Ms. Keller's Class Makes Strawberry Salad

On Jan. 23, Ms. Keller's class had their second gardening meeting. We reviewed facts about Thomas Jefferson, observed the vegetables in the 5th grade Jeffersonian Garden, harvested some veggies and made Harry's Berry's Strawberry Salad.

The students reviewed the following facts: Jefferson was the 3rd president, he retired to his plantation (defined this) at Monticello, which was in Virginia. He was an organic gardener.

Students harvested a huge China Rose Winter Radish and a head of Tennis Ball Lettuce.  They also made a trellis for the Prince Albert Peas.  Other students weeded.

To reinforce the meaning of organic, we made a salad using organic berries from Harry's Berries and strawberry preserves from organic berries.  This was supplemented with their radish, lettuce and some lettuce donated by Gelson's.  During the cooking experience, the students relearned that 2 t.s = 1 T.

(We discussed that organic produce is grown without the use of chemical pesticides.)

Here's the recipe: (the kids loved it)!

Ingredients for 4 large servings (we used one strawberry per student 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 whisk 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.