Make the most of strawberry season

Tasty recipes to try

National Strawberry Week began yesterday and runs until June 10. Every year, the worldís most popular berry is celebrated during the first week of June as this is when the Irish crop comes in.

While strawberries are available to buy all year round, they taste their best during the summer months. So make the most of their juiciness and include them in your meals every day for National Strawberry Week. High in vitamin C and good for keeping hearts healthy, they make a wonderful guilt-free treat.

Here are some recipe ideas to try out for the week.

For breakfast, whizz them up in a blender with a big spoonful of natural yogurt, one banana and a splash of orange juice for a yummy smoothie. Finely sliced strawberries and a handful of chopped almonds transform an otherwise bland bowl of cereal. Scatter them over some homemade pancakes and drizzle with honey.

Bake a vanilla or lemon sponge, top with freshly whipped cream and scatter sliced strawberries and a mixture of other summer berries over the top.

Make your own strawberry ice lollies. Mix 400g strawberries with 200ml milk and a 405g condensed milk in a blender. Pour the mixture into 12 ice lolly moulds, insert wooden lolly sticks and freeze overnight.

Melt some dark chocolate or white chocolate and dip the strawberries into the melted chocolate. Leave to set before you eat them.

Savoury

Strange as it may sound, strawberries taste wonderful in savoury dishes.

Swap tomatoes for strawberries in a salad: peel an avocado, scoop out the flesh and chop. Combine with a handful of chopped strawberries, half a red onion finely sliced, chopped coriander and a squeeze of lime juice.

Or you can combine strawberries with tomatoes. Quarter some cherry tomatoes and the berries. Place them in a bowl with a handful of torn basil leaves and some pitted olives and sprinkle over some balsamic vinegar.

Mash 100g of strawberries in a bowl and mix in the blender with a small handful of fresh mint leaves and a squeeze of lemon juice. Use this to dress salads or drizzle over meat such as a seared steak, chicken breast or a pork chop.

Smear a bagel with cream cheese and top with fresh strawberries, black pepper and basil.