Slow cooker strawberry butter

Slow cooker strawberry butter is sweetened naturally with pure maple syrup and a touch of honey -- enjoy it on toast or stirred into yogurt or oatmeal. 

I scored the very last of the local strawberries from a neighborhood farm market this week. Which threw me into such a panic (No more strawberries until next year? Gaaaaaaah!) that I had to preserve them.

I froze a bunch for smoothies and then thought about strawberry jam. But then I tried to think of something else with less than a bazillion pounds of sugar.

And that reminded me to check Marisa McClellan's latest preserving book entitled Naturally Sweet Food in Jars. This is a whole book of preserves made without refined sugar. Yes! No white sugar -- amazing, flavorful jams and preserves sweetened only natural sweeteners like honey, maple and fruit juices.

Squeeeeeeeee!

I do so love to can but sometimes the amount of sugar required to keep our favorite jams safe for canning makes me feel like I'm defeating the purpose of putting up healthy fresh fruit.

You know what I mean? (It's why my yummy pear honey is used very, very sparingly around Casa de Ninj.)

After making a couple of batches, I've decided this strawberry butter is my new favorite thing. It's like apple butter ... only so much freakin' better. I've been spreading it on toast, natch, but we also love to stir it into plain yogurt for breakfast.

And I haven't even begun to start baking or making overnight oatmeal with it yet!

Strawberry breakfast biscuits

Strawberry breakfast biscuits: not too sweet, with a scone-like texture, and super easy to make. Try them in strawberry shortcake, too.

Lest you think it's all savory crockpot dinners around Casa de Ninj all the time, I'd like to introduce you to my new favorite baked good: strawberry breakfast biscuits.

(Not that you can't eat them any time of the day that you please. Or multiple times during the day. Trust me, we have.)

Regular readers and makers of my recipes will not be surprised to hear that these are a not-so-sweet biscuit -- not nearly as sweet as a pastry or muffin, with a slightly scone-like texture.

They really let the flavor of fresh, seasonal strawberries shine.

And, of course, they are super easy to make, because that's how I roll -- no mixer, no rolling, no lightly-floured work surface, no biscuit cutters.

Watermelon strawberry yogurt smoothie

[ While I have been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser for this post, all opinions are mine alone. Thanks for supporting the brands that support me! #HappyBlending #CollectiveBias ]

This delicious yogurt smoothie is loaded with protein, probiotics, fiber, fresh fruit and even some secret veggies: healthy breakfast never tasted so good!

While I love fall and the cool weather it brings, I try not to rush it because it also means the end of summer -- which means the end of bountiful, healthy, delicious summer veggies and fruits.

Other food bloggers may have already gotten started on PumpkinFest 2015, but not me: I'm still buying as much ripe fruit as I can get my hands on!

Which means I knew exactly what ingredients to use when I was chosen to create a smoothie recipe using Chobani Greek Yogurt for Smoothie Week, being celebrated at the Kroger Family of Stores this week. Even though it's September, it's still the perfect time to enjoy watermelon, which will be in season for a little while longer.

For this watermelon strawberry yogurt smoothie, I used fresh watermelon but, once the cooler months roll around, you can use frozen watermelon instead; it's a great way to get the feeling of summer back any time of the year. Because of its high water content, watermelon freezes beautifully. I cut it into chunks, spread them on baking sheets, freeze until just firm, then store all the chunks in zipper bags in the freezer. Freezing them individually means you can easily remove only as many pieces as you need.

Strawberry avocado salsa

Fresh, fast and summery, scoop up this strawberry avocado salsa with crunchy tortilla chips or serve it alongside grilled chicken or pork.

Fresh summer fruits and vegetables -- there really is nothing better in my book. They just make you feel like you're eating healthier (because you are!) while also totally winning because of all the amazing, practically-warm-from-the-sun flavor.

Seriously. I go crazy over summer fruit: strawberries, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, apricots, nectarines. Gaaaaaaaaaaah!! I'm already freaking out just thinking of all the ways I can eat them. And preserve them for the fruitless (literally), tasteless winter months.

One awesome way to eat some of your pick-your-own strawberry haul is this strawberry avocado salsa. I'm torn about how to recommend it to you: while we eat it as a condiment alongside grilled chicken, it's really just as good as an appetizer or snack, scooped up with crunchy tortilla chips.

So, as you can see from the-cheese-stands-alone photos, I'm not going to influence you. I'm letting you decide how you want to eat it. Or just serve a bowl at your next BBQ and let your guests decide.

But you are going to want to eat it, trust me. Especially since it's so simple -- only five ingredients and about five minutes to prepare.

13 amazing strawberry recipes (CSA Share Ninja Rescue 2014)

Enjoy this baker's dozen -- 13 -- gorgeous and delicious strawberry recipes: baked goods, beverages, salads and treats, all showcasing ripe, juicy, summertime strawberries.

Yo, peeps! Welcome to Week 5 of the CSA Share Ninja Rescue for 2014, where you tell me each week what produce from your CSA share (or garden or farmers' market) you're struggling to use, and I rescue your butt with a list of awesome and healthy recipes on Tuesdays.

Week 5 = strawberries!

OK, I'll admit it -- this week is a bit of a scammy installment of The Rescue. I mean, come on: we both know that no one is ever at a loss for what to do with strawberries, right?

Just. Eat. Them.

But I thought you might appreciate a baker's dozen of amazingly different and delicious recipes for those ripe, juicy strawberries that are showing up at produce stands, farmer's markets and pick-your-own farms all over (including Vermont, finally!). As usual, all these recipes come from my (and hopefully your) favorite bloggers.

Enjoy your strawberries -- and don't forget to stash some in the freezer for the winter!

Chocolate berry black bean Mason jar smoothie

Attach a Mason jar to your blender to whip up this healthy chocolate-strawberry-black-bean smoothie -- dairy-free and naturally sweetened, it's the perfect good-for-you afternoon snack.

OMG, y'all: The Mason jar blender smoothie is not an urban myth! I still cannot quite believe that something crafty I saw on Pinterest actually worked.

This is a smoothie game-changer for me.

I love smoothies as much as the next person. I really do. Heck, I've got a bunch of smoothie recipes on this site. But I hate hate HATE to clean the blender. Did I say hate? I mean REALLY hate. Hand-washing is not my thing, so I don't make smoothies nearly as much as I'd like.

I know, it's sadly, pathetically lazy but hey, we've all got our issues, right?

Enter the Mason jar blender smoothie. (Again, I'm still reeling that this is not a lie.)

If you separate the blade attachment thingy from the pitcher portion of your blender, you can screw the blade attachment thingy right onto a Mason jar! And then, after you whirl it up, you can drink it directly from the jar! Not even an extra glass to wash! ERMERGAHD: Lazy person's dream!

I kid you not: I have photos.

CSA Share Ninja Rescue 2013: pickle roundup (20 ways!)

It is indeed Monday, the day we share the CSA Share Ninja Rescue, a weekly feature in which you tell me on Fridays what veg you got in your CSA share box (or found at the farmers' market) that you don't know what to do with and I'll give you a whole bunch of recipe ideas on the following Monday.

But the feature may look a little different today. I decided to shake things up a little and not focus on specific vegetables but on a technique instead.

So today we're talking preserving: namely, preserving through pickling. 

Pickling is a great way to preserve a lot of the garden's excess bounty to enjoy over the winter months, when your CSA or garden isn't overloading you with delicious, colorful veggies.

Additionally, I tried to include a lot of recipes and posts from some of my favorite bloggers, rather than just recipes from professional chefs and foodie mags (although they are represented as well). Who knows? You might find a new blog to follow!

Lastly, for all of you who are thinking, "Great, Ninj, but I don't can!" or perhaps, "This is lovely, Ninj, but I don't like cucumbers!" -- don't worry, I've got you covered, too. (Come on, would The Ninj leave you hanging?!!!)

Let's get pickling, shall we?

Cucumber Pickles (canned)

• Garlic Dill Pickles from Food in Jars
• Dill Spears from Sherri Brooks Vinton's Put 'Em Up
• Best-Evah Dill Pickles from The Ninj 
• Curry Pickles from Homemade Trade
• Sweet-n-spicy Bread and Butter Pickles from Martha Stewart

Other Pickled Vegetables (canned)

• Pickled Chard Stems from Local Kitchen
• Pickled Garlic Scapes from The Garden of Eating
• Carrot and Daikon Radish Pickle from What Julia Ate
• Pickled Pepper Rings from Sweet Domesticity
• Pickled Rhubarb from Well Preserved

No-Canning-Required Recipes

• Quick Cucumber Pickles from Rachel Ray
• Cider Vinegar Pickled Beets from Food and Wine
• Pickled Radishes from Bon Appetit
• Refrigerator Dilly Beans from The Ninj 
• Pickled Eggs from What Julia Ate
• Fermented Dill Pickles from The Ninj
• Fermented Honey-Garlic Pickles from Well Preserved
• Pickled Carrots from David Lebovitz
• Pickled Green Strawberries from Kitchen Apparel (guesting on Shared Appetite)
• Pickled snow peas from Alana Chernila

Do you have a favorite pickling method or recipe? Leave a comment below: The Ninj wants to know.

Flourless chocolate cake with strawberry-rhubarb jam

 
I need you to make me a promise. Right now.

You must promise me that you will make this cake as soon as possible. It is imperative that you promise me this because, if you don't, your life will not be complete.

(Yes, the cake is that good.)

Mr. Ninj described it as "better than restaurant-quality"; I'm calling it my new go-to dessert.

But wait -- there's more: it is ridiculously easy to make.

How easy? Well, can you boil water and use a spoon? Then you are imminently qualified to make this cake.

I'm participating once again in the From Scratch Club's virtual book club; currently, we are cooking from Sherri Brooks Vinton's Put 'Em Up! Fruit. Every two weeks, the group is assigned a different seasonal fruit or group of fruits to preserve (put 'em up) and then incorporate into a recipe (use 'em up). And we share our results with the rest of the group (and I, with you).

Our first fruit group was strawberries and rhubarb, the classic early-summer duo. I decided to cheat a little bit and use my roasted strawberry-rhubarb jam, since Sherri's book included recipes both for strawberry-rhubarb jam as well for roasted rhubarb (which was very similar) -- and I had already made a bunch of jars of my jam.

Lucky for you, one of Sherri's suggested recipes for using the jam was this flourless chocolate cake (topped with the jam). Frankly, I tried this recipe because I was pressed for time and happened to have all the ingredients in my pantry, but it turned out to be an excellent choice.

What a cake! 

Roasted strawberry-rhubarb jam

There's a ton of rhubarb in my garden.

Last year, I was fortunate enough to inherit part of divided rhubarb patch that one of my neighbors was giving away. Given that I had only gotten turned on to rhubarb the year before, I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with the harvest.

After today, I will never again worry about that because I have discovered roasted rhubarb jam.

And now I wish I had more, more, MORE rhubarb in my garden, perhaps an entire garden of just rhubarb, simply so I could make jar after jar of this jam. It is that good.

Oh, and did I mention absurdly easy? Set-it-and-forget-it easy? No pectin or lemon juice easy?

Yep, that easy.

Chocolate-strawberry quick bread

I love it when a recipe that is easy, delicious and timely crosses my path.

Just such a perfect event happened earlier this week.

It was late afternoon and I was craving a little something sweet (but it's me, so not too sweet) but didn't feel that I had the time or the energy for a whole batch of cookies, nor did I want the calorie overload. In checking my Facebook feed, I found the perfect solution.

Simple Bites had just posted about a chocolate and jam tea cake. I pulled up the recipe and loved the fact that it was touted as a "way to use up last year's preserves" (got those) but was also a tiny bit disappointed that it called for a lot of butter and whole milk -- not quite stealthily healthy enough for me as a snack.

So I adapted it.

As I did so, it occurred to me that, while I am not by a long shot the best or most inventive cook I know, I am proud of how much my skills have improved and my knowledge grown since I started this blog three years ago. (Remember, I didn't really know how to cook much at all until I was nearly 30.) Practice makes perfect, right?

Strawberry-lemon marmalade and marmalade muffins

Strawberry-lemon marmalade, used to make marmalade muffins

I can't believe we're already halfway through the Cook It! 2012 challenge! We've made and shared so many awesome staples and recipes so far: pasta, bread, butter, cheese, lactofermented veg (pickles) and now jam.

Well, in my case, marmalade.

According to the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving, a marmalade is nothing more than a jam or jelly with fruit peel suspended in it.

I'd call that jam with zing!

I'm not new to making jams and jellies, so this challenge didn't fill me with any real trepidation. But I did want to do something a little bit different. However, I picked a time when the only fresh fruit to be had was strawberries.

(Believe me, I'm not complaining. Who the heck would complain about fresh strawberries?)

But everyone does strawberry jam and that wouldn't be very Challenge-ish, now would it?

Hence the strawberry-lemon marmalade.