Summer's Here and the Time is Ripe for Berries!

During our long, dreary Pacific Northwest winters, I often find myself dreaming of summer. Long, warm sunny days, and an explosion of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries in my garden. If I could choose my own food groups, berries would be my favorite, followed by coconut (and anything made with coconut), and then a toss-up between Thai and Indian curries.

So now, that summer is here, and the strawberries are peaking and the blueberries are just beginning to ripen, I decided to make this lovely Almond Strawberry Spinach Salad from the book, ExtraVeganza by Laura Matthias. With sliced pears and a sassy and sweet poppyseed dressing, it's a sublime summertime salad. I tweaked the recipe just a bit by also adding in some succulent blueberries.



For the main course, I made Pizza Bombay from the book, Vegan Planet, a tried and true collection of delightful vegan recipes. I can always pick up this book and find something new and wonderful that I haven't made before.

With spinach, lentils, onions, a hint of sugar, and just the right amount of yellow curry, sweet and spicy flavors blend together to create a perfect balance. This pizza is so filling, I was content to eat just one slice.



With all those berries, I had to make something wonderful for dessert! So using ingredients from both my first and second favorite food groups, I created a simple but delicious dairy-free ice cream sundae. It's layered with mounds of Purely Decadent Coconut Milk ice cream (coconut flavor), fresh blueberries, and a syrupy-sweet strawberry sauce.