Fruits and Veggies... What's in Season in the Summer?

What’s in season for the summer (June, July, August)???

Remember, you can enjoy the taste of any fruit or vegetable year-round.
Fresh, frozen, dried, and 100% juice (no more than 1 serving of juice per day) - it all counts! Try to get 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies daily for maximum health benefits.


Apricots
Asian Pear
Beets
Black Currants
Bell Peppers
Blackberries
Blueberries
Boysenberries
Breadfruit
Butter Lettuce
Cantaloupe
Casaba Melon
Champagne Grapes
Chayote Squash
Cherries
Cherries, Sour
Corn
Crenshaw Melon
Crookneck Squash
Cucumbers
Durian
Eggplant
Elderberries
Endive
Figs
Garlic
Grapefruit
Grapes
Green Beans
Green Soybeans (Edamame)
Honeydew Melons
Jackfruit
Jalapeno Peppers
Key Limes
Lima Beans
Limes
Loganberries
Longan
Loquat
Lychee
Manoa Lettuce
Mulberries
Nectarines
Okra
Passion Fruit
Peaches
Peas
Persian Melon
Plums
Radishes
Raspberries
Sapodillas
Shallots
Strawberries
Sugar Apple
Sugar Snap Peas
Summer Squash
Tomatillo
Tomatoes
Watermelon
Yukon Gold Potatoes
Zucchini

This list was developed with the help of the amazing wesite www.fruitsandveggiesmorematter.org Visit it for great recipes, info, tips and all things fruits and veggies!

Delicious Anytime Marinade

Summer is in full swing and that means... its time to get grilling!!! Marinating with lemon & olive oil decreases HCA's by 71% according to research in the Journal of Food Science!*

HCA's= Heterocyclic Amines- chemicals produced by the grilling of meat. HCA's are on the NIH's list of "reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens".

Marinade Ingredients:
Juice of 1 lemon
grated lemon rind
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1-2 garlic gloves, crushed
1 tbsp honey
optional- saffron

Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients togther. Get the kids involved! Kids can help turn the pepper mill, stir the ingredients, squeeze the lemon, etc.

Use marinade on chicken, fish, tofu, or whatever you dream up!

*Other ways to decrease HCA's- grill veggies (no HCA's at all); limit meat consumption, avoid burning/charring meat, opt for beef or fish on the grill (chicken has been shown to produce 2-7 times the amount of HCA's).

Be a Smart Shopper...

Hot off the press! EWG just came out with their 2011 Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce (Clean 15 & Dirty Dozen). You can download and print a copy of the pdf version of this guide. I keep a copy in my wallet and use it while in the grocery store to help make wise choices while I am shopping. www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/