The best recipes make it easy to nourish your body without making you feel overstuffed.
These healthy summer recipes use fresh summer fruits and vegetables along with staple supplies from your pantry or fridge. Plus, if you find you don’t have all the listed ingredients, you can easily adapt these recipes by changing things up a bit.
Choose one of these recipes to serve with favorite dishes you already love. Or try all three to create a summer-inspired meal your family is sure to enjoy.
Slow cooker summer vegetables
Healthy summer dinner recipes, like slow cooker summer vegetables, are light and full of flavor. You can adapt these healthy summer crockpot recipes by choosing the vegetables that are in season in your area. This lets you take advantage of sales at farmers markets or use the ingredients you grow in your own garden.
This recipe also uses a light sauce that brings out the fresh flavors of your seasonal vegetables. Plus, if you want to make this a one-dish meal, you can toss in legumes or about a cup of finely diced chicken or tofu.
- To get started, put a crockpot liner in your slow cooker.
- Choose a variety of colorful vegetables. You’ll need about 3 to 4 pounds of raw vegetables to make this in a 6-quart slow cooker.
- Clean the vegetables and cut them into chunks.
- Drop the vegetables in the slow cooker.
- Drizzle three-fourths of a cup teriyaki sauce or half of a cup broth over the vegetables.
- Cook on the high setting for three hours, or until the vegetables are soft and the meat (if any) is cooked.
Pasta salad (without the pasta)
Did you know you can turn some traditional summer picnic favorites, like pasta salad, into healthier summer salad recipes?
- Either buy pre-cut zoodles or make four cups of spiralized veggie noodles from fresh zucchini. You can substitute summer squash for the zucchini. Or you can even mix in some carrots or beets for color and to add a different flavor profile, if desired.
- Boil or microwave your veggie noodles for a minute or two until soft. It’s much faster than cooking traditional pasta.
- Let the cooked zoodles cool completely.
- Add one-half cup raw broccoli florets, one-half cup diced red peppers and one-half cup shredded cheddar cheese.
- Stir gently until well mixed.
- Pour three-fourths of a cup Italian dressing or your favorite vinaigrette dressing over the cooked zoodles and raw vegetables.
- For some protein, cut up some grilled chicken breast and add it before serving.
Strawberries and croissants
When you’re looking for healthy summer dessert recipes, strawberries and croissants are a tasty solution. These easy, healthy summer recipes are made with four pre-made croissants, a quart of fresh strawberries and low-fat frozen strawberry yogurt.
Additionally, you can substitute other types of berries for a more exotic flavor. Or mix things up with different yogurt flavors or types of yogurt.
- Clean and slice the berries and sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar on them.
- Cover and set the berries in the refrigerator.
- Cut the croissants in half as if you were opening them to make sandwiches.
- Put the bottom halves on small dessert plates.
- Scoop one-half of a cup frozen strawberry yogurt into the bottom half of each croissant.
- Put the top of the croissant on the yogurt and press down lightly to make sure it sticks to the frozen yogurt.
- Store these in the freezer until you’re ready to serve.
- Drizzle spoonfuls of sliced berries on top right before serving.
A big part of staying healthy during the summer is to stay hydrated. Check out these fun drink recipes that will help with hydration during the heat.
Also, learn about the nutrition services we offer at Bon Secours.
