Summer Salad Days
Labor Day Picnic Salads: Tomatoes
This week’s newsletter is themed around easy picnic salads, featuring the end-of-summer favorite, tomatoes. Tomatoes, which are actually a fruit and not a vegetable, are loaded with all kinds of health benefits for the body. They are in fact, a highly versatile health product and due to their equally versatile preparation options, there’s really no reason to neglect the tomato as part of a healthy diet
One of the most well known tomato eating benefit is its’ Lycopene content. Lycopene is a vital anti-oxidant that helps in the fight against cancerous cell formation as well as other kinds of health complications and diseases.
Free radicals in the body can be flushed out with high levels of Lycopene, and the tomato is so amply loaded with this vital anti-oxidant that it actually derives its rich redness from the nutrient.
Lycopene is not a naturally produced element within the body and the human body requires sources of Lycopene in order to make use of this powerful anti-oxidant. While other fruits and vegetables do contain this necessary health ingredient, no other fruit or vegetable has the high concentration of Lycopene that the tomato takes pride in. Tomatoes also boast high levels of vitamin C (Don’t forget the green ones – try a pan “fried” green tomato salad too)!
Here are a few of our favorite healthy recipes from the south and southwest – enjoy the last hot days of summer with local salads!
Southwestern Black Bean Salad
- 3 large ears of corn, husked
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed
- 2 cups shredded red cabbage, (see Tip)
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 1/2 cup minced red onion
- 1 head butter lettuce, town into bite size pieces
- Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a Dutch oven. Add corn, cover and cook until just tender, about 3 minutes. When cool enough to handle, cut the kernels from the cobs using a sharp knife.
- Meanwhile, place pine nuts in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat and cook, stirring, until fragrant and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes.
- Whisk lime juice, oil, cilantro, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the corn, pine nuts, beans, cabbage, tomato and onion; toss to coat. Refrigerate until ready to serve on top of torn lettuce.
Nutrition Facts Per Serving (4 Servings): 410 calories; 16 g fat ( 2 g sat , 8 g mono ); 0 mg cholesterol; 57 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 16 g protein; 13 g fiber; 477 mg sodium; 537 mg potassium.
Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (80% daily value), Iron (25% dv), Vitamin A (20% dv), Potassium (15% dv).
Recipe From: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/southwestern_corn_black_bean_salad.html
- 1 pound pork tenderloin
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 1 egg, well beaten
- 2 small green tomatoes, sliced 1/2-inch thick
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup watercress
- 2 ounces crumbled blue cheese
- 1/3 cup bottled sweet and sour sauce (or red pepper jelly, warmed, and mixed with 1 to 2 Tbsp. cider vinegar)
- Use breadcrumbs in place of cornmeal to coat tomatoes and replace blue cheese with shaved Parmesan cheese.
Recipe From:
http://www.bhg.com/recipe/pan-seared-pork-fried-green-tomato-salad/
Labor Day Picnic Ideas
This labor day weekend, take a hike! A new tradition might form – join the Healthy Communities Walking Program this weekend on Monday, September 2nd, at the Eddy Discovery Center at 10:00 am (registration 9:30) for their Annual Labor Day Walk! We’ve included a few more late-summer, no-cook salads featuring ripe tomatoes to bring to a picnic at the park:
5-Minute Salad: Goat Cheese, Herb and White Bean
- salad greens (about 8 cups)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes (about 28)
- 1 cup canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 ounces goat cheese (about 1/2 cup)
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, torn, or 1 teaspoon dried basil
Panzanella Salad
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8 ounces stale bread (3 to 4 days old), sliced*
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Cold water, as needed
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4 vine-ripened tomatoes or Roma tomatoes, chopped
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1 small red onion, chopped medium fine
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1 European cucumber, halved and sliced into half moons
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2 handfuls fresh basil
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Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
New Vendor Offerings this Week:
Seasonal Vendors
Check out the customer loyalty program and organic coffee beans from fresh, and Tantre Farm has returning fall favorites: arugula, spicy greens, fall red raspberries and French Breakfast radishes.
* Ingredient for In-Season Recipe
Beverly’s Crafts and More – Pillows, baked goods, body cream, soap, granola, tarts and pies – newest addition is strawberry cheesecake in a jar!
Frog Hollar Farms – Produce, home-baked breads and cakes, crafts, cut flowers, and more
Kapnick Farms: Tart cherries, raspberries, peaches, blueberries, maybe baking apples, fudge and baked sweet rolls. New this week for Kapnicks, red haven peaches, paula red apples, shiro plums and maybe some blackberries. Still lots of sweet blueberries and flaming fury peaches.
Greystone Creamery: feta, possibly ricotta, Man-chel cheese, possibly cow Gouda, Chelsea-cam, Rosy-cam, blue Man-chel, sheep Gouda, butternut, garlic pepper and plain cream cheese.
La Baguette – French breads and baked goods
Janet’s LLC: grilling rubs, jam, flavored nuts, suckers, cajun butter, spices to make flavored butter, U-M and MSU dolls, and greeting cards.
Mama Mo: hummus and seitan. Hummus flavors include ginger squash, tan/cran orange, sesame chive satay, kalamata rosemary, black pepper walnut, roasted pepper, horseradish, roasted garlic, traditional, lemon zest, curry lime, tomato basil, onion dill, roasted beet, wasabi, jalapeno, chipotle. Seitan flavors include: nuggets, traditional, fajita strips, Italian fennel sausage, breakfast sage sausage, vegan BBQ, BBQ, roast.
Merkel Gardens & Greenhouses – Hanging baskets, flats and produce (tomatoes, greens, onions)
Stone Hearth Breads and Bakery: pumpernickel, German rye and German rye seeded, Italian Milano, honey whole wheat, San Francisco sourdough, assorted cookies and buns, four-cheese pepperoni rolls, spinach feta cheese bread, multi-grain bread, country loaf, cheese bread, rosemary herb and tomato basil bread, four-cheese bread sticks, jalapeno cheese bread and assorted sweet breads — including cinnamon, cinnamon raisin, strawberry white chocolate, peach pecan, wild blueberry cream cheese, Reuben rolls, and bacon cheddar beer bread.
Tantre Farm – Organic Produce:Arugula,Beans (Tongue of Fire, Yellow), Beets (Chioggia – bulls eye, red), Blackberries, Broccoli, *Cabbage (Green) , Carrots, Swiss Chard, Collard Greens, Corn (Sweet), Cucumbers, Eggplant, Fennel Bulb, *Garlic bulbs, Kale (Green Curly, Lacinato, Red Russian), Kohlrabi, Leeks, Lettuce, Melons, Mushrooms (Shiitake), *Onions (Green, Red, Yellow, White), Peaches, Peppers (sweet green bell, hot -mixed, jalapeno, padrom, poblano/ancho, sweet romanian, sweet red bell, sweet red carman, shishito hot), Potatoes (blue, red, Yukon gold), Radishes (French Breakfast), Summer Squash, Tomatoes (cherry/grape, heirloom, sauce/plum, slicing), Watermelon (red & yellow), Zucchini (green & yellow).
Daily Vendors
Bee Well – Soaps, heated neck pillows, jewelry and gourds
Country Hills Pottery – Vases, bowls and more!
Duane Bordine – Snap dragons, gladiolas and pin cushion flowers
Dancy’s Fancy Butter – Sweet and savory flavored butters
Fairview Studios – New Harvest and Expansion wreaths,medicine wheels, Tarot owls, and five types of freshly-bundled smudge
Renovatio Woodworks – Furniture and art from salvaged wood
