When September finally arrives with its overflowing bushel baskets of apples, I can hardly stop myself from adding them to…well…everything! Apples start showing up in neat slices next to my morning toast, they’re dipped in almond butter or sprinkled with cinnamon as a snack, they are diced with crunchy toasted almonds and thrown into salads at dinner, and they ceremoniously make their way into an apple crisp or a homemade apple pie on the first really chilly weekend of fall. If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, my family is going to be reeeeeally healthy this month! Given my love of all things apple (now that I seem to have outgrown my apple allergy – see post here), I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting ways to incorporate them into menus.

Here’s a recipe for a grain salad using protein-packed quinoa that is loaded with healthy mix-ins like apples, carrots, walnuts and dried cranberries. This makes a great vegetarian lunch or side dish at your fall dinner table. Enjoy it, in all it’s apple-y goodness.

Apple Quinoa Salad

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

2 tablespoons honey

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large granny smith apple (or other tart apple you prefer), diced

1 cup  diced carrots

1/3 cup dried cranberries

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Combine the quinoa and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer covered until all the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Transfer the quinoa to a large bowl, stir and let cool completely.

2. Whisk together the honey, lemon juice, and salt. Slowly whisk in the oil until well blended.

3. Once the quinoa is completely cool, add the apple, carrots, dried cranberries, parsley, and walnuts. Toss well. Add the dresssing and toss gently to coat the salad. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Serve at room temperature.

Here’s a really simple dinner idea that takes advantage of the last of the summer’s peppers. Who wants to be in the kitchen laboring over a complicated recipe when you can be outside enjoying a glass of wine in the cooler evening air? That said, simple doesn’t have to mean bland. If you love peppers, you’ll love this simple little saute. Chicken provides some texture and protein to this dish, but you could substitute tofu or shrimp or even cannellini beans if you prefer.  This is good over pasta or brown rice or quinoa – you just need a neutral grain that will soak up the juice.

A word or two about peppers since I often get questions about peppers during the Nourish Grocery Store Tour. Here’s the scoop. Green, yellow, orange, and red bell peppers all come from the same plant. The colors are each picked at different levels of ripeness (Green is least ripe, red is the most). This gives each color a different level of sweetness (Green is least sweet, red is the most), despite coming from the same plant. Red, yellow, and orange peppers require more time in the ground before harvest which is why they are more expensive.  And I recently learned that their different colors give them different nutritional benefits, too, so it’s wise to eat a variety. Green peppers have an abundance of chlorophyll and twice the vitamin C of an orange! Yellow peppers have more of the lutein and zeaxanthin carotenoids. Orange peppers have more alpha-, beta-, and gamma-carotene. Red peppers have more lycopene and astaxanthin, two other important carotenoids. And now you know!

Chicken & Bell Pepper Medley

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 – 1 1/2 lb boneless chicken breasts, thinly sliced

1 cup thinly sliced onion

4  assorted bell peppers, thinly sliced – yellow, red, orange, or green

1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

1. Place a large skillet over medium heat. Allow to heat for 1 minute and then add the olive oil and swirl to coat the pan.

2. Turn the heat to medium-high and add the onion and chicken. Cook until the onion wilts and is translucent and the chicken is almost cooked through – about 5 minutes. Do not let the onion burn.

3. Add the garlic, bell peppers, and salt. Turn the heat down to medium after 1 minute. Cook and stir (tongs work well for this) for about 5 minutes longer. The peppers should be barely cooked.

4. Serve over hot pasta tossed with olive oil or brown rice.

Since I was touting the benefits of after-school snacks earlier this week, it seems only fitting that I should offer up a suggestion as to what one might serve on such an occasion. While I feel it’s important that snacks usually provide a nutritionally sound mini-meal, sometimes you just want something a little…well…sweeter! For those occasions, here’s an easy and delicious quick bread that I’m sure any child would be happy to find waiting on the table after school. And hey, blueberries are healthy, right?

Blueberry-Lemon Bread

Adapted from Real Simple magazine

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into thin slices

1 1/2 cups blueberries

grated rind from 1 lemon (preferably organic since you are using the rind)

1 cup milk (skim is fine)

2 eggs beaten

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and prepare a 9″x5″ loaf pan by spraying it lightly with cooking spray.

2. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Using your fingers or a pastry blender, work the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs.

3. Gently mix in the blueberries and lemon rind. Stir in the milk and eggs until well blended.

4. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

5. Removed loaf from pan and allow to cool on a wire rack.