Everything Squash! Summer squash season is upon us, but sometimes we struggle to find ways to eat these curious-looking yellow fruits – yes, technically it is a fruit! Squash makes a great addition to any dinner as they’re full of vitamins A, B6, and C, as well as important minerals like folate, magnesium, riboflavin, phosphorus, and potassium. On top of all of that, they’re also a great source of fiber! In honor of these brilliantly healthy summer fruits, we at NetCost Market wanted to give you some great squash recipes to try out before the summer ends! Spicy honey glazed grilled summer squash If you’re having a summer grill but want to bring something a little different, this great vegetarian summer squash recipe is perfect. It’s packed full of summer flavors and will certainly wow guests! Recipe Ingredients: 4 summer squash, ¼ cup honey, ¼ cup rice vinegar, ¼ cup soy sauce, 3 tbsp. hot chili paste, 2 tbsp. vegetable oil, 1 lime – halved ½ small shallot – thinly sliced, ¼ cup coarsely chopped cilantro, 1 tsp. toasted sesame seeds. Method: Get your grill going to medium heat. Cut each squash lengthways, then score a crosshatch pattern in the side of each one. Toss the squash and salt in a colander and leave for 10 minutes. Combine honey, vinegar, soy sauce, and chili paste in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer on medium heat. Stir occasionally and cook for 5-7 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 tbsp. oil. Toss squash in the remaining vegetable oil, and then brush with the glaze from the pan. Grill the squash for about 3 minutes on both sides, constantly brushing with glaze. Once slightly charred on each side, remove from the grill. Squeeze the juice of one lime into a medium bowl and then add the shallots, cilantro, and some salt, and toss together. Drizzle this mixture on the freshly grilled squash and then add sesame seeds. Serve immediately! Summer squash baba ghanoush Baba ghanoush is a classic eggplant dip, but this recipe calls for a slight twist, using summer squash instead. It’s a brilliant addition to any meze meal, or as a simple side with some pita bread as a snack. Recipe Ingredients: Olive oil, 3 lbs. summer squash, 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice, ½ clove garlic – finely grated, salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes. Method: Get a grill going on medium heat. Alternatively, you can do this on the stove-top with a pan. Slice the squashes into halves and then grill for about 25 minutes, turning once midway through. Let the squash cool, and then scoop out the middle flesh, discarding the skins. Pulse the cooled flesh in a food processor with the lemon juice, tahini, and garlic until smooth, and then season with salt and pepper. Serve in a bowl with plenty of olive oil drizzled on top to stop it from drying out. Shaved squash salad Summer squash is also a brilliant addition to any salad, and it doesn’t even need to be cooked! This shaved summer squash salad includes other tasty summer salad additions such as cherry tomatoes and ricotta cheese. Recipe Ingredients: 1 clove garlic – finely grated, 1 tsp. grated lemon zest, ¼ cup fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, 1 tsp. honey, ¾ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, ¼ cup olive oil – a little extra for serving, 1 tsp. salt, 1 pint mixed cherry tomatoes – halved, 1 ½ lbs. mixed summer squash, 4 oz. ricotta Salata – shaved, basil leaves, chopped chives. Method: Mix the garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, mustard, sugar, red pepper, ¼ cup oil, and 1 tsp. salt in a small bowl until all the sugar and salt have dissolved. Toss the tomatoes and another 2 tbsp. of olive oil in a separate bowl and season with salt. Using a vegetable shaver, shave the squash to make ribbons. Arrange the squash on the plate, allowing for the ribbons to bend and twist to give it some texture. Top with cherry tomatoes, ricotta, basil, and chives, and then drizzle over a good helping of the dressing. Serve immediately. Summer squash is one of those great foods that we often think we’ll use but never actually do. Don’t let this year be like all the others! Make the effort to do something with all those beautifully colorful squashes you’ve seen in the stores recently. At NetCost Market, we stock an array of fresh, high- quality summer squashes, so head down to your nearest store and try out some of these brilliant recipes before the season has passed you by! Quick and Healthy Dinner Ideas from Nutritionists We’re always being told that we should eat a healthy, balanced diet, but exactly what this entails is harder to pin down. To help answer this, we thought it would be a good idea to go straight to the source and see what meals nutritionists suggest making. This way, you’ll know you’re getting the real deal! At NetCost Market, we’ve got five great meal ideas suggested by nutritionists themselves. Stir-fry Stir-fries are one of the healthiest meals you can prepare for yourself and your family according to nutritionist Toby Amidor because they contain at least 3 major food groups – lean protein, vegetables, and whole grains. Try using either quinoa or unrefined brown rice to serve your stir-fry with, and stick to leaner cuts of meat such as chicken breast or lean cuts of beef. A top tip is to marinate the meat you’re using in low- sodium soy sauce and lime juice for at least 6 hours before you make dinner – this helps break down the meat so it’s softer and infuses with those classic Asian flavors! Use zoodles instead of noodles! Zoodles (noodles made using zucchini) are all the rage, and nutritionist Amy Gorin thinks this is for good reason! Zucchini contains a fraction of the calories that pasta noodles do and are high in fiber and several vitamins and minerals. This means that even if you ate zoodles until you were completely full, you’d still be under the number of calories you would have taken in if you’d had a normal-sized portion of pasta noodles! Try partially cooking your zoodles in a little bit of vegetable broth for a minute and then add cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, and some homemade basil pesto for a delicious and healthy meal! Using lentils Keri Gans, a registered dietitian suggests that lentil soup is a great addition to your weekly meal schedule. Lentils are a great source of soluble fiber, but also contain a reasonable amount of protein and slow-release carbohydrates. Make a lentil soup by frying some chopped onions and garlic in a pan, and then adding a tablespoon of tomato paste and a teaspoon of ground cumin. Next, add a cup of red lentils and four cups of water, and season with salt and pepper. Blend once the lentils have completely cooked down and served with a sprinkle of olive oil. Probiotic yogurt salad Maya Feller suggests making a quick and healthy salad that incorporates high-vitamin vegetables with the probiotic properties of low-fat Greek yogurt. She suggests mixing together a squeeze of lemon juice, a chopped small red onion, plenty of low-fat Greek yogurt, chopped garlic, a small amount of feta cheese, diced cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, some slices of avocado, salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of cumin. This one- bowl wonder is a great way to incorporate healthy proteins with high-fiber raw vegetables. Reach for the bowl Bowls are trending right now, with poke bowls taking American cities by storm. Alissa Rumsey, a dietitian operating in New York, believes bowls are a great way to go. They contain a good mixture of food groups, and you can easily manage what goes in them so unhealthy components aren’t masked by more healthy ingredients. A great idea is the Sorghum bowl which contains whole grains like quinoa or bulgur wheat, a type of beans like kidney beans or white beans, grilled above-ground- growing vegetables, and some cooked green lentils. The simple bowl is then topped with good quality olive oil and salt. Simple! Nutritionists know how to eat healthily, it’s their job! But, sometimes it’s hard to know exactly what they mean when they say we should be eating a “balanced diet”. Try some of these quick and healthy meal ideas to keep your diet balanced. You’ll find all the quality ingredients you need to make tasty midweek meals at NetCost Market, so head down and start eating that balanced diet nutritionists are always recommending! Samsa – The Queen of Uzbek Cuisine Nestled between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in central Asia lies the picturesque country of Uzbekistan, characterized by its ornate mosques and intricate architecture originating from the era of the silk road. Luckily for us, the country also boasts one of the greatest snack foods in the world – the Samsa! What exactly is a Samsa? A Samsa is a light pastry that’s filled with meat such as lamb, beef or chicken, or sometimes vegetarian options such as cheese, potato, or pumpkin and is then baked in a traditional tandoor (Tandyr) oven. It’s closely related to the Indian Samosa, but the Uzbek variety is characterized by the use of cumin, both black and red pepper, and sesame seeds that give it a distinct flavor! Origins of this tasty treat! Samsa is the perfect traveling food – the recipe was perfected as an ideal food for traders making their long journey along the silk road.