Summer is upon us! And with the warm weather comes an appetite for favorite summer foods, from watermelon to potato salad and your own grilling favorites. Are you planning a summer picnic or a July 4 party? Maybe you do a lot of grilling in the back yard or want to entertain the kids with summer-friendly treats. We scoured the web for some culinary ideas to keep you cool, healthy, and inspired this season, and we came up with the following lists, treats, and tips:
HowStuffWorks.com (the website for TLC) offers a list of the “10 Coolest Summer Foods“. The list includes such favorites as Snow Cones (remember those?), gazpacho, and a true summer classic: ice cream. If you want to cool off when the weather is hot, check out their chill ideas.
Zagat, on the other hand, believes there are “30 Must-Have Summer Foods“, and their suggestions are sure make you hungry (if you aren’t already). How about Back Forty’s crab roll or a glass of sangria? Are you more in the mood for a Brooklyn Egg Cream (no, there are no eggs in an egg cream)? There’s always an icy Corona or Gray’s Papaya drink – and if you want to know what a Coolhaus Sandwich is, just have a look at their site.
EatingWell.com turns their attention to “8 super-healthy summer foods you should be eating“. The site notes that the corn on the cob that many enjoy during summer “may act like natural sunglasses, helping to form macular pigment that filters out some of the sun’s damaging rays.” One study suggests that your iced coffee might lower the risk of developing skin cancer. Tart cherries provide a wide range of benefits from improving sleep to helping you get lean. Tomatoes could offer extra protection against the sun (but don’t forget your sunscreen) and watermelon helps you stay hydrated. Raspberries, meanwhile, are a great source of fiber, iced tea offers numerous potential health benefits, and blueberries contain healthy antioxidants.
For parents, WebMD suggests the “Top 10 Summer Foods for Children“, and first offers the following “rules” for helping kids to eat healthily:
- Healthy Food Rule #1: Let them eat sweets in moderation to avoid a sense of deprivation that will create an unhealthy relationship to sweet foods.
- Healthy Food Rule #2: Make sure they burn off the calories by encouraging exercise and activity.
- Healthy Food Rule #3: Be a good role model by eating healthy foods yourself.
With those rules in mind, the site lists some healthy foods for kids that might surprise you, including nachos and quesadillas, hamburgers and hot dogs, and ice cream. The trick is to prepare and/or purchase healthy versions of these foods, and WebMD tells you how.
About.com’s Home Food pageoffers a wide range of suggestions for summer eating, from outdoor foods to summer harvest delicacies. From edible flowers to garnishes and shish kabob, the site provides information on a wide variety of warm weather foods. The site even offers suggestions about foods you can prepare with kitchen appliances. Fondue anyone?
And since we’ve now mentioned appliances, don’t forget – at BSC Culinary, we have grills, outdoor kitchen appliances (including refrigerators and even an outdoor dishwasher) and anything else you might need to prepare delicious meals for your friends and family all summer long. We look forward to seeing you in one of our showrooms soon. Have a wonderful, delectable summer!
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