Farm Stand Health

My wife is a self-proclaimed "Farm Stand Queen." She loves to get local fruits and vegetables to add color, texture, nutrition, and healing perks to our summer meals at home. Plus, you get all of the perks of fresh fruits and vegetable—phytonutrients, antioxidants, carotenoids, fiber, enzymes, and so on. My personal favorite is asparagus on the grill—a family favorite and mainstay that can help lower blood pressure levels.  

Since dining on raw vegetables can offset the possible carcinogen exposure you may get by grilling meats and fish, I like to serve up colorful, raw vegetables on our patio dinner table. In addition to being refreshingly cooler, they are brimming with live enzymes that aid digestion and offset concerns we may have about high heat exposure to the main dishes. 

Two important vegetables that work in synergy to prevent cancer are broccoli (rich in sulphoraphane) and tomatoes (high in lycopene). They make great stand-alone side dishes. Serve them raw with hummus or add them to a fresh salad.