RecipEmails, from Replenish PDX are a monthly recipe delivery with a side of information highlighting one key ingredient.

This month's featured ingredient:

strawberries!

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in this RecipEmail:

crust ingredients:
1 cup almonds, soaked for 2 hours
1 cup cashews, soaked for 2 hours
4 tablespoons coconut palm sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

"marscapone" ingredients:
2 cups macadamia nuts, soaked for 2 hours
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup yacon syrup
10 drops liquid lemon stevia
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon miso paste
pinch sea salt

topping ingredients:
strawberries!

preparation:
1) Grease a tart pan with coconut oil or ghee.
2) Preheat the oven to 300F.
3) Drain the nuts for the crust, pat dry, and pulse in a food processor until fine.
4) Add remaining crust ingredients to the food processor and pulse until a well-blended dough forms.
5) Remove dough from the processor and press into the tart pan, careful to press evenly around the base and gently up the sides, creating a nice "container" for your filling.
6) Bake the tart crust for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool.

7) To make the "marscapone": Drain the nuts and add them to a high speed blender or food processor with all the other ingredients. Blend until smooth and creamy.
8) Scoop the filling into the cooled tart crust. Spread evenly on the base.
9) Place strawberries on top of the filling, covering as much as you'd like for decorative and deliciousness factors.
10) Cool in the fridge for at least one hour before serving.

Strawberries: The other bright treat

While blueberries often get all the attention for their antioxidant and brain-boosting potential, strawberries should not be overlooked! Research has shown that daily consumption of strawberries showed improvement in short-term memory among other things. Read on!

• Strawberries are among the Environmental Working Group's "Dirty Dozen". This means that they're one of the top twelve fruits or vegetables loaded with pesticides and one that you should always buy organic. Consider this: There is no other commercial fruit more laden with agricultural chemicals.
• There are over 600 varieties of strawberries. I had no idea until I moved to the northwest and started sampling and planting my own. The shape, flavor and season differ with the varieties but all have that telltale strawberry-look and taste in some way or another ~ the red-pocked flesh, the heart shaped body and the green capped head.
• Strawberries don't ripen after picking. You want to catch them at the right time for maximum flavor. Try not to leave them at room temperature or in sunlight for too long which will cause them to deteriorate and spoil. Best plan?: pick and eat!
• To freeze strawberries: Gently wash and remove any that have acquired mold or mush. Remove stems or don't. (I don't.) Pat dry. Place berries on a cookie sheet and freeze in a single layer. Once frozen, berries can be stored in a freezer storage container of your choosing.