Healthy Eats: Summer Superfood Recipes

Executive Chef Caitlin Mateo.

It’s never too late to set a sustainable table, and now that summer is here it’s the perfect opportunity to show the planet and your body some love. Our top seasonal farmers’ market picks? Juicy peaches at the peak of ripeness, velvety avocados that open at the nick of a knife, and superfoods that are worth their weight in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. You know the feel-good drill. And for a little inspiration, chefs Caitlin Mateo of Square 1682 in Philadelphia and Caprial Pence of Bookstore Bar & Café in Seattle have tossed together a couple of summer superfood recipes.

For the omnivores and pescatarians out there, you can’t beat fish for a healthy dose of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins and lean protein. To treat Mother Nature right, we’re not keen on serving any species whose population is struggling — all of our restaurants are proud to follow the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch guidelines.

Our Area 31 restaurant in Miami even takes it one step further. Its name and the seasonal catches it serves up all tie back to Fishing Area 31, an international zone designated by the United Nation’s Food & Agriculture Organization as a bona fide sustainable fishery. If you’re curious about which seafood selections are the most sustainable in your home state, the Seafood Watch also has handy-dandy consumer guides that are available to download and print.

Now, are you pumped to put the above info into action? Here are two fresh, summer superfood recipes that’ll be sure-fire hits in your warm-weather recipe rotation. Tuck in and go forth!

Summer Superfood Salad

Executive Chef Caitlin Mateo, Square 1682, Philadelphia

Ingredients:
8 cups baby spinach, cleaned dried and roughly chopped
3 cups mesclun lettuce mix, cleaned and dried
1 cup red quinoa, cooked and chilled
2 each oranges, segments only
1 each pink grapefruit, segments only
2 each avocado, peeled and sliced
½ cup Marcona almonds, toasted and slightly crushed
16-20 shrimp, peeled, deveined, tail on (optional)
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
2 teaspoons parsley, chiffonade cut (chopped into long, thin strips)
Goji berry vinaigrette (recipe follows)
Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Goji Berry Vinaigrette
Ingredients:
¼ cup fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
2 tablespoons dried goji berries
½ cup white balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
1½ cups 75-percent olive oil blend
Kosher salt to taste

Salad Directions:
In a large sauté pan over large heat add 2 to 3 tablespoons canola oil.
Once the pan and oil are hot, season the shrimp with salt and pepper and add them to the pan.
In about 1 minute turn the shrimp over and let them sit for another minute.
Add the garlic to the pan and lightly toss the shrimp.
Remove from the heat and toss the shrimp with the fresh parsley.
In a large mixing bowl toss the first 6 ingredients with the goji berry vinaigrette, season with salt and black pepper.
Distribute the salad to separate bowls. Top each salad with toasted almonds and 5 pieces of shrimp. Serves four.

Vinaigrette Directions:
Boil 1 cup of water and pour over goji berries in a heat-proof bowl to reconstitute the berries.
Drain most of the liquid from the berries after 3 minutes.
Add the first four ingredients to a blender and mix until smooth.
Slowly add the olive oil blend to emulsify the vinaigrette.
Season to your liking with kosher salt.

Grilled Peaches With Caramelized Honey and Toasted Walnuts

Chef Caprial Pence, Bookstore Bar & Café, Seattle

Ingredients:
4 ripe peaches, cut in half, pits removed
1 teaspoon mild extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup honey
1 cup toasted chopped walnuts

Directions:
Preheat your grill until very hot. While the grill is heating, prepare the sauce.
Place the honey in a large saucepan and cook over high heat until the honey turns a dark amber. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
Brush the peaches with oil and grill on each side until tender.
Place two halves on each plate and drizzle with warm honey sauce and top with toasted walnuts. Optional: Add a scoop of sorbet or frozen yogurt. Serves four.

Photos: Caitlin Mateo – Chris Fascenelli; Grilled Peaches – Mike McCune/Flickr