Berry Good Fruit, Nut and Veggie Salad for One

As promised a while ago, I have made a salad with a lot of fruit and veggies, but the star, of course, are the berries. I suspect this would also be good with thawed and drained frozen fruit. Use organic if you can; there's a real taste difference, particularly in the berries and the cherry tomatoes.

Berry Good Fruit, Nut, and Veggie Salad for One

5 large strawberries, washed, hulled and quartered
1/4 C. blueberries, washed and stemmed
10 grapes, washed, stemmed and halved
5 small cherry or grape tomatoes, washed and halved
4 large leaves of romaine, washed and drained, torn into small bite-size pieces
1 oz. crumbled blue cheese
1 oz. chopped pecans
Bacos (if desired - to taste)

Take romaine; wash and drain it (either by using a salad spinner or shaking it). Gently tear into bite-sized pieces into a large salad bowl. Wash, hull and quarter strawberries; scatter evenly on salad. Wash and stem blueberries and grapes, halve grapes and put on salad between strawberries. Wash and halve cherry/grape tomatoes and put on salad. Top with chopped pecans and crumbled blue cheese. If desired, sprinkle Bacos on top.

Use your choice of salad dressing. (Sometimes I make a dressing and sometimes I use what's in the frig.) I prefer either fat-free honey mustard, blue cheese or a low-fat, somewhat weak vinaigrette dressing on this salad.

Avoid Brain Decay by Eating Berries, Walnuts and Bright Veggies?

I'm thrilled; it seems as though my favorite fruits and vegetables — such as blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and colorful peppers — may be able to somewhat reverse the aging process.
Yes, you may have heard that these are good for you already in the media. But this news comes from a professional scientific journal: Science Daily. In its Aug. 24, 2010 edition, an article titled "Eating berries may activate the brain's natural housekeeper for healthy aging" gives the scoop: berries, walnuts and other, brightly-hued red, orange and blue druits and vegetables are high in polyphenolics. This means act as "housekeepers" in your brain cleaning up residue that otherwise would impede normal brain function.

I'll have to get back to you on the results, but I plan to make a salad with as many of these things as possible in it sometime soon.

Melons and berries, oh my!

I am mad for melons and berries this time of year: cantelope, watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and the little blackberries in our treeline ... whatever's available.

It's truly amazing that I haven't turned some shade between red, purple and orange yet. If I do, I'll put a new, multicolored photo on the blog.

This is the best time of the year to get melons or berries, as far as I'm concerned. Check a grocery store, specialty market or local farmers' market near you. If you're not sure where to find a local farmers' market, see my prior post on the subject.

Mom's "Birthday Cake": Three Berry Shortcake

Today is my mom's birthday. We had Three Berry Shortcake, because it's been hot and no one felt like baking.

Shortcake was made more or less following the directions on Bisquick Heart Smart®, except we used Splenda. They are about 2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter and rather flat.

Three servings of berry shortcake consisted of:

Approximately 1 1/2 c. mixed berries, cleaned (1/4 c. raspberries, 1/4 cup blueberries and 1 c. halved strawberries)
About 2/3 c. Kraft Cool Whip Light (just enough to cover the berries)
Six thin "shortcakes," halved

To assemble each serving, put one half of one shortcake topped with some of the berry mixture in a serving bowl; repeat layers ending with berry mixture on top.

My parents and I all enjoy this dessert; I find I prefer to use only one split shortcake so I have a higher berry to shortcake ratio.

If you don't care for Cool Whip, you may use frozen yogurt, ice cream or a dairy-free frozen dessert (thaw it slightly first). It also works well with thin slices of angel food cake or one large store-made biscuit (again, cut in half), although you need to leave the berry mixture to soak into the biscuits a bit before serving.