Strawberries

native to: Europe and South America
in season here: June-early July

Strawberries are a huge source of antioxidants, but when they're stored for more than a couple of days they lose a significant amount of their polyphenols and vitamin C. Therefore, strawberries sold at a farmers' market or farm stand are actually better for you than the ones at the grocery store (as well as being the small, flavorful kind instead of those huge hollow things). Strawberries also provide lots of B vitamins, which help metabolize carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, and various minerals.

Researchers have also been looking at strawberries' impact on blood sugar. The latest news from that direction is that strawberries can actually reduce blood sugar spikes from other foods eaten with them (so if you want whipped cream on your berries, go ahead, you're covered). Strawberries have anti-inflammatory properties from their wonderful combination of phytonutrients, if you eat them often enough. They've also been linked to cardiovascular health, anti-aging benefits, and the prevention of cancer and neurological disease.

Strawberries have been cultivated for 300 years, but we were already eating tiny wild strawberries a couple of millennia ago. Today it's the most popular berry in the world, unless you want to get technical and call bananas berries and strawberries "accessory fruits."

If you need to store strawberries, they'll do best in a cold, humid place such as a sealed container in the fridge, but make sure they're not actually wet. The best thing to do is wait until you're ready to use them to wash them, but if you like having a bowl of washed and hulled berries ready for snacking, try leaving them cut-side down on a towel to dry before boxing up the remaining few for the fridge or freeze them on a cookie sheet (bag them up once they're frozen, of course).

The best way to serve strawberries? Once you're through snacking on them plain, I recommend making a sauce by coarsely squishing about half of them and slicing any of the remaining berries that seem too big, adding a little sugar or honey if it seems to need it, and serving it over vanilla ice cream (but not too much, or you might run out of berries and be left with boring old ice cream).

Read more:
label-style nutrition data
lots of details, including a caution about oxalates for certain health conditions

Versión en español: this post is also available in Spanish
Esperanta traduko: this post is also available in Esperanto, because Dana is a language geek.