Summer's bounty

It's peak season for cucumbers, and if you're lucky, you'll have a farmers' market near by or your supermarket will have locally grown. Fresh cukes and fresh green bell peppers taste very different in August than they do in January. Read the Whole Foods story on cucumbers.

Cucumbers are a very good source of the vitamins C and the mineral molybdenum. They are also a good source of vitamin A, potassium, manganese, folate, dietary fiber and magnesium and contain the important mineral silica. See all the nutrients

This week I've been sweetening a small amount of apple vinegar, adding a little salt and pepper, then slicing into it cukes, onions, bell peppers, and fresh green beans. I refrigerate it and shake it from time to time. Yummy snacks.

Today for breakfast I grilled two small, sliced Ohio peaches, jazzed it up a bit with a few sprinkles of cinnamon and a dash of sugar free maple syrup, added a few Michigan blueberries and topped it all with some walnuts. Then for lunch I grilled fresh green beans in a little olive oil, added onions, bell peppers, some frozen corn and in the final minutes some locally grown zucchini, turned the burner off and put on the lid to steam lightly. Heavenly.