Well a couple of weeks ago my roommates and I went to Costco and I picked up a giant crate of strawberries.  Since it was Costco, there were enough strawberries to feed a small army (or in my case a house full of people).  I did manage to stash a couple of them away in the freezer for future use luckily.  Unfreezing berries for cooking always yields mushy results, which are fantastic for baking.  When I initially froze the strawberries I had no future plans and thought I would hold on to them until I found something delicious to make.  Well luckily, that something found me.  While in Whole Foods last week I decided to buy a magazine but unfortunately they were out of Us Weekly, so I picked up Whole Living instead (I’m joking…Whole Foods doesn’t even sell Us Weekly).

Anyway, I found this recipe for Strawberry Muffins and

I just knew they had to be made.

I think they’ve gone over well with the aforementioned army known as my roommates.  More than have of them were gone in less than 24 hours and the remainder within 48.

I like this recipe for a couple of reasons.  The first being, I modified it a bunch and the muffins were still delicious.  Secondly, it does not produce an overly sweet muffin.  The cake part is wholesome and the strawberries are the sweet parts of the muffin.  As a result, these are good for breakfast on the run.

Strawberry Muffins

Adapted from Whole Living

• 2 cups sliced strawberries
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup non-fat plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup  vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss together strawberries and 1/3 cup sugar, lightly mash the berries and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, combine the yogurt, oil, egg, and vanilla.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture and the berry mixture (with juice). Fold just until combined and divide among 12 muffins.
4. Bake about 17 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

Hmm…methinks I’m forgetting something

Ah yes…the honey.

Delicious.

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to find an assortment of lettuce options, all of which would be great for a salad. The temperatures have been 90+ recently and my house lacks air conditioning. Any measure I could take to avoid turning on the oven was taken. Plus, I found a great recipe for Shallot Vinaigrette at the market. I made the dressing yesterday and ate the salad today. Simple, yet delicious salad of leaf lettuce, bibb lettuce, arugula, toasted pine nuts, goat cheese, strawberries and vinaigrette.

Shallot Vinairgrette
Adapted from a Coke Farm Recipe

-2 tbsp red wine vinegar
-1 shallot, diced
-1 tbsp dijon mustard
-1-2 tsp honey
-6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-salt and pepper to taste

Add vinegar to shallot and let sit for 10 minutes. Add mustard and whisk in honey and olive oil. Will keep for a couple of days in the fridge.