Strawberries make life sweeter!

It's strawberry season and I love them so!

Some ideas to jazz up your "fresas"...

Creamy:
Slice desired amount of strawberries in 4 pieces and sprinkle with just a little bit of sugar, and set aside. What the sugar does is extract some of the juices from the berries and creates a great topping to just about anything, I like using frozen cool whip (lite tastes good too, or chocolate). Scoop out cool whip like ice cream, and pour some of the strawberries with some of the juices on top. If looking for an extra touch, chocolate syrup should do the trick. You can use this for an easy dessert at a dinner party. Just portion the cool whip in bowls before and keep in the freezer. Add sugar to the strawberries before so you will only have to top the cool whip and serve!

Savory:
Combine spring salad mix, pecans, strawberries and sprinkle some goat cheese on top and you have a refreshing salad. Drizzle a bit of balsamic vinaigrette on top and yummy! Balsamic works great with strawberries. many cooks will reduce balsamic vinegar, to a syrup, and use it for a topping on strawberries. I haven't tried it but balsamic is actually a sweeter vinegar and more full bodied than most so I can bet it tastes good. Another tidbit about balsamic, it is aged like wine, so make sure not to skimp on it. A good balsamic is important to a dish just as a good wine would be.

Other good combinations:

Rhubarb. Rhubarb has to be cooked (or it will be more sour than a lemon) so either cook it with sugar and let cool then combine with strawberries for a great ice cream topper or cook the strawberries with the rhubarb and use as a pie filling.

Cream. A classic way I used to enjoy them would be cut up in a bowl with a little bit of cream poured on top and sprinkled with sugar. Brown sugar would add a good flavor to this as well.

Goat Cheese. It is tart and the berry is sweet, put it on top of a cracker and you have the crunch. A great combination if trying to figure out what in the heck to do with all of those strawberries! I love goat cheese. it satisfies my cheese cravings but is relatively ok for you and since it is pretty rich, a little goes a long way!

Banana. Umm.. Duh :) I also love frozen bananas but since strawberries have a lot of water in them they freeze way too hard but make a strawberry sundae without ice cream, replace with frozen bananas and you have a healthier version for a sundae. Don't forget to top with whip cream and maybe a little of that chocolate syrup...

Chocolate. Again, easy... but have you ever tried dipping strawberries in chocolate pudding??? Sounds a little different but so good and at least pudding has calcium in it and can be proportionate with the individual packages.

That's about all I have for now but get creative with those fresas and don't limit yourself to sweet when they can be just a delicious paired with savory flavors!