Spruce up your Spring
By Kristen Castillo
Go with old favorite fruits or try something new with recipes like these.
1. Spring Mix Salad with Blueberries, Goat Cheese and Walnuts. Bursting with blueberries, this spring mix salad features goat cheese and walnuts, is low carb and gluten-free and tastes great. It’s also easy to prepare – it takes just five minutes to make.
2. Strawberry Salsa Shrimp Lettuce Wraps. A low-carb meal that’s full of sweet and savory flavors, these strawberry and shrimp lettuce wraps are ready in a hurry, too.
3. Pineapple Orange Smoothie. Cool down with this tasty and colorful drink featuring pineapple, Greek yogurt, orange juice, vanilla, orange slices and mint. Yum!
4. Watermelon Salsa. This vibrant salsa is perfect as an appetizer, a side dish or as a topping for chicken or fish entrées.
5. Cranberry Apple Crockpot Oatmeal. Forget store bought oatmeal packets! Make a healthy crockpot oatmeal breakfast loaded with fresh fruit instead! It takes some time, but it’s worth it.
6. Healthy Fruit Pizza. Who doesn’t love pizza? This fruity and refreshing dessert pizza, featuring Greek yogurt, berries, banana, peach and kiwi and many other tasty ingredients, is a crowd pleaser.
7. Fresh Fruit Burritos. The whole family will love to wrap up the goodness of berries, yogurt and peanut butter! These burritos are a tasty and satisfying lunch or snack.
8. Summer Fruit Spring Rolls. A delicious take on traditional spring rolls, these fruity alternatives look as great as they taste.
9. Peach Salad with Tomatoes and Beets. This summer salad combines garden flavors of earthy beets with sweet tomatoes and peaches.
10. Donut Shaped Apple Snacks. These “donuts” look and taste amazing! Best of all, they’re nutritious, as they’re made with apples. Just use a sensible portion size for toppings like peanut butter and melted milk chocolate.
11. Berry Quinoa Salad. Wow! This salad is brimming with fresh, colorful fruits including blackberries, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries and is mixed with quinoa, almonds and a citrus dressing.
12. Mango Avocado Pesto Stack. This simple dish looks stunning and tastes great. With a short prep time, it’s easy to make. The colorful combination of mango, avocado and pesto is a hit.
13. Berry Salad with Almond Cranberry Crusted Goat Cheese. A pretty dish, this salad is full of flavor, too. Serve this strawberry and spinach salad, which also features goat cheese, dried cranberries and almonds on its own or with a lean protein like chicken or fish.
14. Pear Toasts. Forget bread! The latest way to make toast is to top slices of pears with sweet and savory topping like Kalamata olives, cucumber and feta, or Greek yogurt, apricots and mint.
15. Sweet Kiwi Omelets. This non-traditional breakfast recipe features eggs, kiwi, cinnamon and grated lemon.
16. Cherry Pea Shoot Kale Salad. Pick up cherries at the local farm stand and make this summer salad, which showcases kale, pea shoots, onion, brown rice, walnuts and vinaigrette.
17. Berry Salad Recipe. A simple recipe, this berry salad celebrates seasonal fruits and may become a summertime favorite.
18. Blueberry Broccoli Spinach Salad. There’s so much to love about this salad! The combo of blueberries, broccoli and spinach paired with poppy seed dressing is delightful.
19. Baked Banana. With just three ingredients, this banana recipe is easy and satisfying for breakfast for a snack.
20. Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa. Add a little kick to a taco dinner with this sweet and spicy mango salsa, which also features fresh jalapeno.
Restaurants of all types are serving innovative and mouth-watering fruity menu choices. Be on the look out for dietitian-recommended menu choices like these that include fruit for added nutrition and flavor.
Healthy Dining’s signature web and mobile site, HealthyDiningFinder.com, is the only search engine of its kind providing personalized dining out recommendations validated by Healthy Dining’s team of registered dietitians. HealthyDiningFinder.com features more than 4,000 menu choices from participating restaurants nationwide enabling diet- and nutrition- conscious consumers to find nutrition information and Healthy Dining options emphasizing lean protein, fruits, vegetables, whole grains and unsaturated fats.
HealthyDiningFinder.com also features a Kids LiveWell platform, a program developed by the National Restaurant Association, to help parents find restaurants offering healthier meals for children. With 25 years of expertise in the restaurant industry and hundreds of thousands of restaurant recipes analyzed for nutrient content, Healthy Dining is the most experienced restaurant nutrition services provider in the world.
For more ideas on ways to incorporate healthy habits into your daily routine, take a look at these other articles from Together Counts!