Late Summer, Early Fall Fruit Salad
Serves 4
As we move from summer into fall, which is my favorite season of the year, summer fruits are just starting to pass their peak. Peaches from the Carolinas, for example, can be somewhat firmer and sourer than those bought earlier in the season. With this easy to follow recipe, you can still enjoy the wonderful taste of this delicious fruit well into the autumn.
Peaches are rich in many vitamins, minerals, and beneficial plant compounds. One medium-sized peach (5.4 ounces or 150 grams) provides approximately:
• Calories: 58
• Protein: 1 gram
• Fat: less than 1 gram
• Carbs: 14 grams
• Fiber: 2 grams
• Vitamin C: 17 percent DV
• Vitamin A: 10 percent DV
• Potassium: 8 percent DV
• Niacin: 6 percent DV
• Vitamin E: 5 percent DV
• Vitamin K: 5 percent DV
• Copper: 5 percent DV
• Manganese: 5 percent DV
Peaches also offer smaller percentages of magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and some B vitamins.
Peachy for Your Heart
Regularly eating fruit including peaches may promote heart health. Peaches may lower risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Scientific studies show that peaches bind to bile acids, compounds produced by your liver from cholesterol. The bound bile acids together with the cholesterol they contain are excreted in feces, which may help to lower blood cholesterol levels. As well as helping to lower total and “bad” LDL cholesterol, peaches contribute to lower triglyceride levels blood pressure. Research in obese rats demonstrated that peach juice reduces levels of the hormone angiotensin II that raises blood pressure. Many of these studies are done at the laboratory bench or in animals. More studies are needed to verify that these health benefits occur in humans.
Ingredients:
2 oranges
2 Carolina peaches, remove stone and slice into rounds
3 tablespoons local honey
3 limes, juice of
2 star anises
1 cinnamon stick
6 cloves
1 pink grapefruit
A few mint leaves
1 tablespoon chopped pistachio nuts
1 4oz Greek yogurt (optional)
How to make:
Using a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from one of the oranges. Cut the orange into fine strips.
Place a small saucepan over a medium heat and add the peach slices, honey, lime juice, star anise, cinnamon stick, and cloves. Gently simmer for 8 to 10 minutes until the honey has dissolved. Set aside to cool.
Carefully slice away the peel and pith from all the oranges and grapefruit. Then slice into even size rounds and place equal amounts on four dessert plates.
Add the peach slices to each plate. Spoon over the cooled syrup. Sprinkle with the mint leaves and chopped pistachios.
Serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt.