Certain foods (like certain people) have unique and interesting reputations. Apples are a good example. Well-noted for “keeping the doctor away” and forever famed for causing temptation in the Garden of Eden, apples are rich in folklore and tradition. Remember Johnny Appleseed, the kind, yet eccentric humanitarian who wandered the frontier early in the 19^th century planting thousands of miles of apple orchards? Many are well-documented and still exist today!

Apples are harvested in autumn, in perfect time for cool-weather cooking and baking. Truth be told, apples create serious temptation when baked into crisps, stirred into pancake and muffin batter, roasted with fall vegetables, baked into casseroles, pureed into soups, or sautéed with aromatic spices. Far more than myth and lore, the ancient appeal of the tempting apple is downright reality!

Apples range in color, flavor and texture. Most can be eaten fresh and raw, but not all are good when it comes to cooking. These common varieties tend to hold up well in the kitchen: Gala, McIntosh, Honeycrisp, Jonathan, Golden Delicious, Winesap, Granny Smith, Pink Lady and Fuji.

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With the back-to-school and back-to-work grind of the fall, I’ve been focusing my blog posts on solutions for convenient, healthy meals. Last week, I took a look at building quick, smart sandwiches for busy weeknights. This week‘s post is all about pasta dinners — another smart, quick way to feed your family without falling prey to the fast food trap.

Perfect for busy weeknights, pasta is kid-friendly, easy to prepare, versatile, inexpensive and super satisfying. Remember to expand your horizons with pasta made from a range of grains — such as spelt, whole wheat and kamut, which are far more available these days than when I was a kid. And gluten-free pasta made from brown rice, buckwheat, corn and quinoa are easier to find and are gaining popularity fast, even among those for whom gluten is not a problem. These many varieties of pasta provide whole-grain nutrition with the added benefit of natural fiber.

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Convenience! It’s the number one, most important factor for many families when it comes to dinnertime. With all the after school and evening activities ramping up, preparing meals can be a real struggle. It’s no wonder many parents turn to fast food and junk food…it’s quick, it’s cheap and it’s convenient.

Sad to say, but good food choices often get thrown out the window when things get busy. That’s why I propose the ever-versatile sandwich as the quintessential “fast food” for dinner. Sandwiches are convenient, easy on the budget (if you nix the crab and caviar) and, best of all, cooking can be minimal or not required at all. What more can busy parents ask for?

While you might think of sandwiches as lunchtime fare, they are also the perfect answer for a quick dinner. Here are the basics:

• Choose good quality bread — preferably whole grain. Vary your choices with pita, a sprouted grain bun, an English muffin, a sandwich loaf, sourdough or whole grain rolls. Don’t forget tortillas — wraps count as sandwiches in my book too!
• Add a filling such as turkey, cheese, hummus, egg salad, tuna, sardines, tofu or avocado. Don’t go overboard on quantity, though. A “Dagwood” type sandwich may not be the most healthful choice.
• Pile on plenty of delicious, fresh veggies like grated carrots, sliced cucumbers and colorful bell peppers, tomatoes, red onions and sautéed mushrooms. Tip: Visit our salad bar and fill a container with toppings to go.
• Green it up! There’s a glorious gamut of gorgeous greens to give your sandwich color, flavor and a nutritional boost. Try baby spinach, arugula, watercress, fresh herbs, cabbage and a variety of lettuces.

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I love when food is fun! Growing up, I was lucky to have a mom who gave me free reign when it came to getting as creative as I could while packing my own school lunches. That’s when I learned the value of fabulous finger foods.

Although generally thought of as being kid-friendly, finger foods are just as much fun for grown-ups. Finger foods can be miniature versions of many popular dishes from appetizers and sandwiches to pizzas, gourmet foods and desserts. But when it comes to packing lunches and snacks, the cleaner and neater the better — requiring as few napkins as possible!

Here are my ideas for some no-fork, no-spoon, no-cooking–required finger foods. Combine several for a full lunch or pack one or two for snacks. Some of these can be served cold (pack with an ice pack) or warmed in the morning and placed in a thermos until lunchtime.

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I have to admit I love mayonnaise, especially when I make it myself, just like I plan to do this Labor Day. My sister and I share the picnic menu and, as always, my job includes making the potato salad with my homemade mayonnaise.

Just because I adore mayonnaise, though, doesn’t mean everyone else does. I remember the first time I saw a friend eat a hamburger without mayonnaise and all I could think was, “Why bother eating it at all?” I hate to admit it, but I have the same problem with potato salad. Just today, while asking advice from Paige, my Whole Foods Market friend and Team Leader, I was reminded that there is more to potato salad than just mayonnaise.

That sent me on a quest to discover the many possible variations such as tossing with vinaigrette, adding cheese, flavoring with mustard (like Paige does), and adding interesting additions of vegetables, proteins and fruit. Here’s a great assortment of potato salad ideas:
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This July, we had the hottest month on record! I’ve been staying indoors, drinking plenty of water and barely cooking, relying on salads and in particular, pasta salads. Being that I love a variety of natural whole grains, I’m thankful for pasta made from an alphabet of whole grains like amaranth, buckwheat, brown rice, corn, kamut, quinoa, spelt and whole wheat. These easy salads are portable, which makes them ideal for picnics, parties and barbeques.

In its basic form, pasta is dough from which a myriad of shapes and sizes are formed. Americans are most familiar with macaroni and cheese or spaghetti, an Italian favorite we love to smother in sauce. Yet pasta is so much more. It can be made with or without eggs and from an assortment of grains, including gluten-free grains. It can be stuffed, like tortellini or ravioli, or made with potatoes like gnocchi.

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If you’ve been to Las Vegas in the summer, you know what “oven-hot” feels like. I remember summers there would render us desperate to escape the afternoon heat. Brilliantly, my sister came up with the idea of a daily “Grape Escape.” Simply wash, dry and freeze grapes. During the hot afternoon, indulge yourself in the grape escape. Eat them, hold them to your temples, roll one or two over the back of your neck, or as my young niece tried to do, stuff one in your belly button for an immediate cooling effect! When you hit the bottom of the batch, be prepared to get grape-greedy.

Grapes are among the oldest cultivated fruit — possibly cultivated in Asia as far back as 5,000 B.C. Even ancient hieroglyphics depict Egyptians involved in grape production and wine making. These days, grapes are grown all over the world. Although California has been producing grapes for over 300 years, growing more than 50 varieties, Italy takes the number-one spot for production of table grapes.

Depending on their use, grapes are classified as either wine grapes, which are small, sweet and ornamental looking, or table grapes, the varieties most of us are familiar with. Within these two classifications, there are numerous varieties. My personal favorite is the Concord grape, a sweet, astringent deep purple grape commonly used to make grape juice.

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This past weekend I had brunch at a little French café not far from home. Being that it was so hot outside, I was looking forward to ordering something light and refreshing. Boy was I happy to find a delicious white bean salad on the menu! It was a perfect blend of Tuscan-style white beans, arugula, minced fresh veggies, Parmesan cheese, just a wee bit of prosciutto and basil croutons. What more could I ask for on a summer’s day?

Beans (also called legumes) are an excellent source of plant protein and dietary fiber. They are forever flavorful, naturally nutritious, inescapably inexpensive and verily versatile. While cooking a pot of beans can be very rewarding, relying on canned, preservative-free beans provides no-need-to-cook protein that helps you beat the summer heat and eat lighter, with less meat and heavy foods. Delicious as a main dish or as a side; for lunch, dinner, potluck, picnic or party, bean salads add great taste, simplicity and variety to any occasion.

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While people the world over include a variety of chili peppers in their cooking, jalapeños are a great place to start for heat novices. After a too spicy bowl of soup in India made me feel like I was dying, I kept my distance from all peppers for a good while. But I gradually learned that jalapeños are peppers that my palate enjoys! I bet yours will too.

Ranging in color from bright green to red, they’re up to three inches long and rank fairly low on the Scoville scale, a measure of the units of heat produced by the capsaicin, the natural compound in peppers that makes them spicy. To put it in perspective, bell peppers rank zero Scoville units; jalapeños rank 5,000 Scoville units; and habañeros, some of the hottest peppers in the world, rank up to 300,000 Scoville units.

Jalapeños are incredibly versatile. You can enjoy them fresh, roasted, stuffed, pickled, canned, jarred and dried. Once dried and smoked, they develop a deeper, sweeter flavor and are called chipotle peppers.

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I remember having dinner at my sister’s house years ago when my oldest niece Emily, who was then about 10, watched her mother slice cucumbers for the salad. She picked one up and declared, “I know what these are! These are for your eyes!”

Emily was right; cucumbers are one of those special foods that have more uses than just culinary. An internet search turns up some pretty unusual uses for cucumbers, everything from removing crayon drawings on walls to firming up cellulite on skin! I have no idea about the validity of many of these claims, but I do know that a summer without cold cucumbers is like a winter without hot soup.

Called Cucumis Sativus by science, the cucumber is a cousin to zucchini, watermelon, pumpkin and other squash. We love to eat them fresh or pickled. Fresh cucumbers are generally known as “slicing cucumbers” while the smaller, cultivated varieties, such as gherkins, are perfect for pickling. All varieties are cylindrical in appearance; their colors can range from whitish-green to dark green. Some have smooth skins while others are bumpy and ridged. Inside, a cucumber has watery, pale, whitish-green flesh. Some varieties have seeds and others are seedless. The flesh is crunchy, the seeds are edible, and the uses are numerous. Although the longer, slicing cucumbers are available year-round, all cucumbers are best enjoyed in season, added to summertime menus.

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