Happy Belated Canada Day!
To honour this great nation, I wanted the July Superfood of
the Month to be something red, and couldn’t think of a better food than
Strawberries.
Strawberries are delicious, nutritious and currently in
season, making them a cheap and fun snack to buy. Now that I’ve officially
moved to Toronto, I’ve taken full advantage of all the health-related benefits of
big city living. I can bike or
walk to practically anywhere, tons of great, fresh ingredient restaurants to
choose from (this will be mentioned in a future post!), cuisines and produce
from all over the world, and most importantly, Chinatown groceries stores
within ten minutes of my new place. These are the BEST places to buy your fresh
groceries in the downtown core. Last week, I bought two pints of strawberries
for $2 dollars, three avocadoes for $1 and three cucumbers also for $1, talk
about saving money! Yes the groceries stores in Toronto’s Chinatown aren’t
‘attractive’, well-lit, or the cleanest and nicest smelling, but these typically
cash only joints offer a huge variety of interesting produce at dirt cheap
prices.
Back to strawberries. When it comes to fruit, any berry is
the best bang for your buck. Berries are lower in sugar/fructose/carbs than
most other fruits, low glycemic index
(great for diabetics), chocked full of antioxidants, low calorie and high fiber. A cup of strawberries has only 45 calories, by comparison a
medium (read: not GMO gigantic) banana has around 105.
People always associate vitamin c with oranges, but
strawberries are actually an excellent source of vitamin C, their antioxidants
help protect you against cancer, certain diseases of the eye, inflammation, and
their fiber to promote good digestion.
One of the things I like most about strawberries is their versatility.
They add flavor to both sweet in savoury dishes, and can be used in appetizers,
salads, mains, breakfast staples and lots of different desserts. I have attached some recipes
that I highly recommend trying as a great way to incorporate this superfood
into your diet.
This recipe below features classic ingredients for a
strawberry spinach salad. I often avoid these salads at restaurants because the
nuts are candied meaning they are coated in unhealthy oils and excess sugar.
Toasting nuts brings out their flavor without any added calories. I would also suggest adding some red or
green onion, and you can always sub avocado for the cheese to make this salad
paleo friendly.
This is one of my favorite food blogs. I haven’t made these
muffins yet, but after my next trip to bulk barn to stock up on more cornmeal,
I will definitely give this recipe a try.
Strawberry and Rhubarb is one of my favorite combinations,
the PC blue menu strawberry rhubarb jam is delicious on almost anything. This
dessert recipe is allergy friendly, easy to make, and you can always adjust the
amount of sugar/honey you add to taste.
You can buy giant bags of frozen cherries at Costco. If you
don’t have an ice cream maker, just Google how to make ice cream without an ice
cream maker and there are some blog posts on this topic.
Got an abundance of strawberries? Dice, freeze on a cookie
tray so they don’t stick and then keep in the freezer and add to smoothies
throughout the summer.
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