It turns out that the popular juicy fruit, synonymous with summer, is also a superfood! In fact, they actually contain more vitamin C than an orange. Half-time strawberries, anyone? Think outside the punnet and take advantage of these versatile superheroes. Try them oven-roasted with camembert, with cracked pepper on a pavlova, or go the full provincial and make a few jars of jam. Freeze them, roast them, steal them from the fridge in the dead of night, jam them, cream them, add them to meringue, bake them in tarts – but EAT THEM!
In terms of nutrient value and all-around goodness, these tiny fruits punch well above their weight. Packed with fibre and antioxidants, they serve as a great fat-free, sodium-free and cholesterol-free snack. Vitamin C protects you from free radicals, and B9 helps make new blood cells. Better for you than fish and chips! High nitrate levels mean increased blood and oxygen flow to the muscles, and research suggests that loading up on strawberries before exercising boosts your endurance and burns more calories. Just don’t put them at the bottom of your backpack if you’re going tramping! Still not convinced? The final point is that strawberries are also believed to help reduce the risk of heart disease and certain cancers. Superfood is right!
If you can, make a day trip to a pick-your-own strawberry patch. Who doesn’t love that early morning jaunt to the farm, hiding in the bushes and finding another reason to test just that one more? Finally, gorged and besmeared with strawberry juice from head to toe, it’s time to climb back into the car and transfer some juice to the seats. If for whatever reason, you are unable to eat all your strawberries fresh, they can easily be frozen for consumption any time of year. Just wash well and pat dry, then hull each fruit. Lay them evenly on a paper-lined baking sheet, so they are not touching, and freeze until solid. Then transfer to a freezer-safe resealable bag and keep frozen for up to one year.
Indeed a superfood, and delicious to boot, there are a few other facts worth knowing;
- Strawberries are not actual berries, like blueberries or even grapes. Technically, a berry has its seeds on the inside, and if you’re a botanist, you will see each seed as its own separate fruit.
- In fact, strawberries are members of the rose family, masquerading as a fruit. Should you come upon a bush of them growing, you’ll see; they smell as sweet as they taste.
- The average berry is adorned with some 200 seeds – no wonder it only takes one bite to get them stuck in your teeth!
- The strawberry plant is a perennial. This means if you plant one now, it will come back next year and the following and the year after that. It may not bear fruit immediately, but once it does, it will remain productive for about five years.
- Native Americans ate strawberries long before European settlers arrived. As spring’s first fruit, they were a treat to be eaten freshly picked or baked into cornbread.
- The ancient Romans thought strawberries had medicinal powers and used them to treat diverse complaints ranging from depression to kidney stones, fainting to fever.
- Lastly, for the strawberry fans amongst us, there are whole museums dedicated to strawberries, where you can buy everything from strawberry jam to strawberry beer.
Recipe Inspirations
Peach & Strawberry Galette with Pistachio Frangipane
Scones with Cream & Strawberry Pimm’s Jam
