They’re berry-licious
If you’re a berry-lover, then you already know that mid-summer through fall is berry-pickin’ time. Is it fresh strawberries you can’t get enough of? (They are the most sought-after berry in the U.S.) Or maybe you’re like me and you can’t live without raspberries and blueberries. Whatever berry makes you happy, enjoy them and know they’re solidly packed with good nutritional stuff, like Vitamins C and K, manganese. Also, this bonus for raspberries and blackberries: both come in with high amounts of soluble and insoluble fiber. And berries are low in calories. I ask you—does it get any better than that?! Rebecca Taggart, in her article, “Berry Nice” for The Fruit Guys‘ website, sums it up for me, saying, “…few foods can compare to their benefits to human health.” Whoa. If I needed convincing—and I don’t—that statement would have done it for me.
Where do you head for your berry fix? You may be one of the lucky ones who has a private berry patch all staked out, where you can head with your little berry bucket or basket. (I’m available if you need help picking them, by the way!) More of us, though, have to depend on others to do the pickin’ while we save ourselves for the eatin’.
Our “berry patch” is our organic food co-op. They supply our berry needs with Driscoll’s whoppin’ big and plump raspberries and blueberries. They’re too irresistible to put into the fridge without first grabbing a few. And it’s okay. They’re healthy, low-cal snacks.
But we’ve discovered a sort of fly in the ointment. Inside that container packed with scrumptious raspberries are a couple of moldy ones. I detest food waste, and when it’s a food I love, well…the waste just can’t happen.
To save our store-bought crop from further waste, I borrowed an idea from the food universe and made it my own: freezing. Nothing revolutionary about it. After all, we preserve, we can, our garden harvests, so why not containers of fresh fruit we buy at our food store or farmer’s market? If you want to give it a try, here’s all you do:
- Spread a layer of waxed paper onto a cookie sheet.
- Do NOT rinse the berries first. Why? Not rinsing could save the berries from potentially molding on their way to a hard freeze, and not rinsing removes the possibility that the berries will form ice crystals.
- Gently pour the berries onto the waxed paper. If you spot any moldy ones, trash ’em.
- Space berries so that they’re not touching each other. Single layer, single file. The Food Network’s Alton Brown calls it Individually Quick Frozen—that is, the little darlings have space around them. Appears they freeze faster that way, too.
- Now, carefully walk with the berry-laden tray to your freezer and lay it on a flat surface. Depending on your freezer, the berries could be Individually Quick Frozen in as little as half an hour.
- When frozen, remove them to a zippered freezer bag or a container having a tight-fitting lid and return them to the freezer.
Eat at will as a healthy snack. Or, top tomorrow morning’s bowl of cereal with a handful. Or bake them into muffins, cupcakes, or whatever your heart desires. Daughter Heather, our household’s baker extraordinaire, suggests adding the frozen berries to whatever you plan to bake.
And a new favorite I’m happy to share is this: add three or four blueberries and/or raspberries to a class of “alternative” milk, such as coconut, rice, or almond. They flavor the milk and leave a tasty treat when the milk is all gone. Have a long-handled spoon handy!
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Drink your Vitamin C in cups of rose hips tea
A while back, I bought dried rose hips at our organic food co-op, put them aside for ‘later.’ You guessed it…later never came. Till the other night.
I’d known that rose hips—they come from wild roses—have a lot going for them, nutritionally. They’re loaded with Vitamin C, even more, the site tells me, than oranges! But how to use my small supply was the question, and probably the reason I tucked them aside in the first place.
There may be other ways to unleash the benefits rose hips offers, but making tea is the one I tried…and enjoyed immensely!
I followed the site’s directions, and voila! delicious tea was my reward. I added no sweetener of any kind (raw honey is my usual, preferred sweetener). For lovers of pink, you’ll be delighted to know you may be drinking pink, as I did. While I enjoyed the flavor, my daughter Heather didn’t find it as much to her liking. ( Maybe she’ll grow a taste for it next time I make it.)
Here’s the simple recipe:
- Put 4 cups of filtered water into a saucepan.
- Add one tablespoon of dried rose hips.
- When it comes to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Strain into your favorite cup.
- Find a comfy chair, enjoy a good book or article as you sip your Vitamin C.
Our food co-op has a robust bulk foods section that includes dried rose hips. The above site notes that dried rose hips can go for as much as $25 a pound, but who can’t love buying just the quantity you need from a reliable bulk department?
If you try this tea, let me know if you like it. Have you found any other ways to use rose hips?
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Great way to get Vitamin C—Satsuma oranges
Our local organic food co-op samples foods throughout the week. The day they sampled Satsuma oranges, I happened to be in the store. The demo lady invited me to try a section. Too good to pass up, I took one. First, the smell. Inviting. Next, the taste. WOW! POW! Extraordinary flavor hit all the high notes and low notes in my mouth!
Since that day months ago, Heather and I frequently replenish our own supply of Satsumas. They’re inexpensive—for instance, yesterday, I bought five and my cost was $1.31 (they’re priced at $2.29 a pound).
Leona, a co-worker, used to bring whole grapefruits in her brown-bag lunch, and I noted how messy that process was. And time-consuming. She’d peel the fruit, then savor each section. Satsumas, on the other hand, are easy to peel, no mess, either. In the one I ate yesterday, I found a single seed. That’s par, I understand. So, for sheer simplicity, not to mention nutrition, Satsumas are a great addition to any brown bag lunch.
These little bundles of good eats are kid-sized and kid-friendly, too. For adults, these flavor-packed bundles also pair well with cottage cheese for a Vitamin C-calcium boost. Besides eating them plain, my fave use is to add them to a bowl of salad greens for a touch of sweet.
This surprised me: they’re a citrus low in acid. For anyone trying to balance an alkaline-low acid diet, Satsumas are a good choice.
Delicious, nutritious, easy to eat, versatile, affordable…it’s got a lot going for it. They arrived in the U.S. in 1878 from Japan. And if my guess is right, they’re immensely popular. The food co-op can’t always keep up with the demand.
That one's ready to eat!
Natalie M. Rotunda's Organic Pantry Blog 
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