Cooling Summer Food
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The food we eat can have a warming or cooling effect on the body. Besides drinking plenty of water to hydrate your system, in the hot summer months it's wise to the eat foods that can naturally cool the body and keep you from overheating.
Foods that contain a high water content are generally considered cooling foods. Most fruits and vegetables fall into this category and can include:
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Summer Squash
Zucchini
Bell Peppers
Eggplant
Lettuces
String Beans
Watermelon
Berries
Plums
Cherries
Nectarines
Peaches, etc.
Land animals on the other hand, have warming properties (beef, chicken, eggs, turkey, duck, buffalo), but most fish and seafood (sea vegetables too!) are cooling to the body and are a great addition to a summer diet.
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Food Focus: Lettuce
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It's important to be able to recognize the different varieties of lettuce when shopping at your local market. It's amazing how many different varieties there actually are! Here's a brief primer of the most popular ones that are available in my local farmer's market. Knowing them and being able to recognize which ones you like best are well worth it!
arugula: known as the rocket plant, used in cooking. Origin 1970s: from Italian dialect, ultimately a diminutive of Latin eruca, 'downy-stemmed plant'.
chicory: (1) a blue-flowered Mediterranean plant of the daisy family, cultivated for its edible salad leaves and carrot-shaped root. The root of this plan, which is roasted and ground for use as an additive to or substitute for coffee. (2) another term for endive. Origin late Middle English; from obsolete French cicoree; 'endive' via Latin from Greek kikhorion.
frisee: the curly endive. Origin: French.
mesclun: (also mesclun salad) a salad made from a selection of lettuces with other edible leaves such as dandelion greens, mustard greens, and radicchio. Origin: Provencal, literally 'mixture', from mesclar 'mix thoroughly.'
mizuna: (also mizuna greens) an oriental rape of a variety with finely cut leaves that are eaten as a salad vegetable. Origin 1990s: from Japanese.
mustard greens: the leaves of the mustard plant used in salads.
radicchio: chicory of a variety that has dark red leaves. Origin: Italian.
rape: a plant of the cabbage family with bright yellow, heavily scented flowers, esp, a variety (oilseed rape) grown for its oil-rich seed and as stockfeed. Also called cole, colza. Origin: late Middle English (originally denoting the turnip plant): from Latin rapum, rapa 'turnip.'
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Recipes of the Month:
Flower filled Mesclun Salad
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Makes 4 Servings
- 5 ounces (8 cups) mesclun greens
- 6 ounces soft, fresh goat cheese, crumbled
- 3/4 C chopped walnuts, toasted
- 3 strawberries, hulled (tops removed) and sliced thinly
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon) or fruit-infused balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp maple syrup or agave nectar
- unrefined sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- edible flowers for garnish -- pansies, nasturtiums, chive blossoms, for example
Directions:
Toast walnuts in a medium hot saute pan until fragrant. Take off the heat and keep warm in the pan until ready to serve.
Whisk together in a small bowl olive oil, lemon or vinegar, maple syrup or agave nectar with a dash of sea salt and a grind of pepper until combined.
Add greens to dressing and toss to coat. Plate and garnish with walnuts, goat cheese and strawberries. Add another smidge of sea salt and freshly ground pepper on top of each plate to bring out the flavors even more. Place edible flowers either on top of the salad or around the plate. Serve immediately.
Tricolor Salad with Creamy Raspberry Dressing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - 2 Belgium endives or white part of curly chicory
- 1 head radicchio
- 1 bunch arugola
Dressing:
- 1 10-ounce package Mori Nu Silken Tofu
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 3 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Wash and dry salad greens. Arrange them over the individual salad platters. Combine dressing ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Drizzle dressing over the greens
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