Tomorrow is officially the start of summer – yahoo! And along with the more clement weather, we are seeing more locally grown food on grocers’ shelves. Local produce is the most nutritious and delicious, since it travels just a short distance from farm to fork and so can be enjoyed soon after harvest, when both flavour and nutrients are at their peak. Local strawberries are a favourite of mine so, to celebrate, I created this Strawberry Social Menu.
Included are a breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert, all featuring luscious strawberries. Treat this as a selection of recipes highlighting strawberries and other treasures of the spring and early summer harvest (such as asparagus, fresh peas and rhubarb), rather than a menu for a single day. If you ate all these dishes in one day, you would be committing strawberry overkill, if there is such a thing!
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Strawberry Social Menu
Breakfast: Strawberry Almond Protein Smoothie (Not a fan of vanilla protein powder? Use plain protein powder and add a teaspoon of vanilla extract.)
Lunch: Strawberry Asparagus Salad with Tahini Dressing (It isn’t a celebration of spring without asparagus!)
Dinner: Strawberry, Shallot & Mint Salsa atop One Pan Ricotta & Spinach Stuffed Chicken with Broccoli (This salsa is very versatile! Try it with halibut or sprinkle in some feta and serve with grilled pork.)
Dessert: Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp (Technically a vegetable, tart rhubarb is delectable when paired with the succulence of strawberries.)
Join The Nutritional Reset community here to receive this month’s menu today (as well as each month to come)! And read on for some nutritional tidbits about a few foods featured in the recipes…
A few featured foods
Strawberries
Strawberries are nutritional powerhouses! And they are rich in colourful pigments called antho-cyanidins that are beneficial for our health, protecting against inflammation, heart disease, cognitive decline and cancer. That said, strawberries top the list of foods with the most pesticide residues, so I encourage you to purchase organically grown strawberries.
Asparagus
People either love or hate asparagus. I fall firmly in the love camp (Catherine, you can sub in green beans in this recipe). Asparagus is high in anti-inflammatory compounds and has historically been used to treat arthritis. It is also a very nutrient-dense food, supplying an impressive array of nutrients for few calories. And it is a gut-friendly food. It contains a type of fibre (inulin) that feeds and promotes the health of beneficial bacteria in our digestive tracts. Lots to love!
Cooking your own food is the single most impactful step you can take to improve your health and energy!
I hope you enjoy this Strawberry Social Menu (sign up here to receive the download link). And if you want to cook more of your own food but don’t know what to make or have the time to organize your own menus and shopping lists, The Nutritional Reset offers a meal planning service. It makes preparing tasty, nutritious meals a snap. Click here to find out more.