It’s blueberry season, and I couldn’t be happier! I’ve always had an affinity for these little berries and love to throw them into all my salads, flatbread wraps, breakfasts, and snacks.
Only true blueberry lovers know this, but there are dozens of different varieties of blueberries, each of which has a distinct characteristic, but the U.S. is known for high bush plants, which are taller. Years ago on a trip to Sweden, I discovered that they have wild low bush blueberries which grow in the forest. They’re so small, people have developed a plastic, hand-shaped contraption with grooved teeth to pick them with so you don’t have to stoop too far down. The berries are super tiny, but delicious!
In Michigan, blueberry farms dot the coast along the lake shore, where it’s temperate and the soil is sandy. You can buy picked berries by the box if you’re pressed for time, or you can pick your own, which is great fun if you don’t mind touristy things and have some time to kill. The farmer hands out buckets on straps so you can sling them over your shoulder, (thus keeping your hands free for picking) and sends you out to the part of the grove where the bushes are ready.
At my favorite blueberry farm, there’s a huge hand painted sign posted at the entrance to the groves that says “Please do NOT throw the Berries!” I guess that’s a thing, throwing berries. It can start innocently enough, with a little toss up into the air to see if you can catch a berry in your mouth, then it might progress to aiming a berry, just one or two, at some unsuspecting friend, until it becomes an all-out berry war made with precious, freshly-picked handfuls. It’s a downward spiral.
Not that I’ve ever done it. I prefer to enjoy my berries in more traditional ways: in pies, muffins, and especially in this fabulous quick breakfast flatbread wrap.
Even if all you have is a minute, you can wrap up a breakfast filled with creamy ricotta, crunchy nuts, banana and a handful of anti-oxidant rich blueberries that will be the envy of anyone who sees it. Blueberries make mornings fun!
-Amy at Flatout
