Berries Everywhere! {Putting my Harvest to Good Use}

Happy Monday friends! The end of last week was pretty jammed up with lots of stuff going on, so it's been a few days since I've had a chance to post. That's alright, though, as I'll just cram all the berry goodness I've been making into one post! I shared my latest u-pick adventure at the berry farm last week, so this time around I'm showing you some of the ways we have been enjoying them. Besides just stuffing our faces full of fresh berries, of course. 😉🍓

First up, I'll keep @lenasveganliving from any more anticipation after I told her I made this triple berry crumble! I was a bit too anxious to let it rest after coming out of the oven, so it was a bit juicy when I photographed it. The day I made it I had to go back in to work, but couldn't resist a taste before I left! I think @dksart would agree, this was one of the best crumbles I've ever put together. He really liked that it was on the juicier side of things. More goodness to lick the bowl clean, haha!

For the filling I just mixed together about 2 cups each of fresh sliced strawberries, blackberries and blueberries with a few tablespoons of maple syrup and maybe 1/4-1/2 teaspoon each of ground cinnamon and cardamom. I placed that mixture in the baking dish, then topped it with a mix of 1 1/2 cups rolled oats, a few tablespoons of sunflower seed butter (added a little bit of fat and slight nutty flavor), a few more tablespoons of maple syrup and some extra spices. Cover and bake on 350 Fahrenheit for about 40 minutes, then remove the lid for an additional 15 minutes to let the top crisp up a bit.

For the topping I used Lena's cashew cream recipe, but blended in just a small knob of fresh ginger. It all came together for one heavenly bite! Sadly it is all gone, but I still have berries left if I really want to make some more....

Next up I'll keep it sweet with some homemade jam and muffins! We had gotten more blackberries than the other two berries, so I opted to make jam with 4 cups of blackberries and 1 cup of blueberries. I've done the chia seed jam plenty of times previously, but wanted to try making it without them this time around. The blackberries have quite a bit of natural pectin, so from what I read online they make a pretty good jam just on their own.

Like anything else in life, good things take time. I added the berries to my pot with some brown rice syrup I've had forever that I wanted to use up before it goes back to balance out the tartness of the berries. I didn't measure, but I think it was about 1/3 of a cup. I thought about doing some more cardamom in this like I did the crumble, but decided just to keep it plain. I love cardamom with the dark berries! So delicious! After 30 minutes of low simmering and stirring, the jam starting thickening up nicely. By the time it cooled off enough to put in the jar it was just perfect. 5 cups of berries turned into about 2 cups of jam. This is perfect to put on blueberry muffins...if I don't eat it all with a spoon first....

Of course I did do a more savory option with some of my blueberries, as well! I love using berries in salads and dressings, so I did both for lunches this week. With all of my latest farmers market goodies I put together a salad with fresh cooked corn and lima beans, raw shredded cauliflower, blueberries, pumpkin seeds and a dressing made from blended blueberries, blackberry balsamic, miso, and fresh lemon balm and mint from the garden. Served over some fresh greens with broccoli sprouts for an extra punch of nutrition, this lunch is about to be in my belly as soon as I'm done with this post!

@dksart and I tag-teamed making a batch of strawberry pancakes yesterday, as well, but hunger took over any desire for photography for that meal! I'll be back in the kitchen today for some more weekly meal prepping, so we'll see what other berry goodness I put together with the remaining haul. Though of course now that we've gotten rain to really plump up those bushes, I'm sure we'll be back down for more picking before the fleeting season ends soon!

Banners by @zord189, @woman-onthe-wing, @dksart and @bearone for @steemusa