Recipe: Strawberry slaw with fig balsamic vinaigrette
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| Strawberries brighten this slaw. (Photo: Debbie Arrington) |
Early spring salads depend on something other than tomatoes to give them a burst of juicy flavor as contrast to crunchy greens.
Strawberries show off their savory side in this easy slaw with a touch of sweetness. Their bright color and tart taste work well with cabbage and spinach.
Although basic grape-based balsamic vinegar works in the vinaigrette, try fig or other fruit-based balsamic vinegar. It adds another note of sweet-tart flavor to accent the fresh strawberries.
Strawberry slaw with fig balsamic vinaigrette
Makes 2 servings
Ingredients:
8 strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 cup cabbage, thinly shredded
1 cup spinach, shredded or torn
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup chopped almonds
For vinaigrette:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fig balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions:
In a large bowl, place sliced strawberries, cabbage, spinach, dried cranberries and almonds.
Prepare vinaigrette. In a small jar with a tight-fitting lid (such as a half-pint mason jar), combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Cover and shake until blended.
Pour vinaigrette over strawberry-cabbage mix. Toss lightly.
Serve immediately.
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Garden Checklist for week of Jan. 12
Once the winds die down, it’s good winter gardening weather with plenty to do:
* Prune, prune, prune. Now is the time to cut back most deciduous trees and shrubs. The exceptions are spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs.
* Now is the time to prune fruit trees. (The exceptions are apricot and cherry trees, which are susceptible to a fungus that causes dieback. Save them until summer.) Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease.
* Prune roses, even if they’re still trying to bloom. Strip off any remaining leaves, so the bush will be able to put out new growth in early spring.
* Clean up leaves and debris around your newly pruned roses and shrubs. Put down fresh mulch or bark to keep roots cozy.
* After the wind stops, apply horticultural oil to fruit trees to control scale, mites and aphids. Oils need 24 hours of dry weather after application to be effective.
* This is also the time to spray a copper-based fungicide to peach and nectarine trees to fight leaf curl. (The safest effective fungicides available for backyard trees are copper soap -- aka copper octanoate -- or copper ammonium, a fixed copper fungicide. Apply either of these copper products with 1% horticultural oil to increase effectiveness.)
* When forced bulbs sprout, move them to a cool, bright window. Give them a quarter turn each day so the stems will grow straight.
* Browse through seed catalogs and start making plans for spring and summer.
* Divide daylilies, Shasta daisies and other perennials.
* Cut back and divide chrysanthemums.
* Plant bare-root roses, trees and shrubs.
* Transplant pansies, violas, calendulas, English daisies, snapdragons and fairy primroses.
* In the vegetable garden, plant fava beans, head lettuce, mustard, onion sets, radicchio and radishes.
* Plant bare-root asparagus and root divisions of rhubarb.
* In the bulb department, plant callas, anemones, ranunculus and gladioli for bloom from late spring into summer.
* Plant blooming azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons. If you’re shopping for these beautiful landscape plants, you can now find them in full flower at local nurseries.
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