It’s time to relish the summer, literally. In fact, there’s no better time to create a made-from-scratch pickle relish than the season of picnics and barbeques, when condiments shine.

Unlike ketchup and mustard, relish lends itself to fast and fairly easy DIY homemade recipes. And nothing spices up your arrival at an outdoor bake-out more than entering with mason jars filled with homespun relish.

Not that relish-making is a breeze. It takes a load of mincing, dicing and mixing – not to mention a spot of time, including an overnight refrigerator stint.  Nonetheless, the uniqueness of homemade relish offers a finished product that puts commercial brands to instant shame. And a DIY relish allows one to avoid the many suspicious, if not downright unsavory ingredients typically added to big-name grocery brands.

Below is what might be called an entry-level recipe for a sweet pickled relish, from www.food.com. It has all the right stuff for a delicious first effort, while offering insights into the characteristic steps for making any relish. From this basic relish-making template, the sunny sky becomes the limit of what can quickly become a signature family recipe.

To be expected, pickled relish made from scratch demands the finest and freshest raw ingredients, as does anything which will undergo a pickling process, which has a way of exposing any bruises or over-ripeness among veggies.

Although the main ingredients in homespun relish can run the gamut from green tomatoes to corn to cranberries, the cucumber still holds the top spot when it comes to what most people expect to see in relish. And that works just fine. Cucumbers rock when it comes to their firmness and ability to develop a deep taste during relish duty. Cucumbers also play well with other natural ingredients common to relishes, like onions and peppers.

As to which cucumbers work best in a sweet pickle relish, it’s a matter of seasonality and personal preferences.

Note: Always make sure to de-wax cucumbers with warm water or a mild detergent. Even “organic” cukes often have a light protective layer of shellac, from the lac beetle, or carnauba wax, from the carnauba palm.

Per this recipe, high-quality peppers in red, green and yellow add flavor and kick up the color.

For a premier relish, use designer sweet onions, like the Vidalia, the “1015” Texas, or the Walla-walla.

Cucumbers should be cut lengthwise and lightly deseeded with a spoon, then sliced and diced. Ditto for peppers. Not all seeds need nixing. Just remove enough to prevent them from dominating the final look of the relish.

The dicing of the veggies can make or break a relish. The tiny pieces found in mass-produced relish are not what you want in yours. Larger and thicker dices make from-scratch relish a taste treat in which all the parts can be recognized. While food processors and blenders can make short order of dicing, there is something homier about hand-dicing.

In this recipe, celery seed is a magic ingredient offering a great flavor. It can be spooned in fairly freely. Never use celery salt, which can cause a ruinous oversalting. Go lighter on spices like mustard, as to not create too much seed-ish crunch.

While the sugar amount listed below might seem high, it befits a sweet relish. It can obviously be reduced to taste in future batches. Don’t try to add extra sugar after the cooking process. For sweet pickle relish, it’s best to stick with a quality (preferably organic) white sugar, which is easier to gauge for sweetness than darker sugars or honeys.

Stick with apple cider vinegar. Experimenting with more exotic vinegars can come in later efforts.

Finally, the salt should be special. A kosher-type granularity is preferable. Everyday table salt just won’t cut it.

Note: Restrict the salting time to a couple hours, tops. An overnight soak will produce an over- salted end while shrinking, discoloring and even de-flavoring the veggies.

YIELD: 3 pints

INGREDIENTS :

• 4 cups cucumbers, deseeded and chopped
• 2 cups onions, chopped
• 1 cup green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup red or orange bell pepper, chopped
• 1⁄4 cup kosher salt
• 3 1⁄2 cups sugar
• 2 cups cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon celery seed
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds

DIRECTIONS

Cut cucumbers in half lengthwise; deseed and dice in a preferred manner. Do the same with peppers and onions.

Put all the vegetables in a large bowl. Sprinkle the salt over the chopped vegetables. Cover with cold water and let stand for no more than 2 hours.

Drain vegetables well, and then press out as much liquid as possible.

In a large pot, combine sugar, vinegar and seeds. Bring to a boil. Add vegetables. Bring back to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

Spoon into pint jars, using a slotted spoon. Lightly press relish down while spooning into jars. Place in refrigerator. Will store for a month or more.

And eat with relish!

There are few places I love more than heading to our community pool in the summer. Each year we buy a pool pass and make it a daily destination when the weather is nice. Keeping my kids fed at the pool though often turns into a small part-time job. Between growth spurts, the calories burned on swimming the pool all day, and the boredom eating that happens during the lifeguard breaks… Well, it can get a little expensive.

Each week I head to the grocery store and designate a portion of the funds towards smart snacks for the pool.

I have found that a little sweet and a little salty (especially with a good dipper) is a great winning combination for our pool time snacks. With fresh produce at the height of its flavor and a few budget-friendly organic treats from Wild Oats, we are able to feed our kids some fantastic healthy treats on a small budget.

Today I want to share with you our favorite smart pool snack ideas and I would love to hear what tops your list of great pool snack investments! 

Sweet:

Fruit- Fruit is always a winner and perfectly portable for the pool. We stock up on stone fruits like peaches, nectarines, and cherries for a fun pool snack. Berries and grapes are also two of our favorite treats to take.

For a beverage, the berries can also be a wonderful addition to a big jug of water. We love to experiment with different fruit and herb combinations in the summer months. It’s a fantastic way to stay hydrated.

Granola Bars- I love a sweet granola bar loaded with chocolate chips. Pop these Wild Oats Chocolate Chip bars into the cooler for a sweet treat to enjoy in the sunshine.

Salty (and Crunchy): 

Pretzels & Mustard– I am a big lover of the pretzel and mustard combination and a little Dijon mustard with Wild Oats Organic Honey Wheat Pretzels create a delicious combination of sweet and salty. If you are gluten-free, consider a gluten-free alternative to pair with your favorite mustard.

Popcorn– Popcorn is one of those snacks that we take almost daily to the pool. I pop a bag in our microwave, open it up at the picnic table, and the kids gobble it up. If you want to make things more interesting, consider different varieties of popcorn flavors (white cheddar, anyone?) to keep this snack fun!

Crunchy Granola Bars– I am more of a chewy girl when it comes to granola bars, but my kids love a good crunchy, messy granola bar. Let them indulge in these fun treats at the pool (without the clean-up!). I recommend these Crunchy Peanut Butter Granola Bars for an easy snack that doesn’t require any time in the cooler!

Hummus & Red Peppers– We talked about my mad love affair for hummus in a past post with Wild Oats. Hummus is such a fantastic pool treat and it can be a great way to get in a variety of veggies like peppers, cucumbers, celery, or carrots. My favorite combo is this Roasted Garlic Hummus served with Red Peppers. It’s always a pool winner!

What about you? What are your favorite pool snacks? I’d love to hear your ideas for smart pool treats! 

https://vimeo.com/131833740

Slow Meat, hosted by Slow Food USA, in Denver, Colorado is a biannual Springtime event that supports the production of “good, clean and fair” meat of all kinds. Slow Meat brings together producers, thought leaders, chefs, nutritionists, and eaters who share a common interest in learning all there is to know about sustainable meat production. The goal of Slow Meat is “Eat Better, Eat Less”, stressing the importance of quality over quantity in a Five Point Campaign:

1. Join Meatless Mondays: “Reducing meat consumption by eating plant based meals occasionally, Monday or any day, reduces strain on the environment and improves individuals’ health.”

2. Biodiversity: A Thrill on the Grill: “By identifying and championing these [meats] we keep them in production and on our plates.”

3. Learn the Labels: “To truly eat better meat, we need to know where our meat comes from, who raises the animals, how they are cared for, and what their diets consist of. This means that the best way to eat better meat is to buy direct from local farmers and butchers whenever possible.”

4. Give Better Meat a Sporting Chance: “Slow Food USA is getting in on the game – advocating for better meat and less meat in arenas and stadiums. When you consider the passions aroused by sports and by food, it only makes sense that Game Day has inspired some of the USA’s most iconic and unique food traditions, traditions we’re taking back from the industrial food chain.”

5. Eat Nose-To-Tail: “The butcher, the chef, the rancher, the foodie, the environmentalist and the thrifty shopper all find a spot at the table when the menu is nose-to-tail.”

There are two extremely beneficial ways to experience the Slow Meat festival:

1. Become a change maker delegate and participate in an inspirational two-day conference, which examines “the current state of meat and look for solutions to the industrial system”.
2. Attend the one day free public fair where you can experience meat production firsthand in culinary skill workshops, talk with thought leaders, such as Temple Grandin (an autistic activist, best-selling author, and a consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior) and stroll through the producers tents and sample an array of sustainable meat products, including charcuterie and crickets- yes, crickets!

While I was there, I met up with rancher Dave Carter, who is the Executive Director of the National Bison Association, as well as a fellow Wild Oatie blogger, and was featured in the virtual bison ranch tour video. Here is an interesting tidbit he told me about sustainably produced meat: “Livestock tends to be blamed as a cause for global warming. However, animals
like these bison play a very positive role in the environment. The landscape
on the ranch is a grassland ecosystem. The grasses on the prairie have the
growth above ground and extensive roots systems, and serve as a very
powerful tool for removing carbon from the atmosphere and returning it into
the soil. Grasslands evolved in concert with grazing animals like bison. And, without those grazing animals clipping the excess growth, fertilizing
the soil with manure, and burying seeds with their hooves, the grassland
ecosystem collapses. So, in reality, the bison at the Plains Conservation Center are playing an important role in keeping a carbon trap healthy.”

As a dietitian I believe that “Eat Better, Eat Less” meat is the best way to experience pleasure while also improving our health and well being. Whether or not you are able to attend Slow Meat festival in future, you can incorporate this motto easily into your lifestyle, starting today.

Please share with us your own personal sustainable “eat better, eat less” meat stories by commenting on this post.

For more information on the Slow Food movement, and to join a local chapter, please visit www.slowfood.com.

Sure veggie dishes may be a great option for Meatless Monday, but it’s also a great time to treat yourself to a bowl of your favorite pasta, topped with Wild Oats organic pasta sauce. Choose from Organic Tomato Basil, Organic Marinara, Organic Parmesan & Romano and Organic Roasted Garlic, all yummy and available at Walmart.

Which one will you be heating up tonight? Share with us on our Twitter or Facebook page and you’re automatically entered for a chance to win a Wild Oats prize pack!

To share on Facebook, simply comment on our Mission Monday post by 8:59pm PT/11:59pm ET tonight to be entered to win.

To share on Twitter, tweet us with #WildOatsMission and #sweeps by 8:59pm PT/11:59pm ET tonight to be entered to win.

Full Sweepstakes rules and details can be found here: bit.ly/1DoNN9U

We’re all supposed to eat more leafy greens, right? And bagged lettuce makes that oh, so convenient, right? Yes, but… Bagged and pre-washed lettuce, as well as other bagged produce, can present health dangers. Not just harmful bacteria that can lurk on leaves, but chemical washes used to clean bagged lettuce can cause extreme stomach upset. It’s just another reason to skip the bagged lettuce altogether.

There is no denying that bagged lettuce is easy and quick. And if you’re a busy mom trying to get dinner on the table and time is at a premium, bagged lettuce seems like a good solution. But before you pick up that bag, there are 5 things you should know about bagged lettuce.

1. While there is some contamination risk associated with eating ANY produce, bagged lettuce increases your risk exponentially. Why? Because bacteria adheres more easily to the surface of greens once it has been cut. That means that using pre-cut lettuce exposes you to more bacteria.

2. Don’t expect that the bag of lettuce you buy all came from the same plant —or even the same farm. The process of washing, chopping and bagging lettuce is done by machine. Heads of lettuce are collected from many different sources, and then put through the process together. This means that there is a greater chance of cross-contamination.

3. The chemicals used to wash and clean the lettuce can make you sick, just like bacteria can. Many companies use a mixture of chlorine and water to disinfect the lettuce during the washing process. Chlorine is indigestible, and can cause severe stomach upset, as well as reactions ranging from mild cramping to diarrhea and hospitalization. Recently, some companies have started to use a chemical compound called FreshRinse. which contains organic acids, including lactic acid (found in milk) and peracetic acid. Many people have proved sensitive to these compounds, too.

4. Washing, decontaminating and bagging lettuce takes a lot of resources. From extra water for the now-normal practice of triple-washing, to the creation of plastic bags in which to store the produce, all of this is less than eco-friendly.

5. The lettuce your eating has probably been bagged for at least two weeks prior to getting to your store. By the time the lettuce is collected, processed, bagged and shipped, it’s likely been 2 weeks. Then it may sit in a holding facility for a while before being brought to the retail floor. So when you see the sell-by date is still 2 weeks out, remember how long that lettuce may have been sitting in the bag already.

So the bottom line is that you are better off preparing your own lettuce. Let’s face it, it takes only a few minutes to wash and chop lettuce.Doing it yourself will definitely save you some coin, and might even save you a trip to the doctor or emergency room.