15 Summer Berry Recipes: The Very Best Way to Eat More Berries
Now is the time to eat as many berries as you can stomach. In season throughout the summer, berries will never be more accessible, more affordable, or more juicy and delicious!
Ripened in the sun, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries are prime examples of how fruits are “nature’s candy.” Want proof? Eat a handful on their own or freeze and enjoy the “hard candy” version! Their natural sweetness is actually sweeter than table sugar. With most one-cup servings of these berries weighing in at less than 60 calories, it’s one splurge you can enjoy over and over.
With nutrition recommendations to fill half of each plate with fruits and vegetables, and to eat around nine servings of produce each day, it’s hard not to reach those goals when you include berries. These fresh fruits easily accompany breakfast, lunch, and dinner and make excellent snacks in between.
For fitness buffs, berries make an excellent addition to your pre- and post-workout fueling plan as they provide clean energy and can improve muscle soreness and recovery.
BLUEBERRIES
One cup of blueberries has 84 calories, 2 grams of fiber, and 16 percent of your daily need for vitamin C. It’s a superfood loaded with phytonutrients that’s linked with improving night vision and overall visual clarity.
Blueberry Balsamic Reduction with Turkey Burger Sliders
STRAWBERRIES
One cup of strawberries has 50 calories, 2 grams of fiber, and 160 percent of your daily need for vitamin C. Just eight berries counts toward one serving and can promote heart health and lower blood pressure.
RASPBERRY
One cup of raspberries has 52 calories, 7 grams of fiber (or 26 percent of daily value), and 44 percent of your daily need for vitamin C. It’s linked with preventing cancer by inhibiting abnormal cell division and allowing for normal cell death.
Raspberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
BLACKBERRIES
One cup of blackberries has 43 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and 35 percent of your daily need for vitamin C. It’s one of only two berries included on the CDC’s Powerhouse Fruits and Vegetables list.
Blackberry Mascarpone Hand Pies
MIXED BERRIES
Mix them together and what do you get? Flavor explosion. Nutrition boon. Spectacular color. Enjoy all the benefits of several berries in one bite!