Easy Strawberry Brunch Ideas

It is strawberry season! Time to go picking or head to the store to grab some of nature's most delectable treats. Strawberries make an excellent snack on their own and everyone knows they are great in desserts. This post, however, is dedicated to meals. I have yet to perfect my strawberry rhubarb crumble.

Strawberry Avocado Goat-Cheese Sandwich 

Smash an avocado and spread on a piece of toasted sour dough bread.

Spread a little goat cheese on the other half, place sliced strawberries in the middle, and the other piece of bread.

Grill in butter until golden-brown.

Eat hot.

Strawberry Poppy-Seed Bagel

Toast a plain or poppy seed bagel (never enough poppy seeds - am I right?)

Spread on some cream cheese and sprinkle on (more) poppy seeds, pressing them in slightly so they won't fall everywhere when you shove it in your mouth.

Arrange sliced strawberries on top.

 Strawberry Spinach Salad

Slice some strawberries and put on top of some baby spinach.

Blend a dressing of strawberries, stone ground mustard, poppy seeds (optional), and balsamic vinegar.

 Strawberry-Shortcake Pancakes

Make pancakes as you normally would.

Whip some heavy cream with a little vanilla extract. You can add some sugar, but it is not necessary.

Top with sliced strawberries. 

If you want a more "strawberry shortcake" feel, put some sugar over the sliced strawberries and let them sit a while. The strawberries will soften and a lovely red syrup will form.

I thought everyone should know that while writing this I made the typo of "stabberies" multiple times. I thought is was hilarious. They leak red juice!

A Week of Savory Oatmeal

 I've tried to like oatmeal for a long time. I can usually get about a week in before I am utterly sick of it. But I have found 2 solutions: steel cut oats and savory oatmeal. The first one I tried was the simplest. Just butter and salt. Man, it was good, so I decided to try more.

The next one I tried got rave reviews all over the internet. Mark Bittman told everyone his soy sauce and scallions version on NPR a few years ago, I guess. I was not a huge fan. I enjoyed it a lot more after I added a little sesame oil and some bonito flakes.

I tried this one with real sausage instead of vegetarian,  The gouda didn't really do anything for me, so I added sour cream. Pure perfection with the arugula and herbs.

I had some sausage left over the next day, so I made up my own version. I just added butter, salt, pepper, and plenty of dried sage. I think it turned out pretty good.

I saw some recipes touting the benefits of a fried egg on top of oats. I went full on Popeye and added a bunch of spinach, too. I added on olive oil, too. It turned out okay. Once the egg was gone there wasn't much flavor.

I decided to go all out and add bacon. I got the idea from MrBreakfast. I didn't go all fancy and cook the oats in milk, but the chives and cheese made this a delicious feast. If you try only one savory oats topping, this should be it. 

I've saved the best for last. I stole some of my man's fancy salt, grated in a bit of amazingly old cheddar, ground some pepper and topped with some olive oil. It was soooo good. I got the idea from this site. 

I am not sick of oatmeal yet and I found some really good combinations. If you're sick of the sweet and gooey normal oatmeal you have to try some of these ideas. As soon as I can find some good tomatoes I am going to try that, too! If you want more ideas you can check out the World Porridge Making Champion.