Ms. Smith's Class Makes a Harry's Berries Strawberry Salad and More

Today Ms. Smith's class reviewed facts about Jefferson the horticulturist and also made a salad with organic berries. We emphasized the fact that Jefferson, the 3rd president, grew organically and liked fruits and vegetables. Organic produce is grown without the addition of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The scribe noted the changes in the garden from the last garden lesson.

The students made a strawberry salad using organic berries from Harry's Berries that were purchased at the Santa Monica Farmers' Market. We discussed the taste and freshness of produce that comes from Oxnard vs. Chile or Mexico. We also discussed the lack of preservatives in the strawberry preserves that are in the recipe. They used some of the tennis ball lettuce from the 5th grade bed. We reviewed that 2 t. equal 1 T. (we omitted the nuts at school due to potential allergies).

Ingredients for 4 large servings (we used one strawberry per child and some small bites of lettuce):
lettuce (baby lettuce or other)
1 pint strawberries
1/4 c. toasted pecans chopped
1/4 c. toasted almonds sliced
1 T. strawberry preserves
1 T. red wine vinegar
1/4 t. kosher salt
1/8 t. black pepper
2 T. olive oil

Wash lettuce and strawberries. Tear lettuce in small pieces. Cut top off of strawberries and cut them into four pieces. Mix dressing ingredients in separate container and wisk together. If using nuts, toast in dry skillet over medium heat until light brown. Mix salad ingredients together and add dressing. The full recipe makes four servings. *

*We used 1 pint of berries for 22 individual servings.

Making the strawberry dressing