Strawberry Jell-no

A couple days ago our play group went strawberry picking at the local organic McGrath Family Farm. The kids got to play on a tractor, feed the goats and Levi - a very friendly bunny rabbit - and of course pick yummy beautiful strawberries. While thinking about all the things I might make with the berries, I remembered seeing a recipe in The Real Food Daily Cookbook (my all time favorite Santa Monica restaurant). The recipe was Strawberry Kanten (see recipe below) and is described as a "healthy person's jell-o...kids love this refreshing dessert". Well, Summer took one bite and spit it out onto the floor.  My hubby only slightly more subtle, said it was like eating a silicone breast implant (not that he's ever tried one).

What went wrong with this rubbery gelatinous mass? I pretty much stuck to the recipe ... except for the agar. I had agar powder instead of flakes. I will confess I was being cheap, agar flakes are really expensive at my local health food store so I bought the powder, which was about four dollars cheaper. I had to guess how much powder to put in and obviously I used way too much. In retrospect, I probably could have guessed that this wouldn't turn into a family favorite as I have never liked those weird agar jelly desserts that are so common in Asia.

At this point you are probably wondering what agar is? Agar, or agar-agar as it is also called,  is a red algae and according to wiki it is a laxative, a vegetarian gelatin, a thickener, and a clarifying agent. It can also be used for sizing paper and fabric, as a culture medium for microbiological work and for weight loss. Apparently it is 80 percent fiber and when eaten, it triples in size so you feel full. Wiki goes on...it is used in dentistry for making impressions, electrochemistry and is in modelling clay. This is one versatile little sea vegetable!

If you do like jell-o desserts - and you stay away from agar powder - I'm sure the Strawberry Kanten recipe in Ann Gentry's The Real Food Daily Cookbook is very tasty. So here it is:

4 1/4 cup apple juice
1 tbsp arrowroot powder
1/4 cup agar flakes (not powder)
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups fresh strawberries (you can also substitute blueberries or raspberries)

Stir arrowroot and 1/4 cup of apple juice together and put aside.
Combine agar and salt with the remaining juice in a sauce pan. Bring to simmer over high heat then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer, stirring frequently for 15 min or until agar dissolves.
Whisk in arrowroot mixture, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, over medium high heat for 5 min. stir in vanilla.
Transfer to large bowl and let cool at room temperature.
When it is just starting to set stir in strawberries.
spoon into bowls, cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or until set.