Stir fry your vitamins

Your prescription for health includes the local farmers’ markets.

July is a great time of year to go to the lake, enjoy an outdoor concert, ride a bike, fight cancer, lower your blood pressure, increase your mental agility, shed fat and improve your cardiovascular health.

Summer weather brings all kinds of great things, including a bounty of fresh organic produce. Fruits and vegetables are bustin’ out all over at this time of year. They’re the original chewable vitamins.

And even if you don’t have a garden of your own, you can enjoy the fruits of organic labor, thanks to the city’s three major farmers’ markets. More than a social event with good music, the Barr Street Farmers’ Market, the South Side Farmers’ Market and the new Historic West Main Farmers’ Market can help you get your healthy on.

Just what kinds of things are prime for picking now? According to our friends at the Indiana State Department of Agriculture and the Purdue University Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, July is the season for a rainbow of powerhouses in Indiana.

They’re classified by color at the Produce for Better Health Foundation, which leads the national “Fruits & Veggies—More Matters” initiative (formerly “5 A Day”). We’ve conveniently cross-referenced their cream of the crop with the list from the state and Purdue identifying what you might buy in July in Indiana:

White
White, tan and brown fruits and vegetables contain varying amounts of phytochemicals. They can help maintain heart health, hold healthy cholesterol levels steady and keep cancer risks low. In July, look for:

White peaches
Mushrooms
Onions
White corn

Blue and Purple
Dark fruits and vegetables have phytochemicals such as anthocyanins and phenolics, which may offer antioxidant and anti-aging benefits. They help maintain a lower risk of some cancers, urinary tract health, memory function and health as you age. At this time of year, seek out:

Blackberries
Blueberries
Purple grapes
Plums
Purple cabbage
Eggplant

Green
Green fruits and vegetables have powerful phytochemicals such as lutein and indoles. They can help maintain a lower risk of some cancers, good vision, and strong bones and teeth. In July in Indiana, look for these green machines:

Green apples
Green grapes
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Green beans
Green cabbage
Green pepper
Zucchini

Orange and Yellow
Orange and yellow fruits and vegetables contain vitamin C as well as carotenoids and bioflavonoids that can help maintain a healthy heart, vision and immune system and a lesser risk of some cancers. A sunny July selection might include:

Yellow apples
Cantaloupe
Peaches
Yellow beets
Carrots
Yellow peppers
Yellow summer squash
Sweet corn
Yellow tomatoes

Red
Phytochemicals in the red family, including lycopene and anthocyanins, are a boon for heart health, memory function, a lower risk of some cancers and urinary tract health. Look for these saucy foods now:

Red apples
Cherries
Red grapes
Raspberries
Strawberries
Watermelon
Beets
Red peppers
Tomatoes

The greens of beets and carrot juice also are great for potassium. Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cantaloupe, sweet peppers, tomato juice and strawberries weigh in with lots of vitamin C. Cantaloupe, carrots and sweet peppers provide plenty of vitamin A.

There are many recipes in cookbooks and online to help you make the most of this super-healthy summer freshness. But my favorite is the easiest, bar none: Wash everything. Chop everything. Heat a pan. Put everything in the pan. Stir it around until it’s slightly tender. Top with herbs, spray butter, spray dressing or a drizzle of olive oil. Eat.

Approach unfamiliar produce like you would a wine tasting. Wash it. Cut it apart. Peel two sections. Leave the skin on two others. Cook a piece with peel and a piece without. Put the cooked and raw on a plate. Smell them all. Taste them all, mindfully. Decide how you like the vegetable or fruit best and how it might fit into a future meal.

This is how my daughter and I learned why quince is often made into jam. We also discovered that we love bok choy cooked or not and that celery root changes flavor when cooked. Salads are so much more interesting with mystery vegetables buried inside.

Even if you have to bury your zucchini in Texas chocolate sheet cake (my mom has great recipe for this), eat July’s bounty often. At the lake, at an outdoor concert, before or after a bike ride. It makes getting healthy as welcome as any summer tradition.

If You Go
South Side Farmers’ Market
3300 Warsaw St.
7a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays

Barr Street Farmers' Market
corner of Wayne and Barr streets
8 a.m.-noon Saturdays

Historic West Main Farmers’ Market
1936 W. Main St.
3-8 p.m. Fridays

Sources
www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/benefits/nutrient_guide.html
www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=12-35-45-00
www.in.gov/isda/files/Harvest_Calander.pdf

Published in Fort Wayne Monthly magazine, July 2009