Food of the Month: PEACHES

One of our favorite things about summer time is PEACHES, PEACHES AND MORE PEACHES! There's nothing like a perfectly ripe peach on a hot summer's day. We love them so much that while we eat them, we can't stop singing "Millions of Peaches, PEACHES for me. Millions of Peaches, peaches for free!"

Not only are peaches the tastiest summer stone fruit, they're also highly nutritious and surprisingly low in calories!

Did you know that peaches are high in potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C and fiber? Not only are they good to eat, you can also add peach puree to your natural homemade beauty mask as Vitamin A and C are great skin moisturizers!

Peaches are a natural stress-reliever and tend to have a positive effect on anxiety. When you think about it, have you ever felt stressed while eating a peach? We didn't think so. Not to mention the fact that they're also known to calm an upset stomach. Next time you're feeling stressed out and a bit woozy, bite into a peach and let your stress and nausea float away.

Peaches are great at supporting weightless as most medium sized peaches are about 58 calories but due to all the fiber, they make you feel full. Not to mention the fact that they help fight against obesity related diseases like diabetes and heart diseases this is because peaches are loaded with antioxidants.

Normally at this point in our food of the month post, we'd list a few easy recipes and ways to incorporate the food of the month into your diet. But this month, we can confidently say that the best way to eat a peach is to simply eat it. Whether you just devour it whole or cut it up into wedges, the choice is yours, but whatever you do eat millions of peaches this summer!

BBQ Cauliflower Wings

This month’s reci-pea we are taking an all American classic and transforming it into a meatless, low-fat, gluten-free dish that packs in the protein as well as servings of veggies.  Time to cut up some carrots, celery and grab your favorite creamy dressing because we’re making BBQ Cauliflower Wings!

In this main course (or side dish) we replace the chicken with cauliflower, the batter with gluten-free chickpea flour and we bake it up instead of deep-frying.  Not only is this reci-pea easy and quick to make, the preparation methods are very kid friendly.  So grab your little ones, apron up and get ready to enjoy a healthy version of this American classic.

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower

2 cups garbanzo bean flower (also known as Chickpea flour)

1 1/3 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp garlic powder 

1 Tbsp onion powder

2 tsp paprika

1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Cut cauliflower into large bite sized pieces (about the size of BBQ wings). Combine garbanzo bean flower, water, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika in a large bowl and mix together until smooth (you want it to be the consistency of pancake batter).  Cover a large baking tray with parchment paper.  Dip cauliflower pieces into batter so that it’s fully covered and lay flat on tray.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  Pull out of the oven and check the texture of the cauliflower piece; it should be crispy, if it’s still gooey put back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes.

Once out of the oven, let cool for 5 minutes then place the cooked cauliflower wings into a large bowl. Pour the BBQ sauce over the wings and mix gently with your hands. Serve with cut up carrots, celery and your favorite creamy dressing! Serves 4.