Maybe you, like me, went a did a little strawberry picking this past weekend. And maybe you, like me, pick so so many that now you have an overload of the most perfect, if not slightly too ripe strawberries staring at you, waiting to be eaten or, at the very least, cooked into some magical cake, pie, cookie, or whatever. But lets face it, its Monday and maybe we do not exactly feel the need (or have the time) to make a cake, pie, cookie or whatever tonight. So that leaves us with a crap load of strawberries that need to be dealt with.
And sure, we can freeze them, but maybe you, like me, already have a freezer full of other stuff. And just because we don't want to bake a cake, pie, cookies, or whatever tonight, doesn't mean we don't want something amazingly tasty and fantastic.
So that brings us to this super easy, oh so pretty, and ever so tasty way to move those strawberries….. Stick them in the oven and roast them. So simple and really truly amazing. When strawberries are roasted, they turn so tender and fall apart and release all of their juices that turn into a sweet syrup. They become almost jam like, but the flavors are way better, more complex. And there is no need for added sugar or any other stuff because the flavors and natural sweetness of the roasted strawberries stand on their own.
A few ways to which you might want to use roasted strawberries that will make your life better: Dump onto ice cream, yogurt, or make a strawberry shortcake or a strawberry fool. Scoop onto a green salad, mix into a bowl of quinoa, marinate some tofu, or add to roasted veggies. You can mix into muffin batter, into oatmeal, or add to a layer cake. They make a fantastic PB and J and the syrup in seltzer is a tasty drink. You can pretty much use them for anything. But MY favorite way to consume these…a bowl, a little spoon, and my mouth. Nothing else needed.
And if you didn't happen to go strawberry picking this weekend. It's cool, just pick some up from the closest farm stand near you. You can tell all your anyone thats asks that you picked them yourself. (not a lie, just a stretch cause you did, in fact, pick them up yourself)
Yea for Monday and for roasted strawberries! (Or at least yea for strawberries.)
All you need…A big (or small) bowl of strawberries.
Rinse those pretties and place them on a parchment lines baking sheet. (don't skip parchment… these suckers get super thick and juicy.)
Here is the thing. These strawberries are picked from the lovely farm I get my CSA from.(How badass is it that we have a PYO part of the share). They are not like super market berries that are extra firm with dirty unappealing green tops. These little organic lovelys have tender little green tops…. I eat them. If you do not wish to eat the greens, just top the berry off before roasting.
So the berries, stick them in the oven at 450 degrees and roast them for about 35-45 minutes (depending on the size of your berries)
Pull them out when they start to get dark and slightly charred and the juice is thick and bubbly.
And scrap the berries, juice and all, right into a jar.
Eat with anything, everything and with nothing at all.
Happy Monday
-C
Roasted Strawberries
- strawberries of any quantity
Place strawberries, with or without tops (your preference) on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place in a 450 degree oven and roasted foe about 45 minutes or until the berries are soft, mushy, starting to charr and have lots of bubbly juice, . When done, remove from oven and let cooll for for about 5 minutes. Transfer berries, juice and all, into jar.
Eat right away or stick in fridge. Juices thicken up when cooled.
Keeps about a week in fridge, but I highly doubt it will last the night.