Meatless Monday: Celebrate Summer

Eat Well. Stay Safe. Don’t Let the Bugs Bite!

Summer is in full swing, and it’s time to head outdoors to enjoy the long sunny days with family and friends.

Much as I like to cook, my summer game plan includes spending as little time in the kitchen as possible. I make lots of salads, some whipped up with canned beans and condiments from the cupboard, others more elaborate and based on what produce has come into season at the farmer's market. My key to success is to make sure I always have fresh greens on hand for a salad base, and to make extra grains each time I cook so that I can easily turn a simple salad into a meal.

As promised here is a link to all my blog posts on salads to get you inspired. They are in chronological order beginning with last weeks’s recipe. I can almost guarantee that there is something in this list to appeal to even the pickiest eater.

• Three-Bean Salad 
• Farro Salad
• Last Days of Summer Salad Note: This is the perfect salad to make when local berries come into season. Don’t wait until September to try this.

The time is now for this Danish treat!

• Kale Salad
• How to Turn Any Salad into a Meal 
• Quinoa Salad
• Greek Cucumber Salad 
• Fred Harvey’s Coleslaw Note: This recipe, made popular by railroad restaurateur Fred Harvey, is simply delicious and particularly refreshing on a hot day — perfect for a 4th of July cookout!
• Hakurei Turnip Salad

Now that we have Salads covered, I want to share a couple of summer safety tips.

As tempting as it might be to run out the door and head to the beach without applying sunscreen or putting on a hat, keep in mind that in the northern hemisphere the sun’s rays are the longest and most powerful at this time of year. Unprotected exposure to intense sunlight increases the risk of skin cancer, particularly between the hours of 10 am and 2 pm. Be warned that while some sunscreens are long lasting and do what is promised on the label, others are inadequate. Each year the watchdog Environmental Working Group tests and rates sunscreens on the market; here is the link to this year’s list. Good Guide is another useful consumer tool, rating products based on safety, health, and environmental factors. See how your sunscreen performs here.

And don’t forget the dangers from insect bites. Even though I don’t plan to hit the tropics, the Zika virus has been on my mind. I visited the CDC website to see what they recommend for insect repellants and I discovered this excellent fact sheet. I then checked out the latest recommendations from Consumer Reports and I learned there was one repellant, Sawyer Picaridin, that is effective for at least eight hours against the mosquitoes that transmit the Zika virus, the Culex mosquitoes (which can spread West Nile virus), AND deer ticks (which can spread Lyme Disease). Here is the link to the report. Sawyer Picaridin can be purchased on Amazon as well as in a number of big box retailers; here is a store locator.

I'm all ready to enjoy some time outside the kitchen. I hope you are, too.

Eat well. Stay safe. Don’t let the bugs bite!

Happy Summer! Happy Meatless Monday.

On Mondays I often blog on food, food issues, or gardening in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”

Meatless Monday: Happy Fourth of July!

Just in time for your holiday celebration, here is the coleslaw recipe I promised you a while back. It is based on a recipe from a column by Cecily Brownstone which appeared in the New Haven Register, back in the days when everyone read the paper. According to Brownstone, the salad was “made famous by the Santa Fe Railway restaurateur Fred Harvey.”

FRED HARVEY COLE SLAW

Shred one medium head of cabbage and one small onion. 

Cover with 1/2 cup sugar. 

Combine in a small saucepan: 

1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 tablespoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard, 

1/2 teaspoon celery seed, 1/2 cup peanut oil, 1/2 cup vinegar

Bring to a boil.

Pour over shredded vegetables.

Cover and refrigerate.

Let stand at least 4 hours before serving.

My tweaks:

Use a medium Vidalia onion.

Shred two medium-sized carrots along with the other veggies.

Cut the salt by half.

Substitute canola oil for peanut (being mindful of those with allergies).

Note: I have only made this using white vinegar.

Cabbage is readily available year-round. It stores well in the vegetable bin of the refrigerator, so it is easy to keep on hand. It is inexpensive (as are the other ingredients in this slaw), a big plus when feeding  a crowd. Cabbage is an excellent source of Vitamins C and K and other nutrients, is low in calories, is purported to have a number of disease-preventing properties, and is Number 11 on the 2011 “Clean 15” List, recently released by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). What this means is that conventionally-grown cabbage is one of the vegetables lowest in residual pesticides. [For more on EWG, the “Dirty Dozen,” and the “Clean 15,” see last year’s post.] Be sure to check out the EWG site where you can download your own pocket guide.

I’m sure you are aware that Meatless Monday falls on July 4th this year. Just so you know, I had this post worked out way before Mark Bittman wrote about it in the New York Times and everyone tweeted it all over. Yes, this coming Monday may be a tough Monday to go meatless, especially if you are at a traditional cook-out as someone else’s guest. It’s certainly not the easiest day to begin the Meatless Monday habit.

But take this advice from someone who often rides the guilt train. Don’t be too hard on yourself. If you’re an omnivore and find yourself craving a big, juicy, burger, just go meatless on Tuesday this week instead. [Chances are that you are going meatless more than once a week anyway.] Enjoy your Fourth, wherever you are, and whatever you happen to eat. 

Have a good week, and please come back soon for more food facts, recipes, and my latest edible discoveries.

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal  health and the health of our planet.”