Fresh picked Organic Strawberries are here! and to celebrate the bounty, here are 2 delicious and easy recipes: Strawberry Pancakes from my latest cookbooks: Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook,  A Seasonal Vegetarian Cookbook; and Strawberry Vanilla Vinegar from Going Wild in the Kitchen!

Fresh picked organic strawberries

Strawberry-Vanilla Vinegar

Wow! Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil with this sweet vinegar, and you have a super dressing for garden green salads. Add some pine nuts and feta cheese or chèvre for a quick-and-easy main-course meal. When the vinegar is ready, instead of discarding the strawberries, which will keep for months in your kitchen cabinet, you can add them to salads, or purée them with a little olive oil and pinch of sea salt for a delicious salad dressing.

Yield: About 2 1/3 cups

4 cups thinly sliced strawberries

1 soft vanilla bean, snipped into 1/8-inch pieces (about 1 teaspoon)

1 2/3 cups balsamic vinegar

1. Place a 1/2-inch layer of strawberries in a quart jar. Sprinkle on a few pieces of vanilla bean. Continue alternating the remaining strawberries and vanilla, then add enough vinegar to cover.

2. Put the cap on the jar, and add a label that includes the jar’s contents, date prepared, and approximate date the vinegar will be ready (5 or 6 weeks from the preparation date). Store in a kitchen cabinet or another cool, dark place.

3. Give the jar a daily shake for the first few days. If needed, add more vinegar to keep the strawberries covered.

4. After 5 or 6 weeks, taste the vinegar. If a stronger flavor is desired, let it steep another week.

5. When the vinegar is ready, pour it through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth into a bowl, wide-mouth jar, or measuring cup. Before discarding the strawberries (or saving for later use), squeeze them through the cheesecloth or press them against the strainer with the back of a spoon to get every last drop of vinegar.*

6. Transfer the vinegar to a clear bottle or jar, and label it with the type of vinegar and date. Store in a cool, dark place, where it will keep for at least a year.

Recipe excerpted from Going Wild in the Kitchen by Leslie Cerier, (c) 2005, Square One Publishers, Inc. Used by permission.

And you can also use Strawberries to make a quick and easy Strawberry Sauce, perfect for waffles and pancakes

Organic Strawberry Sauce on Teff Waffles

Strawberry Pancakes

Serves 4 to 6

Full of strawberries, these pancakes are yummy just on their own. Or for a change of pace, try topping them with yogurt. And there’s no reason not to enjoy them like strawberry shortcake, topped with fresh whipped cream and perhaps a few more sliced strawberries.

4 eggs

1 cup apple juice

1/2 cup honey or maple syrup

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups teff flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 cups sliced strawberries

Extra-virgin coconut oil, for frying

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Stir in the juice, honey, and vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and stir until well combined. Gently fold in the strawberries.

Heat some coconut oil in a heavy skillet or griddle over medium heat and brush it over the surface when it melts. Ladle the batter onto the hot pan to make pancakes of whatever size you like. Cook for about 1 1/2 minutes, until the tops are bubbly and the edges are dry. Turn the pancakes over and cook for about 1 more minute, until the bottoms are golden brown. Serve immediately.

Reprinted with permission by New Harbinger Publications, Inc. Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook by Leslie Cerier www.lesliecerier.com

I love breakfast. Don’t you?

I have taught “Great Grains in the Morning” cooking classes in New York City and here in Western MA, and I love to eat whole grains all day long.

Living in the pioneer valley, I have the opportunity to be a shareholder in a local CSA for locally grown organic grains and beans. The local spelt berries ground into a flour at the local sourdough bakery, WheatBerry made a great breakfast waffle with local frozen strawberries made into sauce.

For more information on my catering, cooking classes, and cookbooks, please go to www.lesliecerier.com