Wellbeing Tips
You know that wild blueberries are super-good for you—but how to use them? Here are two fabulous recipes to start.
Did you check out our other recent blog post on the health benefits of wild blueberries? Now it’s time for the fun stuff: recipes. Here are two excellent ones, below, from the good folks at the Wild Blueberry Association of North America.
“The rounded, nuanced flavor of wild blueberries makes them ideal for savory dishes as well as sweet.” says Kitty Broihier, MS, RD, LD, nutrition advisor for WBANA, “You can use it as a sauce with some herbs on pork tenderloin or chicken,” she says. “Or you don’t even have to make a sauce, you can just throw them on with some herbs and butter.” And they’re also good in tacos and fish dishes, she says.
Here are two tasty, nutrient-packed recipes for summer—one that is super simple and refreshing, the other a little more elaborate and filling.
Wild Blueberry Chia Fresca
Ingredients
1/4 cup frozen wild blueberries
12 oz. fresh cold filtered water
1 tbsp. chia seeds
1/2 lime, juiced
1 tsp. honey or few drops liquid stevia
Instructions
- Stir chia into water and let sit for 10-20 minutes.
- Add lime juice and wild blueberries.
- Sweeten to taste, stir and serve over ice, if desired.
Recipe courtesy of the Wild Blueberry Association of North America, developed by Danielle Omar, MS, RDN of Food Confidence.
Wild Blueberry Buddha Bowl
Ingredients for the Buddha Bowl:
2 cups dry quinoa
5 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 small-medium sweet potatoes, quartered
2, 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 bunch Swiss chard, stems trimmed, roughly chopped
2 avocados, sliced
For the Wild Blueberry Cashew Dressing:
1 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least one hour
1 small shallot, minced (about 1 tablespoon minced)
1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries, defrosted
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions for the Buddha Bowl:
- Cook quinoa according to package instructions.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together ¼ cup olive oil, chili powder, cumin and salt. Toss sweet potatoes in bowl until evenly coated.
- Roast sweet potatoes in oven until tender, about 30 minutes.
- Add chickpeas to same bowl with chili powder mixture and toss to evenly coat.
- In a large nonstick pan, heat 1/2 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add chickpeas and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Set cooked chickpeas aside. Note: Depending on the size of your nonstick pan, you may want to cook chickpeas in two batches so they are evenly browned.
- Using the same pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add Swiss chard and cook, tossing often, until wilted and tender, about 5 minutes.
- To assemble the Buddha bowl, add your quinoa as the base and top with sweet potato, chickpeas, Swiss chard and avocado. Drizzle with Wild Blueberry Cashew Dressing.
For the Wild Blueberry Cashew Dressing:
- In a high-speed blender, add cashews, shallot, wild blueberries, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard, water and salt.
- Blend on high until smooth and creamy.
- Drizzle over Buddha bowls.
Recipe courtesy of the Wild Blueberry Association of North America, developed by Kara Lydon, RD, LDN, RYT of The Foodie Dietitian.
Hope this inspires you to put wild blueberries on the menu and put them to good use. If you want more inspiration, there are tons. Just head to recipes at wildblueberries.com.
