Green Options

What do you like in your oatmeal? Today I like thin sliced almonds and dried cherries, blueberries, cranberries, golden raisins and a twirl of honey (shown below). This tastes delicious with my black-cherry tea.

It’s that time of year. My mouth is watering and a body is craving antioxidants. And there’s no better time than right now to grab, buy or even pick your own summer jewels. I’m of course talking about berries - a myriad of types and varieties can be found in virtually every area of the U.S.

So once you have your hoard, what now? My culinary intuition and memories turn to bettys, buckles, crisps, crumbles, cobblers and grunts. The questions for most home cooks is, “What does it all mean?” and “What’s the difference anyway?”

Last week I wrote about no/low-cal ways to dress up your water, providing you with variety when you need hydration the most.  But what about when the summer heat is so hot, you don’t even feel like a meal?  My husband and I play tennis every morning, and a berry smoothie is perfect before or after a match, or if you need nourishment and energy, but don’t want to eat something heavy.  Even Starbucks is getting into the smoothie game, but why drink their inevitably processed concoctions when you can make your own from fresh, unprocessed ingredients?  Blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries are all over the farmer’s markets, or, if they’re available, gooseberries, lingonberries, loganberries, or bilberries make unique additions to a smoothie.  Berries are also full of vitamins and antioxidants; you can’t beat them for a sweet treat that’s good for you as well.  Megan included them in her top ten quick, healthy, sustainable snacks, and the Green Diva mentioned them in her five ways to enjoy berries.

For this Fourth of July, I chose to celebrate a day of independence by stressing out to prepare for a holiday party, nor by figuring out which fireworks show to go to, nor by basking in the presence of President Bush during his visit to Monticello here in Charlottesville.

No, for this Fourth of July, I tapped into the American spirit of freedom by going wild and getting out into the wild: I went out foraging for wild berries.

Luckily for me this was pretty easy, given the fact that I live in the country and have been walking by a seemingly endless stretch of wineberry bushes (and a few blackberry bushes) growing conveniently along the gravel drive. Oh, the tension of temptation has been building for so, so long now as I have watched the bushes form their little fuzzy pods, the pods pop open with the unripe berries peeping out, the berries growing redder and redder like little organic rubies building up their brilliance….

So on this day, at long last, I declared my independence from self-restraint and heroic patience by diving into the (thorny!) berry patches and going wild…and pickin’ pickin’ pickin’ away.

This may be slightly premature, but we are having a very rainy Friday out here in the New York metro area and thinking about Summer berries cheers me up! I didn’t think I would be able to get a recipe out today, but here it is!

The great thing about this recipe is that it is simple and you can get creative with your ingredients! It is a colorful and delicious part of our summer and I can’t attend certain family parties unless I show up with this dessert.

Ingredients
2 sticks butter – softened
2 cups quick cooking oats
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
4 cups (approximately) of various berries – washed and cut as needed. (depending on what is in season and available locally, my favorites are blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and sometimes I throw in a pear or two)