Summer’s here – and the living should be easy
Annemarie ColbinJune 08

First of all, let’s make sure we get our vitamin D this summer – by getting sun on our skin without sunscreen!  Just make sure you don’t burn.  Any  little bit of sunshine will help, and your body will store the vitamin D it makes in the summer for several months.  It also feels wonderful!

Then, make sure to eat lots of colorful plant foods, and especially berries, which are high in antioxidants, and which will help you resist sunburn!  A nice breakfast bowl of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, or any other local berries easy to obtain, will help you feel really summery.  Put some almonds and cashews on it, or walnuts (for the Omega 3’s) and pumpkin seeds (for the zinc), and there is your daily brain food.

If you want to relax and take it easy this summer, avoid caffeine if at all possible, or at least cut down to minimum.  Caffeine makes your brain speed up;  it is great when you have lots of brain work to do – and it can also keep you from relaxing properly, so be cautious.   

To keep cool, iced herbal teas are great.  If you go to a shop, the best way to get iced tea is by asking for a cup of your favorite (peppermint, hibiscus, whatever), and a separate cup of ice.  Then you pour the hot tea onto the ice, and there you are – immediate iced tea!  The best part is that you know there is nothing in there you don’t want.  I find that pre-made iced teas usually have some sugar or other sweetener in them, or flavoring, or whatever.

And here is my favorite cold summer soup, always fabulous for summer lunch.

COLD CUCUMBER AVOCADO SOUP

1 clove garlic

2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1 avocado, halved, pit removed

1 quart  unsalted chicken stock or water

½ teaspoon sea salt or to taste

1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)

1.   Run the blender with the cover on but without the center cup.  Drop the clove of garlic in, put the cover on, and let it get chopped and plastered to the walls of the blender.
2. Add the cucumber chunks, scoop the avocado into the blender, add half the chicken stock, the salt and lemon juice, and puree until smooth.  Add as much of the rest of the chicken stock as needed for the consistency you like.  Adjust taste.  Chill.  Makes about 6-8 servings.  Serve cold.