"A+ Salad"

Here's a really yummy summer salad that takes advantage of summer's bounty, using ripe peaches, peak-season blueberries, as well as a few radishes -- which I love but hardly know what to do with. My husband, who disses salads much of the time, had three helpings and graded it A+. Those sweet peaches and berries ought to make anyone swoon.

Summer salad

RECIPE: Peach, Radish and Blueberry Salad
Makes 5-6 servings

Ingredients
1/2 small red onion
4-5 ripe peaches, peeled (cover with boiling water for 30 seconds; peels will slide off)
4 radishes, very thinly sliced
1 cup blueberries
Vinaigrette made with olive oil and white wine vinegar (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup torn or chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese (or more to taste)
1/4 cup toasted nuts (I used a combo of pine nuts and pistachio, but almonds work too)

Instructions
Slice the onion as thinly as possible. Place sliced onions in a bowl of ice water for 5-10 minutes to remove any sharp flavor. Drain and pat dry.
Cut peaches in half and then slice thinly.
Place onions, peaches, radishes, blueberries and basil in a large bowl and toss with the vinaigrette. Add salt and pepper, if desired, to taste.
When serving, top each portion with some of the cheese and nuts.

Note: If you want, toss the finished product (before adding cheese and nuts) with some lettuce or baby spinach.

Another way to love on apples

My friend and co-author (for Whole Living Journal) Mary Ann Barnes, MD, contributed this rustic but delicious treat, which is also a snap to put together.
Mary Ann and I have been writing a column for the magazine -- called "The Healthy Foodie," big surprise! -- since 2005. Mary Ann also contributes to a website by that name; click here to read what she is up to.

This recipe that uses in-season apples and just-about-out-of-season blueberries will make your house smell marvelous as it bakes.

RECIPE:  Apple, Blueberry and Walnut Tarts

Serves 8

Ingredients and supplies:

2 pre-made pie crusts

Parchment paper

3 baking apples (such as Jonathan), cored and cut into large chunks

2 tablespoons lemon juice.  

1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries

2/3 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup natural sugar

3 tablespoons whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut parchment paper into 8 5-inch squares.

Roll each pie crust into a 12-inch square.  Cut each pie crust into quarters, about 6-inch squares.  Place one piece of pie crust onto a piece of parchment paper.  Press into a cup in a cupcake pan, molding pie crust onto the side, but keeping parchment paper from folding into dough.  Repeat until all eight cups are molded.

In a medium bowl, toss apple pieces with lemon juice.  Combine remaining ingredients and toss lightly to coat.  Divide apple mixture into each cup.  Fold dough down over apple mixture and sprinkle lightly with a pinch of natural sugar.

Bake for 35 – 40 minutes, or until crust is lightly brown.  Serving suggestion: top with Greek yogurt.  

Blueberry season! Try these blueberry & apple tarts

Although we can get blueberries year round nowadays, the really good ones start to come in around the middle of May. The season isn't actually all that long -- it goes until the end of August, max.
Blueberries are my favorite fruit and this time of year, I eat them obsessively.
My friend Mary Ann Barnes -- a healthy dessert specialist -- came up with this recipe. When the blueberry crop is plentiful, try it out!

RECIPE:  Blueberry, Apple and Walnut Tarts

Serves 8

Ingredients and supplies:

2 pre-made pie crusts

Parchment paper

3 baking apples (such as Jonathan), cored and cut into large chunks

2 tablespoons lemon juice.  

1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries

2/3 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup natural sugar

3 tablespoons whole wheat flour1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut parchment paper into 8 5-inch squares.

Roll each pie crust into a 12-inch square.  Cut each pie crust into quarters, about 6-inch squares.  Place one piece of pie crust onto a piece of parchment paper.  Press into a cup in a cupcake pan, molding pie crust onto the side, but keeping parchment paper from folding into dough.  Repeat until all eight cups are molded.

In a medium bowl, toss apple pieces with lemon juice.  Combine remaining ingredients and toss lightly to coat.  Divide apple mixture into each cup.  Fold dough down over apple mixture and sprinkle lightly with a pinch of natural sugar.

Bake for 35 – 40 minutes, or until crust is lightly brown.  Serving suggestion: top with Greek yogurt.  

More blueberries: Prosciutto and Melon with Blueberry Salad

To continue enjoying peak-of-season blueberries, try this refreshing appetizer or light lunch dish. The salty ham (prosciutto) contrasts with the melon, of course -- a classic combo -- and the addition of lightly dressed, fennel-enhanced blueberries adds another, marvelous dimension.

Recipe: Prosciutto and Melon with Blueberry Salad  
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 pint fresh blueberries
1 small fennel bulb, trimmed, cut in half vertically and thinly sliced
2 T olive oil
3 T fresh lime juice
2 T chopped parsley
Dash of salt
1 teaspoon grated lime zest
1 teaspoon fines-herbes or tarragon
12 thin sliced of prosciutto
12 wedges peeled cantaloupe or Tuscan melon

Instructions:
Place blueberries and sliced fennel in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together oil, lime juice, parsley, salt, lime zest and herbs. Pour dressing over blueberry mixture and let stand for 15 minutes.
On individual serving plates, arrange prosciutto slices and top with melon wedges. Spoon blueberry mixture over each plate and serve.

Loving Blueberries!

Chicken-Blueberry Salad

It's the peak season for my favorite fruit, now that Michigan blueberries have shown up in our local grocery stores. For about another month, there's no excuse not to eat loads of these perfect darlings every single day. While most of the time I'll have them in cereal, yogurt or mixed in with cubes of melon, with so many on hand it's good to have a variety of ways to enjoy them.

This chicken salad is light, healthy and perfectly balanced with savory-salty-sweet flavors.

Recipe: Chicken-Blueberry Salad
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 skinned and boned chicken breast halves
• 1 celery rib, chopped
• 1/2 cup sweet onion, diced
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 4 cups torn mixed salad greens
• 1 cup fresh blueberries 

Instructions:

• Whisk together first 6 ingredients. Reserve half of mixture, and chill.
• Place chicken in a shallow dish or heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; pour remaining mixture over chicken. Cover or seal, and chill at least 1 hour.
• Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Grill over medium-high heat (350° to 400°) 6 minutes on each side or until done. Cut into thin slices.
• Combine celery and next 3 ingredients; add reserved dressing, tossing to coat.
• Place chicken over greens. Top with celery mixture; sprinkle with berries.

Blueberry Mustard Sauce -- great with pork, chicken, even salmon

For my upcoming birthday, my BFF gave me a pile of blueberry products she got up in Michigan (a.k.a. blueberry heaven) -- she knows it's my favorite fruit.
One of the items was blueberry mustard, which set me on a quest to use some late-season berries in a somewhat unusual way.
If you don't have blueberry mustard, that's fine -- just use regular mustard in this recipe.
For company, I had it with grilled pork tenderloin, served here (in photo) on a bed of greens, mixed veggies and grains. The sauce received rave reviews!
I had enough leftover to sauce another dish; I popped it in the freezer for now and will likely use it with chicken or fish in a couple of weeks.

Recipe: Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Blueberry Mustard Sauce Serves 4
Ingredients:
One large pork tenderloin, about 1 1/4 pounds
3 T minced garlic
2 T canola oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 medium to large shallot, finely chopped
2 T olive oil
1 1/2 pints fresh blueberries
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 T mustard (or blueberry mustard)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 T sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:
In a flat bowl large enough to hold the tenderloin, mix together garlic and canola oil. Season pork with salt and pepper and place in bowl. Turn pork to coat all sides with garlic mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour and up to 6 hours. Remove pork from marinade and scrape off garlic bits (they will burn when grilled).
Preheat a grill until hot. Cook pork on medium-high heat to desired level of doneness.
While grill is heating, make the sauce:
Heat the olive oil in a medium frying pan and add the shallot. Stir and cook for about 3 minutes, until shallot starts to soften.
Stir in blueberries, wine and mustard. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 5 minutes, then uncover and increase heat to medium-high, letting mixture boil and give up some of its liquid. Add lemon juice, sugar and seasonings. Taste and adjust as needed, adding more sugar if you think it needs it.

Let pork sit on a cutting board for a few minutes after you remove it from the grill. Slice pork thickly (about 1 1/2 to 2 inches) and arrange on a platter. Top with a small amount of sauce, then pass the rest of the sauce in a gravy boat at the table.

Prosciutto & Melon with a twist

Blueberries are my favorite fruit, bar none. They're almost always sweet, don't need to be hulled and cut up like strawberries, no peeling required, and so forth. And of course their nutritional profile could not be better.
When they're in season -- NOW, but not for much longer -- I buy them by the quart and consume them daily. In summer, blueberries are an everyday feature of our breakfasts, no matter what else makes up that meal.

Here's something different to do with a pint of these luscious berries.

Recipe: Prosciutto and Melon with Blueberry Salad Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
1 pint fresh blueberries
1 small fennel bulb, trimmed, cut in half vertically and thinly sliced
2 T olive oil
3 T fresh lime juice
2 T chopped parsley
Dash of salt
1 teaspoon grated lime zest
1 teaspoon fines-herbes or tarragon
12 thin sliced of prosciutto
12 wedges peeled canteloupe or Tuscan melon

Instructions:
Place blueberries and sliced fennel in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together oil, lime juice, parsley, salt, lime zest and herbs. Pour dressing over blueberry mixture and let stand for 15 minutes.
On individual serving plates, arrange prosciutto slices and top with melon wedges. Spoon blueberry mixture over each plate and serve.