strawberry fields forever...

strawberries are one of my favorite fruits. so, even if you haven't noticed, i did in a big way when they started to become available at the farmers' market about 3 weeks ago. one of the best things about my strawberry lovin' is kevin isn't really a big fan of them, so i get to eat pretty much every single one that i can get my grubby little paws on.

this last weekend, the line at the strawberry stand to buy a single pint was so freakin' long you would have thought the farm was giving something away (these people realized they had to PAY for those, right?). i noticed the line to buy whole cartons of strawberries (3 pints) was pretty much nonexistent, so i did what anyone who hates lines but loves strawberries would do. i bought a whole carton. i was in and out in about 30 seconds. [contented *sigh*]

now, i don't know how familiar you are with strawberries, but 3 pints is a *lot* for one person to eat all by herself. and they don't keep very well for very long, so i was in a major quandary. what the fudge was i going to do with all of them strawberries? that's when i had a rare stroke of brilliance and realized i could puree a bunch of them and make a strawberry champagne vinaigrette for the salad at our passover seder that night. i decided then to switch up my plan and make a very simple mixed green salad with chunks of pink lady apples and crumbled buttermilk blue cheese with the strawberry champagne vinaigrette.

there's a stand at the farmers' market that sells all sorts of greens (endives, radicchio, dandelion, stinging nettles, spinach, fava greens, etc. etc.) so i walked over to it like i had a purpose (which i did), elbowed a little old lady out of my way, and filled to the brim an entire produce bag with mesclun. ...ok so maybe i'm exaggerating a little... i didn't *actually* fill the produce bag all the way to the very top. i left enough room so i could tie it shut. sheesh, you guys know me tooooo well. can't get away with anything. (hunh? what about the little old lady?)

so a slight tangent before i post the strawberry champagne vinaigrette recipe: ever since i decided to eat as little food as possible that contains chemicals and/or corn derivatives (used as preservatives and artificial flavorings), i take the time to actually read the food labels before i buy anything. things like xantham gum, citric acid, maltodextrin, and high-fructose corn syrup are examples of corn products used to stabilize, flavor, and preserve processed foods (for a more comprehensive list, you can look here). xantham gum seems to be in EVERYTHING, btw. crazy, who knew.

anyway, if you start to read ingredient labels, you'll probably feel as though you've been sucked back in time to chem lab (to some of you, this may be a nostalgic, pleasant memory. not for mwah, however. ;) seriously, you'll be surprised to see how prevalent these corn derivatives are in anything you buy from the shelf of a supermarket. most stuff in a safeway is now ineligible for entry into the house of froon b/c of these substances. to be honest, even the crunchy-granola vegetarian grocery co-op i go to has a lot of food that i won't eat.

anyway, what's the long-winded point i'm trying to make tonight? well, what i'm getting at is that if you look at the ingredients in a bottle of salad dressing, almost all of them are corn derivatives. even "organic" dressings like annie's contain this stuff. so, i've pretty much been forced to make my own from scratch. the good news is that they're very easy to make, easily modifiable to suit the ingredients you have on hand or the # of servings you need to make. as you'll now see. :)


Strawberry Champagne Vinaigrette

1 pint hulled strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup Champagne vinegar
1/4 cup sugar (if necessary, I left it out, the strawberries were so perfect)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup good-quality extra virgin olive oil (I like Stonehouse)

Combine first four ingredients and puree either in a blender or using a stick blender. Slowly blend in olive oil until emulsified. Chill, covered, if not using immediately. Makes enough dressing to serve 10-12 people.


Mixed Green Salad

8 cups mesclun salad mix, rinsed and spun dry
1 large Pink Lady apple, cored and cut into chunks (you can use Granny Smith if you can't find any Pink Ladies ...i'm pretty sure there's a joke in there somewhere...)
1 cup crumbled buttermilk blue cheese
1 cup cinnamon almonds
Strawberry champagne vinaigrette

Place all ingredients into a HUGE bowl. Toss to coat evenly. Plate and serve immediately. Serves 10.