Memorial Day: Red, White and Blue Recipes for Your Salute to Summer
Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of the summer season and what better way to celebrate than with a delicious backyard barbeque or picnic. Make it patriotic and please remember to set aside time to honor all the brave men and women who have fought for our country. For all the red, white and blue themed events being planned, here are four recipes featuring one of the most remarkable native blue fruits – Wild Blueberries.
Small Bites: This delicious Wild Blueberry, Tomato, and Goat Cheese Naan Pizza makes for a great appetizer when you cut it into bite-sized pieces. Made with fresh tomatoes, goat cheese, and Wild Blueberries, the sweet and savory flavors combine to deliver the taste of summer all in one bite.
Drink to Summer: Besides its gorgeous color and delicious summer vibe, this Wild Blueberry Green Tea Mojito is loaded with health benefits. Wild Blueberries contain anthocyanins, plant compounds that give them their deep purple color and powerful antioxidant capacity. Plenty of research suggests that anthocyanins can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline, and cancer. Plants that produce anthocyanins do so to protect themselves against environmental stressors, like temperature shifts and UV light (hello, natural sunscreen!).
Fire Up the Grill: Summer means it’s finally grilling season. Plain old burgers and hot dogs are cookout staples, but they can get a little boring. These Wild Blueberry & Spinach Turkey Burgers will jazz things up on the grill and impress your guests. They’re moist and juicy thanks to the spinach, and the sweet Wild Blueberries perfectly complement the salty bacon and feta.
Patriotic Desserts: At an outdoor picnic or barbeque, ice cream sandwiches are easy grab-and-go treats! These Wild Blueberry ‘Whoopie Pie’ Ice Cream Sandwiches are out-of-this-world and combine two very classic American desserts – cookies and ice cream. To make them festive and patriotic, make red velvet cookies using a simple box recipe, grab your favorite vanilla ice cream and then add a layer of frozen Wild Blueberries to the outside edges to get that red, white and blue look.
As we prepare for this weekend’s celebration, all of us here at Wild Blueberries want to say a special thank you to the families remembering fallen heroes.