Summer is a great time to enjoy the strawberry flavors. Strawberries make the menu varied and nutritious, they are appropriate in any recipe - from salads to desserts and drinks. Even the simplest food becomes savory and delicious!
Strawberry salad
There are many variations of this salad. The main ingredient, ripe strawberries, goes well with a variety of foods. Experiment with lettuce, replacing romaine with spinach and spinach with arugula, use peanuts or pecans instead of walnuts, and try brie instead of feta.
For 2 servings: a head of romaine lettuce, 200 g of strawberries (10 berries), 100 g of walnuts, 100 g of feta.
For dressing: 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard, a clove of garlic, 0.5 teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of honey, 2 tablespoons of wine vinegar, 6 tablespoons of olive oil.
For a dressing, stir in a small bowl of mustard, honey, vinegar, and chopped garlic clove. Salt and stir well with a whisk. Continue stirring and add olive oil drop by drop.
Chop the nuts finely. Wash lettuce leaves, pat dry with paper towels. Pick up the leaves with your hands and place on a serving dish. Crush the cheese, spread it evenly over the strawberries. Sprinkle with nuts on top, top with dressing and serve.
Strawberry donuts
Serves 2: 100 g wheat flour, 0.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1⁄4 teaspoon salt, 30 medium strawberries, 20 g sugar, 3 eggs, 100 ml milk.
For frying: 200 ml of sunflower oil.
For decoration: 70 g sugar, 3-4 sprigs of mint.
In addition: 30 wooden skewers, 15 cm long.
Wash the strawberries, pat dry with paper towels, and cut off the green tails. Divide one egg into white and yolk.
In a large bowl, lightly beat the remaining eggs and yolk, add flour, cinnamon, salt and mix thoroughly. Pour in milk gradually, continuing to beat until a lump-free batter is obtained.
Heat the cooking oil in a deep skillet (the oil level should be at least 4 cm high). Whisk the protein and sugar until soft peaks and gently, from bottom to top, stir into the dough. Check the butter for readiness by dropping half a teaspoon of dough into it - it should be fried until golden brown in 5-7 seconds.
Cover a large dish with paper towels, place each berry on the tip of a wooden skewer and dip in the dough so that it completely covers the strawberries. Fry the donuts until golden brown and place on a platter as soon as they are ready, without removing from the skewers. Sprinkle the finished donuts with sugar, garnish with mint leaves and serve immediately.
Strawberry mojito
In hot weather, it is so nice to sit in the shade, enjoying a truly summer mint-strawberry cocktail. If you make the sugar syrup ahead of time, it only takes a couple of minutes to make this mojito.
For 1 serving for syrup: 250 ml of water, 180 g of sugar.
For a cocktail: 30 ml of sugar syrup, 3 medium strawberries, 4 mint leaves, soda water, juice of half a lemon, 40 ml of rum, 4-5 ice cubes.
Also: a glass, bar pestle, or wooden spoon.
Bring water to a boil, add sugar, reduce heat, stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Turn off heat and cool syrup to room temperature. The syrup can be prepared in advance and in large quantities - in a well-sealed bottle, it can be stored perfectly in the refrigerator for several days.
Put mint, strawberries and sugar syrup in a deep glass, crush with a bar pestle (wooden spoon). Add ice, water, rum, lemon juice to the glass. Stir with a spoon and serve.
