Strawberries go sweet or savoury for Father’s Day

Fortunately for this cook, Father’s Day falls at the height of local strawberry season. Why incur the anxiety and expense of local berries? Pure and simple: flavour. Commercial strawberries are bred to taste and look alike from crop to crop. Local farmers grow different varieties — they tend to be smaller, more aromatic and juicy. We eat them raw, lightly sweetened, lightly cooked, tucked into muffin batter, frozen into sorbets and puréed into smoothies.

I also enjoy these aromatic red berries with savoury seasonings such as sweet-tart balsamic vinegar and black pepper. These macerated strawberries make a terrific topping for avocado toast or stirred into warm brown rice with garbanzo beans and fresh chives.

Strawberries, sweet and savoury. Get ’em while you can. Your father will thank you.

Balsamic and Black Pepper Strawberries MAKES: 4 CUPS

Serve these berries on top of fresh spinach salad with a balsamic vinaigrette and crumbled goat cheese. Or, spoon them onto plain Greek yogurt with some chocolate granola. 2 quarts small strawberries, hulled, thinly sliced, about 6 cups 2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar A couple of grinds of black pepper

Put all ingredients into a bowl. Stir well. Refrigerate for several hours, stirring a few times. The mixture will keep for several days in the refrigerator.

Nutrition information per ½ cup serving: 54 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 13 g carbohydrates, 10 g sugar, 1 g protein, 2 mg sodium, 2 g fibre

Sunday Sundaes MAKES: 2 SERVINGS

I like Trader Joe’s vanilla meringue cookies here. Other options include shortbread, madeleines or your favourite crisp cookie. 4 vanilla meringue cookies ½ cup honey and thyme strawberry sauce, see recipe ½ cup balsamic and black pepper strawberries, see recipe 4 small scoops vanilla ice cream Lightly sweetened whipped cream Confectioners’ sugar Unsweetened cocoa, optional Mint sprigs

1. Put 2 meringue cookies onto each serving plate. Use the tip of a knife to break the meringues into quarters.

2. Spoon half of the sauce and strawberries around the meringues on each plate. Top each plate with 2 small scoops of ice cream. Top with a dollop of whipped cream. Sprinkle the plate with confectioners’ sugar and cocoa. Add a mint sprig to each and serve right away.

Nutrition information per serving: 459 calories, 20 g fat, 12 g saturated fat, 75 mg cholesterol, 65 g carbohydrates, 59 g sugar, 7 g protein, 130 mg sodium, 3 g fibre