Get the kids involved in making and munching on these sweet skewers. These will also garner many praises if served at a backyard barbecue party. Other stellar fruit additions would be kiwi, pineapple, apricots, and mango.
Extra credit
Scientists at Texas A&M University believe phytochemicals in peaches, such as chlorogenic acid, could be toxic to breast cancer cells.
1 cup (250 mL) fresh strawberries, halved
2 bananas, cut into 1/2 in (1.25 cm) pieces
2 ripe peaches, each sliced into 8 wedges
8 - 8 in (20 cm) bamboo skewers
2 oz (57 g) 70% (or higher) dark chocolate, chopped
Thread fruit alternately onto bamboo skewers, using about 2 pieces of each fruit per skewer.
Place fruit skewers in single layer on baking sheet, making sure they don’t touch each other. Place in freezer for 1 hour or until fruit is frozen.
Before serving, melt chocolate in double boiler or heatproof bowl set over pan of lightly simmering water, stirring often. Alternatively, microwave chocolate in large microwave-safe bowl in 20 to 30 second increments, stirring after each interval until everything is melted. Drizzle frozen fruit skewers with melted chocolate and return to freezer until ready to serve.
Just before serving, let skewers rest at room temperature for a couple of minutes to slightly soften frozen fruit.
Serves 4.
Each serving contains: 183 calories; 3 g protein; 7 g total fat (4 g sat. fat, 0 g trans fat); 31 g carbohydrates; 5 g fibre; 4 mg sodium
source: "The Big Chill", alive #358, August 2012
Lime juice and ginger add a tropical whiff to this French-Japanese mashup, where seaweed tendrils and Dijon mustard bring out the umami flavours in mushrooms and eggplant. The ingredients might seem to be strange bedfellows, but they work. The result is somewhere between a quiche and a soufflé, with a gluten-free eggplant crust featuring punchy mustard and citrus. This makes for a hearty vegetarian main for brunch, lunch, or dinner with a side salad, or a filling side dish. Fresh or dried If you don’t have fresh thyme and parsley, use 1 tsp (5 mL) dried thyme (divided) and 1 Tbsp (15 mL) dried parsley. The flavours won’t be as pungent, but a little flavour is better than none.
These are the perfect two-bite appetizers. Though the first bite likely won’t “wow” you, the more you chew, the more the salt from the dulse soaks into the avocado and tomato. Wait for it. You can also turn these into breakfast à la avocado toast by substituting a piece of your favourite bread for a slice of baguette. What’s in a name? Theoretically, this should be called a “DLTA” because of the avocado (dulse, lettuce, tomato, and avocado). And if you left out the lettuce, you’d have a “DTA.” A DTA would arguably be a better overall eating experience, since lettuce slightly waters down the rich and creamy result and makes it harder to keep the tomatoes from sliding off the top of the crostini. But the juicy lettuce is actually helpful, since it spreads the salt from the dulse throughout the entire bite, making the “wow” moment come sooner. Besides, neither DLTA nor DTA is as fun an acronym as DLT.
This triple-threat recipe is made with (up to) three types of seaweed. Wakame is essential for the pesto, but kombu boosts the umami punch of sautéed garlic and cherry tomatoes, while kelp noodles are a low-carb substitute for flour-based noodles. Because kelp noodles can be hard to find (you’ll likely need to order them online), feel free to use your favourite boxed linguine, zucchini noodles, shirataki konjac, tofu, or yam noodles instead. You can also leave out the vongole (clams) to keep the recipe plant-based, or use mussels, which are usually more affordable than clams. Both clams and mussels are generally sustainable, as, like seaweed, they’re farmed without feed or antibiotics, unlike many farmed fish operations. Double-duty pesto Make a double batch of seaweed pesto, and enjoy it with eggs, scrambled tofu, or toast.
Spicy popcorn? You bet. This Japanese seven-spice blend combines salty and spicy notes for a healthy snack. If you don’t make your own togarashi, check the container before adding it to your popcorn to make sure it doesn’t contain salt. For an even simpler recipe, skip the togarashi and just grind a few pieces of nori and a pinch of salt in a blender or spice grinder to sprinkle on your popcorn instead. If you’re fresh out of nori, you can always grind wakame, arame, or dulse instead, leaving out the pinch of salt for dulse or any seaweed you taste and find already salty. Shichimi togarashi This customizable spice blend generally features sansho pepper, a.k.a. Japanese prickly ash, a green peppercorn with a citrusy taste, along with seaweed flakes, chili pepper, and dried citrus peel—often yuzu or mandarin orange. If you can’t find sansho, look for Sichuan peppercorn, which has a slightly stronger mouth-tingling effect. You can buy dried orange, mandarin, or tangerine peel. Or you can dehydrate your own, in which case you might as well dehydrate a 1/8 in (3 mm) thick piece of fresh ginger along with the peel. If you can’t handle a lot of chili pepper heat, reduce the pepper to your taste.