Seriously… with oppressive humidity and sweltering record-breaking temperatures, who wants to eat a hot meal…much less prepare one?

Preparing a heavy hot dinner just isn’t too appealing after a long day at work or an afternoon at the pool with the kids.

Light, cool meals are refreshing during the sizzling summer months and there are an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables and simple healthy meals that your family can enjoy all summer long.

Here are some delicious and nutritious recipes that are quick and easy to prepare.

Choose organic ingredients where possible and enjoy!

Summer Cool Fruit Salad (Great for breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner)

Prep time: 15 minutes

½ cup peeled, pitted, and diced mangoes 1 cup blueberries

3 bananas, peeled and sliced 1 cup raspberries

3 kiwis, peeled and sliced 1 cup blackberries

1 cup stemmed, sliced strawberries 1 cup seedless grapes

½ cup dried, unsweetened coconut ¼ cup grade B maple syrup (optional)

Combine all the fruit in a large bowl and toss well. Mix in syrup and sprinkle with coconut. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Makes 6 servings.

Avocado, Raspberry and Mango Salad

Prep Time: 15 minutes

4 cups mesclun salad mix 2 cups spinach leaves

2 avocados, peeled and diced 1 cup fresh raspberries

1 mango, peeled and diced ¼ cup maple-glazed pecans

½ cup Imus Ranch Honey-Dijon dressing (recipe below)

Combine mesclun and spinach in a large bowl. Add avocados, dressing and toss gently. Transfer to serving dish and top with the raspberries, mango, and walnuts. Makes 4 servings.

Imus Ranch Honey-Dijon Dressing

Prep Time: 5 minutes

¼ cup honey (local honey) ½ cup olive oil

1/3 cup brown rice vinegar 1 tbsp. sea salt

3 tbsp. Dijon mustard 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Combine honey, vinegar, mustard in food processor for 1 to 2 minutes. While blending, slowly add oil until the dressing is well blended and thickened (if too thick, add small amounts of water). Add salt and pepper. Makes 1½ cups.

About the Imus Ranch, Founded by Don and Deirdre Imus in 1998
The Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer is an authentic 5,000 acre working cattle ranch in northern New Mexico, which provides the experience of the American cowboy to children suffering from cancer and various blood diseases, as well as to children who have lost a brother or sister to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Deirdre Imus is the Founder and President of The Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology® at Hackensack University Medical Center and Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer. Deirdre is the author of four books, including three national bestsellers.  She is a frequent speaker on green living and children’s health issues, and is a contributor to FoxNewsHealth.com. For more information go to www.dienviro.com

I’m not quite sure if it’s my New England upbringing, the fact that I lived in Quebec for a year and a half, or my distaste for all things artificial, but I cannot stand fake maple syrup. It’s not that I don’t like the taste. That’s okay, I suppose. But when I contemplate how nature gives us this amazing sweet water that drips from trees with solely the help of a small spout, and then all is required of us to turn it into liquid heaven is to boil it down, my mind boggles. And then I wonder why anyone would want to drench their breakfast in a thick corn syrup filled with artificial coloring and flavoring (I don’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings here, so now I’m done with the negatives on the subject).

I just think it’s amazing that something so sweet is harvested-not in some remote tropical location, but in season-changing locations such as Canada and the North East.

For Canada Day, I thought I’d subject you to my ranting on why real maple syrup is good, and then give you a recipe for whole wheat blueberry sour cream pancakes.

Sour Cream Blueberry Pancakes

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sour cream
1 1/3 cups milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
1 tablespoon butter, plus more for pan and serving
half pint fresh blueberries

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a large liquid measuring cup, combine sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, honey, and 1 tablespoon melted butter. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and whisk until just combined.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Grease with butter, and ladle on 1 cup of batter. Drop on a handful of blueberries, taking care to disperse them evenly. Cook until bubbles around the edges of the pancake pop, but do not refill with batter. Flip and cook for one minute more. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve with butter and pure maple syrup.

That sticky syrup you love to pour on French toast and pancakes may actually be good for you.

Good news just in time for sugaring off season. That sticky syrup you love to pour on French toast and pancakes may actually be good for you, too.

Sure, it’s full of sugar and calories. But according to a research from the University of Rhode Island real maple syrup is also full of compounds touted for their health benefits. A pharmacy professor specializing in medicinal plants found 20 antioxidants in 20 litres of the sweet stuff from Quebec, including 13 never before found in maple syrup.

According to findings presented at the American Chemical Society’s annual meeting, the newly-discovered compounds include lignans, also found in flax seed and whole wheat, a stilbene, which is in the same chemical class as the red wine extract resveratrol, and flavonoids, which are known for their anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and antioxidant properties. The syrup also contained phenolic acids, commonly found in berries and coffee.

Although more research is needed to determine whether people can actually benefit from maple syrup, the researchers recommend using it as a sweetener and in cooking. But as with everything else, not too much. And there’s another caveat: Make sure it’s the real stuff not commercial syrups with maple flavouring.

Mixologists are experimenting with natural syrups, like maple, honey and agave, to differentiate their drinks. Maple syrup has been sugaring cocktails and other drinks here in America since Colonial times. The tree-sap syrup is a key component in a number of classic cocktails, including the bourbon-based Maple Leaf, Maple Sour and Hot Toddy, and is currently enjoying a modest revival among trendy bar chefs.

“Compared to using simple syrup, you’re kind of getting two for one because maple syrup is a sweetener but it has that extra flavor that cane sugar doesn’t have,” says Meaghan Dorman, head bartender at the Raines Law Room in New York’s Flatiron District. Currently on the drinks list at the recently opened cocktail bar (named after an 1896 tax and regulations package aimed at decreasing alcohol consumption) is the Fourth Route, made with Hennessy VS Cognac, lime juice, maple syrup and ginger ($13). A Maple Leaf Sour cocktail, which mixes the syrup with Scotch and lemon juice, was also on the specials list last winter. Another specialty is a maple-flavored variation on the Collins, made with Buffalo Trace Bourbon, maple syrup and lemon, topped with club soda.

“Maple syrup is great for comforting drinks,” notes Dorman, who finds it mixes best with brown spirits such as whiskey or brandy. “And maple goes really well with rhum agricole.”

Acid-wise, maple syrup marries with both lemon and lime juices, according to the mixologist. Another Raines Law bartender pairs it with grapefruit juice as well. The lounge uses grade A amber maple syrup for cocktails because the lower grades are too bitter, says Dorman, and the higher grade is too light in flavor to stand up in a mixed drink. “It’s important to only use pure, 100 percent maple syrup,” advises Dorman. Although interest is largely seasonal, use of maple syrup in cocktails seems to be on the upswing. “I think next season, you’ll see more bartenders working maple syrup into their menus, especially in this area where we have access to good-quality maple syrup,” predicts Dorman.

The syrup scores on the health front, too. A new research study conducted by the University of Rhode Island discovered more than 20 antioxidant compounds in Canadian maple syrup (Canada produces 80 percent of the world’s supply). In a presentation on the findings at the 2010 annual meeting of the American Chemical Society, Dr. Navindra Seeram noted that several of these antioxidant compounds are also reported to have anti-cancer, anti-bacterial and anti-diabetic properties. In addition, maple syrup’s high levels of zinc and manganese can assist in heart health and boosting the immune system. “Maple syrup is unique in that it is the only product in our diet that comes from a plant’s sap,” Seeram pointed out.

Sweet variations

Cocktails often contain a sweet element to offset the sourness of citrus juices. Mixologists tend to use simple syrup; here are some alternatives.

• Agave syrup (also called agave nectar) is made from the same agave plant as Tequila and mescal. Thinner than simple syrup, agave syrup dissolves readily in cold liquids. The nectar is available in light and dark amber; the latter has a fuller flavor. Initially used to sweeten margaritas, many bartenders have made agave their go-to syrup for all mixed drinks.
• Bacon is the latest “it” cocktail flavor. Because of its high fat content, some bar chefs “wash” the bacon in alcohol infusions, then remove the fat. An easier solution is Torani’s Bacon Flavored Syrup, ready to use right out of the bottle.
• Syrups are usually mixed into beverages for a jolt of flavor. But Smucker’s has an interesting variation for use with its Platescapers line. In a recipe for Raspberry Cream Lemonade, the raspberry syrup is viscous enough to be painted in a decorative pattern inside the glass for a striking presentation.
• The Aztecs, who discovered chocolate, like to lace their drinks with spicy chilies. In a tribute to those ancients, Monin’s new Spicy Chocolate Syrup has a warm peppery kick to it. The syrup is made with pure cane sugar, to boot.
• The tiki bar concept is experiencing a renaissance as the cocktail crowd rediscovers classics like the Zombie and Planter’s Punch. With its pineapple and almond flavors, Tiki Syrup from The Simple Syrup Company is a natural to sweeten those fruity tropical drinks. The company produces half a dozen syrups, including Burnt Orange & Vanilla Bean and Pomegranate & Tahitian Lime. Distribution to bars and restaurants is through Vanguard Luxury Brands.

You can’t use it in everything, unless your friends absolutely love brown frosting. But when possible, you might consider real maple syrup as a sugar or corn syrup substitute. It actually loads in a lot of good stuff with the calories.

Some benefits of maple syrup were previously known, but University of Rhode Island researcher Navindra Seeram found new anti-oxidant compounds in maple syrup samples taken from Canadian trees. They’re present in the sap alone, but in more beneficial amounts when a dozen or more gallons of sap are boiled down to make a gallon of syrup:

During his maple syrup research, Seeram and his research team found phenolics, the beneficial class of anti-oxidant compounds also found in berries. “We speculated that the sugar maple is wounded when it is tapped for its sap, and that it secretes phenolics as a defense mechanism.”

Seeram said the sap probably has low concentrations of these native phenolics. “But when you boil the sap down, there could be higher levels because syrup is a highly concentrated liquid.”

It must be mentioned that the survey and research derived some of its funding from the maple syrup industry. Still, it’s worth considering the possible side benefits of shelling out a bit more for the real stuff over the Pancake Syrup.

It’s all about the plants in this University of Rhode Island research lab. Plants as medicine.

Amanda is taking a closer look at blueberry roots.

Hang is trying to sort out the medicinal properties of the Dogwood Berry.

And Raed — well, he’s looking at what could turn out to be the super berry from the Jamun plant.

And while this is all berry promising, it’s the sap that’s capturing the headlines. As in maple syrup.

Dr. Navindra Seeram, Researcher says “We took twenty litres of maple syrup and extracted it in my lab here and found all these amazing antioxidants that are present in pure maple syrup.”

Dr.Seeram says many of them are the same antioxidant compounds also found in berries. More than two dozen of them in all.

Dr. Navindra Seeram, Researcher, says “It’s amazing that the maple tree as it has evolved over time — at least for 300 years — so if you think of the tree exposed to all these insults, the antioxidants from the tree gets in to the sap, and ultimately ends up in syrup.”

(Q: “Were you surprised to the extent you found?”)

“I was very intrigued by the diversity of compounds that we found.”

This was research initiated by the Federation of Maple Syrup producers of Quebec and funded in large part by the Canadian government … which makes sense since Canada produces most of the pure maple syrup that is used worldwide.

They heard about Dr. Seeram’s medicinal plant research at URI and awarded him a two year 115 thousand dollar grant.

Dr. Navindra Seeram, Researcher says “One of the things that we wanted to do with our research is to educate people that if you’re choosing to eat sweeteners, and people are going to eat sweeteners, that the choices are one, this is a natural sweetener, it comes from a medicinal plant and that it has antioxidants which are probably potentially health beneficial.”

What we’re talking about again is the pure maple syrup. It’s thin, like water. Most of the brands sold in stores are not the real thing. so make sure you check.

If you’ve heard that eating less beef is a good way to cut greenhouse gas emissions, join us in this segment to hear why one cow emissions expert says “Not so much.” The numbers in the papers that reached that conclusion, he says, weren’t a good comparison.

We’ll also hear about how oil on your skin can affect air quality in the office. And we’ll get an update on cold fusion — is it not such a rogue science anymore? In this hour, we’ll go behind the scenes at this week’s American Chemical Society meeting.

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