These summer recipes first appeared in American Trail Running Association’s summer 2023 newsletter Trail Times and was written by Stephen R. Santangelo.
Summertime provides a variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, and other delights to please the palate. Below you’ll find a few of my favorite recipes to get you going in the morning and boost your energy throughout the day.
Summer Recipe: Breakfast
For many individuals, breakfast seems to be a forgotten meal and yet, it is important because it sets our biological time clock for the day. Following are two quick nutritious meals which will boost the metabolism and set the tone for the day. All ingredients in these recipes are 100% organic and free trade.
Delicious oatmeal for breakfast. Photo: Stephen R. Santangelo
The first morning start-me-up is a hardy bowl of oatmeal. Added to this are walnuts, pecans, blueberries, cinnamon, and ginger. To boost the nutritional profile, you can add your favorite protein powder and collagen.
Blueberries and coconut cream. Photo: Stephen R. Santangelo
The second morning start-me-up is whipped coconut cream topped with blueberries. Organic coconut cream and organic frozen/fresh blueberries are easy to find in most stores. Empty the can of coconut cream in a bowl, whip it up to make it light and fluffy, place blueberries on top, and enjoy! (I got this recipe tip from my daughter who works with NBA and NFL players on their nutritional programs.) Understand that plant-based fats do not contain cholesterol. Cholesterol exists in animal products. Coconut cream is 100% from the coconut. The “cream” is not animal-based, it is only used as a term to define the viscosity/consistency of the product.
Summer Recipe: Dinner, a salad, and a side dish
A great dinner plate or even a post-workout meal, is stuffed yellow peppers with mixed veggies and rice (pictured as the featured image). In this recipe use 2 types of your favorite rice, chopped red and yellow tomatoes, chopped sweet red peppers, chopped onions and garlic, red beans, black beans, and shredded carrots. Add parsley, basil, and thyme to taste. For a bit of sweetness add raisins. Cook the rice and beans first. After the rice and beans are ready, blend all the other ingredients, stuff the peppers, place in glass bowl, cover and bake for 35-45 minutes at 350F. Time and temperature will vary based on the type of oven used.
Delicious dinner salad. Photo: Stephen R. Santangelo
Who does not love a huge dinner salad? There are many ways to make salads and have your protein too. Pictured is one of our favorites; 3 lettuce blend covered with baby spinach. Top this with hard boiled pastured eggs, grated parmesan, Romano, and yogurt cheese with roasted sliced beets. Add shredded orange, yellow and purple carrots. To make this dish vegan, substitute the eggs with fermented soy and use vegan cheese. In the center add chopped black and green olives, cauliflower, red and yellow onions, seasoned with Italian herbs. The sides include walnuts, pecans, dried dates, and raisins. For a dressing, use equal parts apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and add honey to taste.
Stuffed mushrooms are quite tasty. Photo: Stephen R. Santangelo
A great side dish to compliment the dinner salad is mouthwatering stuffed mushrooms. Remove the stems from the caps of the mushrooms. Chop the stems into fine pieces and blend with seasoned bread crumbs of your choice along with finely chopped garlic and rosemary. Add EVOO just enough to hold the mixture together. You can add grated Parmesan cheese or fermented soy for an extra bump in flavor. Bake at 425F for 8 minutes. If you want crispy tops, broil for 2 minutes and you’ll enjoy a crunch with each bite.
Summer Recipe: Dessert
For dessert, try lemon curd cups. Lemon curd can be home-made, but, for those on a time restraint, ready-made curd can be found in most stores. The cup is made with Einkorn flour. Following a simple pie crust recipe, all that is needed is to replace regular flour with the Einkorn. Cut pie crust dough into 5-inch diameter pieces or use a cookie cutter. Once cut, place in cupcake pan and bake for 10-12 minutes at 350F. Check often as different ovens cook at different rates. Remove from oven and let cool. Only fill shell with curd at time of eating. If you leave the curd in the shell too long, it will become soggy.
Lemon curd cups. Photo: Stephen R. Santangelo
Summer Recipe tip: Use Einkorn
We use Einkorn exclusively for many healthful reasons:
• Einkorn is very low in gluten making it easier to digest.
• Einkorn has a different kind of gluten compared to modern wheat because it does not contain the D genome, only the A genome. This is significant since the most popular test for detecting the presence of gluten is based on the presence of the D genome.
• Einkorn has two sets of chromosomes, unlike modern wheats which have four to six sets.
• Einkorn has 14 chromosomes, compared to 42 in modern wheat. This makes a huge difference which can have a negative impact on allergies and inflammation. 42 wheat chromosomes are foreign to our bodies. It does not recognize this as an edible food; therefore, our system retaliates by means of inflammation!
Editor’s tip: Enjoy more recipes in the fall and winter, desserts for trail runners, and a book review: Eat, Run, Enjoy.
