Summer Fruits — Nature’s Fast Food
Need food fast? Go for nature’s version – summer fruit! Summertime offers a rich bounty of delicious fast food – blueberries, nectarines, watermelon, cherries, apricots, and more. Just grab, eat, and you’re ready to go.
Fresh fruit is an excellent way to hydrate and refuel on a hot summer day. Summer fruits are bursting with juicy goodness because they’re usually grown closer to home, so they have more time to vine ripen and develop their magnificent flavors.
Keep plenty of summer fruit on hand and make it readily available. Here are some ideas that will get you noshing on fresh fruit whenever you’re hungry.
- Keep a fruit bowl within reach and fill it with peaches, plums, and nectarines.
- Cut melon into bite-size pieces and put it in the refrigerator.
- Have a bowl of washed cherries and grapes within reach in the refrigerator.
- Freeze grapes and serve as a refreshing snack when you’re hot and thirsty.
- Thinly slice fresh nectarines or peaches and serve over pancakes or waffles with 100% pure maple syrup.
- Add thin slices of nectarines and blueberries to a green salad. Toss in a handful of pecans for crunch and added protein.
- Serve fruit sorbet topped with fresh fruit for a refreshing low-fat dessert.
- Fresh fruit adds a burst of flavor to countless foods. Try adding a handful of fresh fruit to vanilla yogurt, oatmeal, and breakfast cereals.
Do you have kids? Fruit salad is a delicious way to entice them to eat more fruit while loading them up with powerful phytonutrients. Involve them in the preparation and they’ll be more likely to partake in the feast.
When you go to the Farmers Market, let your kids have fun choosing the fruit for your salad. Farmer’s Market fruit is usually the freshest and has traveled the fewest miles to reach your table.
Use any combination of the following; watermelon, cantaloupe, blueberries, cherries, grapes, peaches, plums, and nectarines. Once you have gathered all the ingredients, have your kids help cut and prepare the fruit using an appropriate knife. Even a plastic knife will cut some of the softer fruit. Keep in mind that peaches, apricots, and nectarines will quickly oxidize and turn brown. A sprinkle of lemon juice over these fruits will help prevent this from happening. Toss and it’s ready to eat!
This summer, refuel and hydrate with fresh fruit. No need to reach for prepackaged, low-nutrition snack foods or hit the drive-thru, choose nature’s original fast food, a piece of yummy fruit.
