Add red, white and blue to your menu

This Monday marks the traditional end of summer with a three-day Labor Day weekend celebration. But, with many school semesters starting in late August and warm weather persisting until late September, it's not clear where the end of summer should be marked. 

For many of the locals in this area, the next two months are some of the best times of the year. Traffic is not as congested, blanket space on the beaches is wide open, and there are several festivals and gala fundraisers to keep us entertained until the winter holiday season begins.

As silly as it may sound, one of our favorite Labor Day plans is to serve a meal that features red, white and blue foods. If you'd like to join in on this colorful tradition, I'll give you some ideas on where to find various shades of red, white and blue to add to your menu. 

To start with blue makes sense, since there are so very few blue-hued foods. Blueberries are an obvious choice, as seen in the yogurt smoothies in the photo. From there, the natural color of foods tends to be more purple than blue, as in potatoes, corn, carrots and grapes.

In truth, only the skin of blueberries is blue; their flesh is an unremarkable tan. 

Red is much easier, although there's also a range here, from the reddish orange of some peaches to the purplish red of beets. However, you still have strawberries, pomegranate, raspberries, apples (at least their skins), rhubarb, bell peppers, cranberries, cherries and liver.

Actually, most cuts of beef are red in their raw state, which helps the barbecue choices add red food to the list. 

White foods fall into a wide spectrum. There are ecru or buff-colored potatoes, turnips and Spanish onions, as compared to the true white of white onions and the bottom sections of leeks and scallions. Cow's milk and goat's milk are white, while many of the nut-milks (made with almonds or cashews) are an off-white. 

Unbleached flour is almost white; pastas and breads which use it as an ingredient are also buff, not bright white. Despite the poor reputation of refined sugar, not all white foods should be avoided; consider the excellent nutritional components in cauliflower, mushrooms and white beans. Lean breast meat of chicken and turkey are excellent proteins among the white-food options. 

Now that we're armed with our color-coded shopping lists, how do we assemble an interesting meal of red, white and blue foods?

Consider a potato salad of peeled blue potatoes, red-skinned new potatoes and hard boiled eggs to give you some of each shade. Mix in the white part of sliced scallions and some minced red bell pepper to truly make the point. 

Fruit or vegetable kebobs are a great place to combine colors. Thread a combination of strawberries, blackberries and white melon chunks to serve with a lemon dipping sauce. Marinate white onions, blue potatoes and cubed sirloin tips in an herbed vinaigrette before grilling to perfect tenderness. 

Since the options are so plentiful, I'll leave the choices up to you, but I've included my recipe for a lemony fruit-dipping sauce.

Most of the recipes you'll find online feature high-fat ingredients such as whipping cream, cream cheese or lemon pudding mix; this one is simple and delicious. To make the blueberry smoothies, all you need is some frozen fruit, yogurt and almond milk for a refreshing and healthy snack. Here's to a safe, relaxing Labor Day holiday!

Lemon Dipping Sauce 

1/4 C fresh-squeezed lemon juice 
3 T honey 
1 C plain Greek yogurt 
1 t lemon zest 
In a small saucepan, whisk together lemon juice and honey. Bring to a boil over medium high, then reduce heat and simmer for a minute or two. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Whisk honey mixture together with yogurt and lemon zest. Serve as a garnish for fresh fruit. Yield: 1 C sauce.

Fruit Smoothie 

1 C frozen fruit* 
1/4 C vanilla yogurt 
1/3 C almond milk 
2 T protein powder (optional) 
Combine ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Yield: 1 serving. 
*Note: bananas, blueberries, peeled peaches, strawberries, pitted cherries, etc.