doesn't matter. Big or small the flavour has more to do with the variety, weather, and the degree of ripeness when picked. They don't ripen after being plucked from the field so the pressure is on you to choose the best basket possible. Take a good look and go with shiny dark red berries with fresh bright green tops, you'll thank me.

Once you get these gorgeous babies home, the best thing to do is eat them that day. Wash them with the caps on just before serving time, pat dry, hull (chef-speak for removing the green cap) and then add to your favourite recipe or eat as is.

Try one of these ideas:

• toss on top of frozen yogurt
• slice and fold into low fat French vanilla yogurt or, if you live on the razor's edge, fold into whipped cream, I promise never to tell
• sprinkle sliced berries with balsamic vinegar and serve as an upscale dessert
• make a pot of jam
• add to a salad

My favourite way to eat a ripe, delicious strawberry is over the sink while I'm washing them. The season is so short, I indulge as often as possible. And with only 50 calories per cup, I'm laughing. Granted there are more calories when you dip them in melted bittersweet chocolate.

If you have to wait a day or two before tucking in, spread them out on a plate in a single layer and cover. Place in the fridge. They can be stored for up to two days depending on how ripe they were when you got them home. Or freeze them—wash, drain, pat dry, hull, and place on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Place in freezer. Once frozen, remove from the tray, place the individual berries in a freezer bag, and seal. They'll keep for up to six months.

Canadians are always up for a good food festival. Here is a list of strawberry festivals in Ontario. In British Columbia check out the Abbotsford Berry Festival, July 6 and 7. In Newfoundland and Labrador, check out the annual Deer Lake Strawberry Festival,
July 18 to 20

Try this recipe for a main course salad from my best-selling cookbook/nutrition handbook Ultimate Foods for Ultimate Health and don't forget the chocolate! Co-authored with dietician Liz Pearson.

Strawberry and Spinach Salad
Serves 4

I do most of my fruit and vegetable shopping in the spring, summer and fall at my two local farmer's markets. The week the local strawberries arrive, I'm in heaven. You can smell them as you cross the lawn from the parking lot. Nothing beats locally grown produce. I always recommend that you support your local farmers and frequent their markets as often as possible.
   

• 8 cups (2 L) baby spinach
• 24 strawberries — approx. 4 cups (1 L)
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) whole, unblanched almonds, chopped

Dressing

• 2 tbsp. + 2 tsp. (40 ml) extra virgin olive oil or canola oil
• 2 tbsp. + 2 tsp. (40 ml) balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp. (30 ml) dark brown sugar, optional
• 2 tbsp. (30 ml) frozen raspberry concentrate, thawed*
• 1/2 tsp. (2 ml) paprika
• 1/2 tsp. (2 ml) Worcestershire

1. Wash and spin dry the spinach. Store wrapped in a paper towel or clean tea towel in a plastic bag in the fridge until ready to use.

2. Gently wash the strawberries, drain and lay out on a tea towel or paper towels to let dry.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients: olive oil, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar (optional), thawed raspberry concentrate, paprika, and Worcestershire. Set aside until serving time.

4. Hull strawberries and slice. Set aside until serving time.

5. Okay, it's finally serving time. You have two serving choices:

Divide the spinach equally between the four plates, sprinkle equally with the slices strawberries, and then sprinkle with 1/4 of the salad dressing and top with two tbsp.(30 ml) of the chopped almonds.

OR

Toss everything together in a bowl and then divide equally among the four plates.  

Each serving contains:

• 260 calories
• 18 g total fat
• 2 g saturated fat
• 0 g trans fat
• 90 mg sodium
• 20 g carbohydrates
• 6 g fiber
• 5 g protein

*You can find raspberry concentrate in the frozen juice section of your local grocery store. Store thawed concentrate in the fridge for up to two days or cover well and place back in the freezer until the next salad attack. And I do mean cover well, one of the worst clean up jobs I ever had to do was the big sticky disastrous mess that happened after a open container of raspberry concentrate fell out of my fridge onto kitchen floor.