Strawberry Granita

Since we almost always do savory recipes for The Beet, I thought it would be fun to put in something sweet and cold this week!  Here in the valley it is in the 80s this week, and I can’t wait to cool off with this delightful and easy recipe for strawberries.  If you don’t eat all of your berries on the way home, give this a try!

1 lb. strawberries, rinsed and hulled
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup water
A few springs of mint or lemon verbena, finely chopped
1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)

Slice the berries into pieces and toss with the sugar and herbs (if using).  Let stand for an hour (at least) at room temperature, or up to four hours.  Place a non-reactive shallow metal or glass tray in the freezer.  After one hour (or however long you leave the strawberries macerating with the sugar), purée the strawberries with their juices and the water in a blender.  Taste it, and if you like, add the lemon juice at this point.  You can also strain out the seeds at this point if you want to.  Pour the mixture into the frozen pan and return to freezer.  Check after 30 minutes.  As it begins to freeze, take a fork to scrape the frozen purée that has frozen around the edges to the center.  Return to freezer and continue to check the granita every 30 minutes, scraping the frozen edges into the middle.  It will take about 2 hours to freeze the mixture completely.  Spoon over vanilla ice cream, or eat it by itself!

--Jenna Muller