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I love berry season. It is way too short, in my book. Someday I definitely want several berry bushes in my yard both for us and for the lovely birds they attract! Right now, where I live, blueberries are in season. I try to buy enough blueberries to dry and keep on hand all year, but the big baskets we get at the farmer’s market rarely get as far as the dehydrator before they get eaten!
At only 81 calories a cup, blueberries are relatively low in calories for the flavor punch they pack. They also have anthocyanins, which provide their color. Anthocyanins work together with vitamin C to neutralize free radical damage to your tissues and work with your body to repair collagen for healthy skin and connective tissues. Unfortunately, anthocyanins don’t survive the canning process, so be sure to freeze or dry (at low heat) extra berries. Blueberries have even more antioxidant action than red wine, so the teetotalers among us needn’t feel shortchanged!
Of course, berries are delicious in pancakes and muffins, but can turn your food strange colors when they are cooked. In acids (lemon juice, vinegar) they can turn reddish. In base combinations (baking soda), they can turn an even darker blue. If your muffin batter has too much baking soda, the blueberries will turn the batter greenish blue! But, to preserve the vitamin C in the berries and keep the B vitamins from leaching out, it’s best to eat these gems raw. Wash berries immediately before eating to protect them from spoilage.
We use dried blueberries to combat diarrhea and urinary tract infections. A tea of a few teaspoons of dried blueberries steeped in boiling water can be enjoyed a couple times a day. The tannins in the blueberries stop diarrhea very effectively, and the acids in the berries will keep bacteria from adhering to the urinary tract and colon (much like cranberry juice, but tastier!) There has been some research indicating one of the bacteria blueberries repel particularly well is our old nemesis, E. Coli.
Blueberries are a classic pairing with peaches, which are just coming into season here. I made this salad for lunch the other day. It combines fresh peaches with chicken leftover from making stock, some standard salad ingredients and is topped with blueberries. The dressing complements the fresh flavors with cinnamon and lemon.
Peachy Chicken Salad
serves 6 as a main course salad
1 head organic green leaf lettuce
1 thinly organic red onion
2 small organic cucumbers
3 ripe organic peaches
4 cups cooked pastured chicken
1 1/2 cups organic blueberries
For dressing:
juice of 3 organic lemons
rind of 1 organic lemon, grated
1/2 cup extra virgin organic olive oil
1 teaspoon flax oil
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
2 teaspoons organic cinnamon
1/4 cup creme fraiche
Combine the dressing ingredients in a pint jar, screw the lid on tightly and shake to combine. Set aside.
Wash all fruits and vegetables and chop small, leaving blueberries whole. Chop chicken into small pieces. Toss all fruits and veggies together in a bowl with chicken except blueberries. Serve salad, stream dressing over and top with blueberries.
A word on organic ingredients: Blueberries and peaches are on the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list, onions are on the clean fifteen. I would not use the rind of a non-organic lemon for eating.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop. Hey, lookie there…blueberries!
Boy, that Kimi Harris sure can cook! I love the budget-friendly recipes she features on her site, The Nourishing Gourmet. This salad is perfect for this time of year, featuring fresh, seasonal veggies from my farmer’s market, sprouted lentils and a homemade dressing. Here‘s her recipe.
I did two things differently than the original recipe. The first was to sprout the lentils. Just about any grain or legume can be sprouted, and it is well worth the extra step for the increased nutrition you’ll reap! Lentils on their own have a very good protein profile, deficient in just two amino acids, and these two are boosted greatly by sprouting. The other thing I changed was to cook the lentils in homemade chicken stock rather than water. I work hard to get stock into as many meals as possible here because of its tremendous health benefits.
I topped the salad off with some ricotta cheese I had leftover in the fridge. Feta would have been better, but ricotta’s what I had.
A Tuesday Twister post, at Gnowfglins!
One complaint I hear often when I recommend grassfed meats is how expensive they are. Now, it’s true that compared to CAFO-produced, GMO grain-fed, mass produced beef, $26 for two New York Strip Steaks might seem expensive. But, when those two steaks feed seven people with leftovers, the overall cost drops considerably. As part of a meal that costs only $3.75 per person, they become a bargain! And, in the meantime, we are supporting a local farmer, encouraging carbon sequestration, and eating some pretty fine meat.
Steak Salad for Eight
6 cups lettuce leaves, washed and torn
1 organic red bell pepper, washed and chopped
1 bunch organic asparagus, washed and tough ends trimmed
2 New York Strip Steaks (about 1-1/2 inches thick, just less than two pounds total)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
bowl of ice water
1 organic lemon, juiced and rind grated
1/3 cup organic extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon flax oil
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup créme fraiche
Put an inch of water in a pan large enough to hold the asparagus in a single layer. Add a pinch of salt and bring the water to a boil. Put the oven rack on the lowest level and turn the oven on very high, 550° is the setting I used. Rub a tiny bit of lard on an oven-safe pan and put the pan in the oven while it preheats.
Add the asparagus to the boiling water and cook three minutes, then remove it from the boiling water and plunge into ice water to stop cooking immediately. Drain and pat the asparagus dry.
Add the steaks to the pan and sprinkle the tops with salt and pepper. Cook five minutes, then flip, reseason and return to the oven for another four minutes.
Let the steaks rest at room temperature for two to three minutes while you assemble the salad on the plates and make the salad dressing. Whisk together the juiced lemon with its grated peel, oils and honey. Stir in créme fraiche. Slice the steaks thinly against the grain and serve atop the salad.
Hey, while you’re here…Now that you’ve seen one beautiful dish made with local grassfed beef from a small-scale farm, won’t you drop by this post and read about how local beef is in danger of being regulated out of existence? It’s a very important post, and will only take a minute of your time. Thanks!
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
Sometimes, I confess, the seasons just don’t move quickly enough for me. It’s been a long winter full of winter squash and dark leafy greens, beef and bread. The only fruits have been a touch of citrus, but it’s not grown locally, so not often; lots and lots of delicious apples in the most amazing varieties; a few pears early on; and loads of dried fruit. The few packages of frozen fruit I was able to put aside went very quickly for smoothies and yogurt topping.
It finally got to a point this week where I could take no more. We’ve already had our first 93° day, the air conditioner has already kicked on once or twice, the garden is in and sprouting, and organic strawberries arrived at the store. I chose Florida-grown over California-grown: even if they are grown at the furthest tip of Florida, that’s “only” 1000 miles from here. Read here about why it’s so very important to choose organic strawberries.
And it was worth every mile. Every single bite was densely flavorful and absolutely sang of spring! I probably won’t indulge again until the foods of springtime are available locally, but it was just the lift my heart needed. And while I try not to eat foods shipped at great distance or out of season, the exception is all the more a special occasion.
The orange juice took much of the “avocado” flavor out of the dressing, so even my avocado-haters didn’t threaten revolt. The dandelion greens (so very plentiful this time of year) provided a nice bite to the sweetness in the rest of the salad. This fed all 7 of us, but if you love salad, it might only serve 4.
Early Spring Salad
3 green onions, just the white part, sliced
1 avocado, peeled and pitted
2 oranges, juiced
1 large handful foraged (unsprayed) dandelion greens
1 head romaine lettuce
6 boiled eggs, shelled and sliced (we used leftover Easter eggs!)
12 organic strawberries, washed and hulled
Combine onions, avocado and orange juice in blender. Season as desired with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Tear greens and toss in large salad bowl. Divide greens among plates, top with eggs, strawberries and a dab of dressing.
I’m guest blogging at Nourished Kitchen today while Jenny takes a long walk on a sunny beach. Not jealous. Nope.
Come visit and read about my six favorite local winter salads, including this one:
