Dice and freeze for a grab-and-go
snack. Photo courtesy Watermelon.org.

Here’s a healthy and refreshing grab-and-go summer snack:

Cut melon and stone fruits (peaches, plums, nectarines) into small chunks. Add berries and grapes and freeze in snack- size plastic bags.

When you need a grab-and-go snack, grab a bag of frozen fruit. By the time you get into the car, the fruit will be ready to eat. And it’s just as good when it’s still semi-frozen.

If you’re time-strapped, you can buy cut frozen fruit and add it directly to the snack bags. But if you can, take advantage of the fresh summer fruit bounty.

Find more healthy ideas in our NutriNibbles and Diet Nibbles Sections.

As we were writing the previous post, it occurred to us that most people don’t know the difference between pickled beets and Harvard beets.

The quick answer: Pickled beets are made with a pickling technique and served chilled or at room temperature. Harvard beets are coated in a warm sauce. The beets are pre-cooked for both preparations.

Pickled beets are a delicious side. Photo by Cyhel | IST.

Gastrique is a classic French sauce that is typically enhanced with fruit and served with meat, poultry or seafood. A gastrique is similar to the Italian sauce agrodolce, which means sour-sweet.

Learn how to make a gastrique.

By the way, the story about how Harvard beets got their name is a bit murky. One legend says the dish was devised by a hungry Harvard student. According to the Good Housekeeping Great American Classics Cookbook, the recipe may have developed at the Harwood Tavern in England in the 17th century. A Russian emigre customer moved to Boston in 1846, opened a restaurant named Harwood and served the beets; his accent made the name sound like “Harvard.” A variation called Yale Beets evolved, substituting orange juice for the vinegar and orange zest for the onion.

Pickled baby beets stuffed with goat cheese
are a delicious appetizer. Photo
courtesy Aunt Nellie’s.

If you love beets—and have the recipes to prove it—Aunt Nellie’s invites you to enter its “Say Yes! To Beets” recipe contest. You might win the $2,500 top prize.

Recipe categories include:

Submit your recipes to auntnellies@mpfood.com before 11:59 EST on August 13th. Visit SenecaFoods.com for more information.

Aunt Nellie’s makes sliced beets, Harvard beets, sliced and whole pickled beets and pickled beets and onions. Yum!

It’s easy to enjoy the beets right out of the jar or onto a plate—but it’s much more enjoyable to win a cash prize for a recipe.

If your food plan includes low-calorie salads, remember that a regular salad dressing can zero-out the calorie savings. Each little tablespoon can be 100 calories or more (and the next time you dress your salad, count how many tablespoons you use).

There are countless low-calorie salad dressings out there: the good, the O.K., and the we-don’t-want-another-taste. If you don’t like spending money on bottle after bottle trying to find the ones you like, turn your search into a “salad dressing tasting party.”

Invite friends over for a salad lunch or dinner and taste ten or more different diet dressings at once. You can ask for recommendations up-front. You’ll discover favorite new low-calorie salad dressings, and get your friends together for a healthy good time.

You can assign everyone to bring a different interesting “salad bar” item, or ask everyone to bring an undressed salad—and have a vote to award prizes to the best.

Don’t pour hundreds of calories of dressing
on a healthy salad. Photo by Kelly Cline | IST.

Who can resist a nonfat strawberry-banana
smoothie? Photo courtesy RedMango.com.

How many different smoothies can you drink?

If you’re at a Red Mango, you’ve got 22 options! (And they’re certified kosher, too, by Star-K.)

America loves its smoothies, but the “healthy” yogurt shakes sold by many producers are often laden with sugar or high fructose corn syrup (read the label, or check online). Determined to offer healthier smoothies, Red Mango has relaunched its line with four styles:

We’re working our way through the menu. All of them are good (have you ever met a smoothie you didn’t like?), although everyone will have his or her favorites. One standout was the Vanilla Black Tea from the Iced Tea Chillers series, reminiscent of Thai Iced Tea—but far less caloric and with beneficial probiotics.

If there’s no Red Mango near you, have your mayor send the company the key to the city. Find the nearest location at RedMangoUSA.com.

Whole grain, vegan, crunchy and superb, Judy’s Breadsticks are carried by specialty food stores in Northern California. Thanks to the Internet, everyone can enjoy them.

Twigs are made of 100% organic whole-grain wheat, barley malt and olive oil, plus sea salt or a bit of sugar, depending on the flavor.

Roasted Garlic, Sesame and Sunflower are the savory flavors; Coffee Bean and Sweet Currant are slightly-sweetened breadsticks.

The Coffee Bean breadsticks are ingeniously studded with roasted coffee beans. They’re a coffee lover’s must-have.

The Somewhat Seedy Garlicky Toasted Bites, jumbo croutons, are also worth sending for.

A bounty of whole-grain breadsticks. Photo
by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

This Bodum iced tea pitcher is very handy
for infusing mint and fruit. Photo
courtesy BodumUSA.com.

Hot enough for you? Where we live, it’s day five of a heat wave.

Gather your friends and neighbors—or your work colleagues or business network—to discuss the weather at an iced tea party. We’ve got suggestions for different types of iced tea and the food to go with them.

Bodum’s iced tea pitcher has a separate, flow-through compartment that lets you infuse iced tea with raspberries, mint or other favorite flavor, while keeping the fruits and herbs confined while you pour the iced tea.

And take a few minutes to watch the luminous Marilyn Monroe performing the musical number “Heat Wave” from the film, “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” The YouTube video isn’t of the best quality, but you’ll get the idea.

Find more iced tea recipes and reviews of our favorite teas in our Gourmet Tea Section.

Here are two ideas for cooling-off drinks, courtesy of ChocolateBox Café in Malibu, California.

Instead of an ice cream soda, scoop gelato or ice cream into an iced espresso and sorbet into iced tea.

 
Pre-chill the glasses in the freezer for a frostier drink.

Cool off with an iced espresso combined with
coffee gelato. Photo courtesy
ChocolateBox Café.

If you’re in the neighborhood, ChocolateBox Café is hosting a Summer Happy Hour. All ChocolateBox Café drinks, hot and cold, are half off Mondays through Thursdays from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. (through August 26, 2010).

What’s the difference between ice cream and gelato? Sorbet and sherbet? See our Ice Cream Glossary.

Savory or sweet, there’s a pretzel treat for
everyone. Photo courtesy Kim & Scott’s.

There are certain areas in which “twisted” means good. Pretzels is one. Your taste buds will twist if you win this week’s Gourmet Giveaway prize, courtesy of Kim & Scott’s Gourmet Stuffed Pretzels.

These jumbo, soft, whole grain pretzels are stuffed with savory and sweet ingredients and sold frozen, ready to be baked or microwaved into rewarding treats. While we prefer the savory varieties (read our review), with Kim & Scott’s, there are varieties for the sweet tooth as well.

What are we preserving? Ripe summer fruit!

The Washington State Fruit Commission has a beautiful new website devoted to preserving fruit.

Whether you’re an experienced preserver or a newbie, create a fun event that lets you make gifts (great for the holidays) and treats for the home.

The website has templates for pretty labels for your jars of fruit, as well as an A-to-Z guide to doing it right. There are also instructions for hosting a memorable preservation party.

Pick a party date and head to the website.

Make your own preserves this summer.
Photo courtesy Washington State Fruit Commission.