Summery Peach Salsa

With every new season comes a new crop of produce, and summer provides the best array of flavorful fruits to add to your meals. Summer fruits are great in salads and make for refreshing and healthy desserts.

An important thing to remember when eating your fruits is to incorporate a nice array of colors. Each fruit provides a different variety of vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals your body needs to maintain good health. Below are some of the fruits and veggies that are available locally at the farmers market. Eating seasonally and locally is good for you and the environment. This salsa recipe is a creative way to enjoy peaches as a snack or as a great garnish on any fish, chicken, or veggie burger.


Ingredients

2 tomatoes, chopped

2/3 cup onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup fresh peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped
1/2 cup pears, peeled, cored and chopped
1/8 cup green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/8 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped

1/4 cup balsamic Vinegar

2 tablespoons agave nectar
1/4 cup cilantro
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions
In a large saucepan, bring to a boil the tomatoes, onions, peaches, pears, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, agave and vinegar. Reduce heat. Stirring frequently, simmer for an hour, or until volume is reduced by half. Store in the
refrigerator until use.


Fruits to include in your diet this summer
Watermelon
This refreshing, crispy pink fruit is a great low-calorie snack! Perfect for a hot summer day, the thirst-quenching fruit is packed with vitamin C. Try making a watermelon slushy. Puree watermelon in the blender, pour it into Dixie cups with spoons facing down and freeze for a couple of hours. Just a few minutes of work gives you a healthy, kid-friendly dessert!

Strawberries, Blueberries and Raspberries
They are great for smoothies, fruit salads and dessert. Nearly all berries are super foods. You can even use these delicious berries in oat muffins, making for a fast and yummy breakfast!

Cantaloupe
These golden yellow melons are delicious! Plus, orange and yellow fruits contain high amounts of vitamin C as well as carotenoids and bioflavonoids. Cantaloupe is great for the immune system, and the beta carotenes will improve your eye sight.

Cherries
Cherries are best to buy when they are bright red or deep purple, firm and glossy. Naturally red foods have been shown to improve heart health and memory function. Foods with vibrant color provide the most nutrition.

Peaches and Nectarines
Make sure to buy your peaches and nectarines when the flesh is firm, as they tend to get ripe fast! Try the peach salsa recipe above over grilled chicken or fish.

A Healthy Fourth Of July Treat

Makes 10 servings

 There are so many creative treats that you can make with a watermelon.This watermelon cake is perfect for the those hot summer days when you want to avoid using the oven. It’s hydrating, packed with electrolytes, and is great for any BBQ or picnic. Your kids will love this patriotic cake, so get creative and experiment with different fruit combinations to add to its festive appeal. Or if you want something easy just cube , juice and freeze in popsicle holders

Ingredients:

I large seedless watermelon

2 large wooden skewers

1 quart strawberries with their stems removed

1 pint blueberries

1 large  pineapple peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch triangles,

1 ½ pounds seedless green grapes

2 large oranges, peeled and sliced into ¼ inch thick quarter-moons

3-4 kiwifruit, peeled and sliced into ½-inch-thick cross sections

1 box toothpicks

Directions:

1. Cut the watermelon about 2 inches from each end. Remove the outer skin of the watermelon and slice into circular layers. The first layer should be about 8 inches in diameter, decreasing the size of each subsequent layer about 2 inches. When finished, you should have three slices of watermelon, 8, 6, 4 and 3 inches in diameter. 

2. Arrange the watermelon layers on top of one another. The smallest layer should be on top.

3. Use skewers to hold the layers in place. Place the skewers so that they are not visible.

4. Using toothpicks, fasten additional fruit to the cake

5. Slice the “fruit cake” how you would for any other cake or pie and avoid the skewers as you eat and enjoy this refreshing summer snack.

Watermelon

Watermelon is sweetest during the summer. It makes the perfect summer snack that’s both hydrating and packed with electrolytes, including potassium and sodium, which we loss when we sweat. Watermelon is an excellent source of carotenoids, especially lycopene, which has powerful antioxidant properties. In fact, it contains more lycopene than any other raw fruit or vegetable. Watermelon is packed with B vitamins that are essential for energy production. Additionally, watermelon seeds are a great plant source of protein if you want to juice the whole watermelon