Scraptastic Recipe: Strawberry-Infused Vinegar
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How’s everybody doing? If you also live on Vancouver Island, it feels like this cold spring is lasting forever! But I know that warm, sunny days are just around the corner.
That means that strawberry season is coming soon, and farmers’ markets will be back! I can’t wait — those are always some of my favourite summer moments. I’m a big advocate for supporting local farmers when we can, and I’m grateful to live on an island where so much beautiful produce can grow locally!
(Quick side note: check out how excited I get looking at my garden growing. Anyone else relate?)
Another thing I advocate for is buying organic where it counts most. What does that mean?
The Environmental Working Group produces annual lists called the Clean Fifteen and the Dirty Dozen. These are meant to inform consumers about the types of produce with the lowest and the highest levels of pesticide contamination, respectively, and help us make choices about purchasing organic.
I encourage you to consider this when shopping for produce — or better yet, if it’s available to you, grow it yourself! I find it so fulfilling to pick fruits and vegetables from my garden and know exactly how and where they were grown. Strawberries are on the Dirty Dozen list, so since we’re talking about those today, I wanted to spread the word (whether you like to buy or grow them)!
Did you know that strawberry tops are edible? You can eat them (we add whole strawberries to our smoothies), but if that doesn’t appeal much to you, I’ve got another way you can use them. That’s why we’re back today with another scraptastic recipe — for strawberry-infused vinegar!
This recipe has two ingredients and only takes about five minutes to make, plus a little bit of patience to let it work its magic. It’s an achievable way to eliminate some food waste in your home. Composting is important, but so is trying to use things once before they hit the bin.
So save those strawberry tops!
Fortunately, you don’t have to make this recipe immediately. Whenever you're cutting strawberries, simply add the tops to a container and leave it in the fridge for a few days to reuse them later!
Speaking of reusing, you’ll need a jar with a sealed lid for this recipe. You know how much I love jars! This is yet another reminder to hold onto them after finishing pantry items, because they’ll always come in handy. So go ahead and pick out a jar you have in your kitchen, as long as it has a sealed lid.
I’m thrilled by how this strawberry-infused vinegar turned out. It makes a delicious salad dressing, with a great strawberry flavour! The sweetness mixed with the vinegary acidity is perfection. Tip: add this to a salad with strawberries, plus a balsamic reduction. YUM.
This will also last you a long time — a little bit goes a long way, and you can store and use it as you would regular vinegar.
Shall we get started?
Getting started:
PREP TIME:
5 minutes
WAIT TIME:
3 days
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
- 3/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 5 strawberry tops
- A reused glass jar with a lid
That’s it! Use a knife and cutting board to cut strawberries and make this recipe right away, or collect strawberry tops in your fridge until you’re ready.
How to make strawberry-infused vinegar:
Add strawberry tops to your jar.
Pour in white wine vinegar.
Seal with a lid.
Let it sit at room temperature for 3 days (on the counter so you don’t forget about it! Or set yourself a reminder if you leave it in the cupboard…I cannot confirm or deny whether I am speaking from experience.)
Discard the tops in the compost.
Enjoy as you would regular vinegar!
Thanks so much for reading today’s blog. I care a lot about reducing food waste, and it makes me really happy to try scraptastic recipes that repurpose our food scraps! Let me know what you think of this strawberry vinegar in the comments or on Instagram. Talk soon!
