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Most Unusual Blues

Move Over Yogurt – These Wild Blueberry Ideas Give Fruit a Whole New Meaning

“Wild blueberries? I’ll eat them with absolutely anything,” said one dyed-blue-in-the-wool Wild About Health reader. If you agree – and if by everything you mean everything, this is the post for you.

Wild blueberries lovers, these are our halcyon days. In our quest for good health, adding fruits and vegetables to our meals is high priority. Those deeply colored wild blueberries are the go-to food for enhancing our health and disease prevention efforts. They are high in antioxidants, they have a low glycemic index, and they are low in calories. They are also deliciously, complexly sweet and tangy.

As a result of the good news surrounding blueberries, specifically wild (wild offers more concentrated nutrition per berry), there’s a swell of interest in eating the fruit – but not in the traditional way. Wild blueberries are popping up in some unexpected places, and they seem to be a new mainstay in a wide array of foods, drinks, and snacks.

So, move over yogurt, step aside pancakes – we love you, but these new traditions in blues will blow your mind (without blowing your commitment to healthy eating).

7 Unusual Ways to Use Your Blues

The Blueberry Bagel Debate

A discussion of blueberry uses that are out of the ordinary must start with the Great Blueberry Bagel Debate. Loved or hated, all bagel aficionados have an opinion. On the one hand, this choice of bagel can have a tendency to be blue of hue – for some, disturbingly so. While some blueberries remain discretely nestled in the bread, others turn bagels vastly different from the expected earth tone. Depending on the maker, the blueberry bagel has been accused of being cakey, and toppings like lox and capers can seem like a difficult fit.

But for others, the delicious bagel consistency mixed with the sweetness of blues is pure breakfast food bliss, and cream cheese is the ideal pairing. It’s simply the only bagel choice for some bagel lovers, whether they have a berry affinity or not. Read more about the blueberry bagel debate. Then, go ahead and make your own homemade Blueberry Bagel, if you are so inclined.

(Nutritionally) Potent Potables

For the occasional imbiber, blueberries are a clever, inventive, multipurpose bar ingredient. Blueberries are no stranger to vodka, for example – they provide a twist to the norm with the added attraction of the “wild” mystique of their origin. Recently, jumping on the blueberry bandwagon, Hangar One announced the release of Maine Wild Blueberry Vodka. It’s a trend that may have its roots with the local Cold River Vodka, an 80-proof vodka made by steeping Wyman’s wild blueberries in alcohol for several days, then filtering it off. They use just a small amount of sugar to achieve this aromatic bouquet and subtle flavor. Try it, along with their recipe ideas, such as Blueberry Melon Martini, for yourself.

Infused vodka shines, but there’s no end to blueberry uses when it comes to cocktails. They are perfect for the holiday season, which necessitates special recipes and lots of color. Wildblueberries.com offers some brand new additions to their drink database that will add a spark to your next gathering. Fortify yourself with an Atlantic Blue with Wild Blueberries or a Lemon Cream and Wild Blueberry Sabayon. You can also rock your guest’s world with Wild Blueberry Woodruff Lime Punch or Wild Blueberry, Elderflower Mint Soda.

Blueberry Vinegar

If you are looking for a unique way to use your blues, this one not only fits the bill for your kitchen, it also makes a wonderful homemade gift during the holiday season. Making blueberry vinegar is simple, and its taste and versatility pays off in spades. Blueberry Vinegar can be added to many recipes that call for vinegar to add a unique twist of flavor: try it on salads, as marinade, or have it handy to sprinkle on fish or chicken while you cook. It offers big taste at approximately 4 calories per serving, too.

Try making your own Blueberry Balsamic Vinegar, or buy some from a local Maine company if you prefer.

Blueberry Soup

This slurpable summery treat, which can also be served in winter (buy frozen wild blueberries for easy cooking), fits the bill for savory, elegant and unique. Ladle this Chilled Wild Blueberry Soup from Moveable Feasts into bowls, garnish with sour cream or crème fraîche and top with a mint leaf, and you’ve got a bowl of exquisiteness. Or try this smashing Maine Wild Blueberry Soup which calls for Pinot Noir (weigh it against Moveable Feast’s white wine) and a bit of honey.

Blueberry Swizzle Sticks

We love this idea for its creativity and for the surprising addition it provides to a drink. Wild blueberries create the basis of this swizzle stick drink stirrer that makes a fruit drink more fabulous. Assembly is simple: place blueberries on a wooden skewer and freeze. Then place them in your guests’ drinks at your next wing-ding. You can find the “recipe” here, where you’ll also find some other unique serving ideas for wild blues. They include out-of-the-ordinary notions such as crushing frozen wild blueberries into vanilla frosting to create a beautiful purple color for your cakes that amplifies the flavor and the fun.

Blueberry Wine

It may not be the first thing you think of when you think of blueberries, but it’s not the last, either. Blueberry wine conjures the crush of flavorful berries and mellow, sweet subtle of flavors that makes perfect sense. If you are adept at making wine, blueberry is a particularly pleasurable option. The wine-making process can take up to several months however, so depending on your schedule, buying it might be easier.

If you are local to Maine, you might try Bartlett Winery in Gouldsboro or Blacksmith’s Winery in Casco. They both make a practice of using native fruits. Also, Maine Mead Works offers HoneyMaker Blueberry Mead made with wild blueberries and wildflower honey from Maine, which is described as having a cherry-rose color and a clean, honey-like aroma with berry notes – berry irresistible.

Hot & Spicy Sauces

This unusual marriage is made in heaven. The piquant spice of the hot pepper, matched with the sweet tang of blueberries is a taste that thrills the palate and compliments myriad foods. This hot-sweet flavor combination may sound like a one-time treat, but it can quickly become a daily delight. It works with potatoes, sandwiches, chicken, burgers, even scrambled eggs. The Sensitive Pantry has the right idea with this recipe for Blueberry Chili Hot Sauce. You can also start your culinary experimentation with this recipe from Food & Wine, or this simple, sweet Hot Spiced Blueberry Sauce that works for vanilla ice cream as well as for chicken on the barbie.

A similar taste profile can be created with a creatively unusual Blueberry Mustard, something threatening to become a table staple (see evidence here and here for starters), and no wonder. Easy to make and keep on hand for your midnight Dagwood, it’s lovely enough for a homemade Christmas gift for friends. Complete the package with your own jar and label.

Try this simple Spicy Blueberry Mustard recipe from Helium. It calls for just three ingredients: blueberries, mustard and honey…pure condiment delight.

Hungry for more? Endless Simmer will sate your appetite. They have 100 ways to use yours blues – an impressive list that we’ve referred to here before. These ideas are less unusual than they are simply fabulous. Our favorite discovery? Blueberry Mint Ice Cream Sandwiches.

Red, White & Blue: Wild Blueberries are Delicious, Heart Healthy & Very Patriotic

Happy Memorial Day!

Grills have been firing up around the country this long weekend, and we’ve found plenty examples of ways outdoor cooks are combining cook-out staples, healthy food, and patriotism.

Ann Arbor’s Peggy Lampman puts her passion for the burger on the line with this Grilled Blueberry Burger and isn’t disappointed. The blueberries provide the juiciness to a leaner burger that’s good for your heart. Get the ingenious recipe!

The Cranberry Patch offers up their patriotic mojito as a way to add the “blue” to the red, white, and blue at your picnic. Here’s the rundown: For 1 gallon of blueberry mojitos, take a ½ pint of pureed blueberries and add 1 quart of Bacardi rum. Add 3 quarts of Sprite and 6 chopped mint leaves. Mix together and add crushed ice and garnish with a lime.

Finally, The Stir has 10 Memorial Day Recipes that include unique last minute ideas like Red, White & Blueberry Skewers — these colorful fruit-laden kabobs are utterly appealing to everyone (especially the kids) and an ideal way to forgo the pies and cakes. Bravo!

Have a happy and healthy holiday and enjoy this day of remembrance.

A Healthy Pour? Syrup as Superfood

by anolobb

If it’s true, it’s nutritional gold for Vermonters and Canucks and everyone in between: maple syrup could be considered the latest superfood. Something supersweet and superhealthy? Only a sap would be unmoved.

It’s smart to be cautious, however. The term “superfood” gets a significant amount of media play, and we don’t want to condone overuse. Such nutritional hyperbole only contributes to confusion when it comes to what is healthy and nutritious. But lovers of this eleven-point leaf may have reason to be guardedly hopeful.

The Road to Super

First, a look at the superfood nomenclature: We’ve traced the origin of the superfood before, and found nutrition specialist Steven Pratt MD, at the source. In his 2004 book, SuperFoods Rx: Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life, he identified key nutrient-rich foods deserved of the superfood label. Foods included on the Superfoods List were all powerfully nutritious and were chosen for their particular ability to prevent disease and support optimum health.

Foods like blueberries, particularly wild blueberries, are widely known as one of the most popular superfoods due their very high levels of antioxidant phytonutrients, which have been proven to help prevent and, in some cases, reverse the well-known effects of aging, including cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, hypertension and certain cancers. Wild salmon, tomatoes, and walnuts were also on the list, and these original superfoods continue to be lauded for there healthful properties.

The super potential of maple syrup, according to researchers from the University of Rhode Island, lies in the detection of previously undiscovered chemical compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, similar to those found in blueberries. Also, part of the interest surrounds the existence of a potential anti-diabetic compound in maple syrup that could help control the conversion of carbohydrates to sugar.

An Anti-Diabetic Compound

It’s true that the data was collected during a research study funded by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. And, the benefits must be confirmed. But putting aside the source for a moment, any contribution to the research concerning how to reduce the risk of diabetes is exciting.

There are 25.8 million children and adults in the United States – 8.3% of the population – who have diabetes. Canada itself is no exception. The country has unprecedented numbers when it comes to diabetes, according to the Canadian Diabetes Association – one in four Canadians are affected by the disease. While further study is called for, reports indicate that there are “potentially significant implications” to the research that point to maple syrup as a potential new superfood.

Not Far From the Tree

If the news is substantiated, blueberries and syrup — already a perfect combination thanks to the world’s favorite pancake – could be a better one. We advise not going ape (or mape?) with maple syrup until we know more about its benefits, but since we’re just leaving the tree-tapping season, there’s no better time try these blueberry and syrup combinations. In moderation, there’s little doubt that they are mighty super already.

Blueberry Bread Pudding. Served hot, this dish offers a beautiful blue take on a favorite. Make it with frozen wild blueberries, and top with local syrup if you happen to live near bountiful trees.

Wild Blueberry & Maple Breakfast Quinoa With Toasted Pecans. Today, quinoa is a hot ticket—it’s both hip and healthy. Complete with pecans, this is a morning treat that shines with a hint of maple.

Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberries. Here’s the classic combo with a cheesy addition courtesy of Giada de Laurentis, and purported to be excellent in taste and satisfaction.

Baked French Toast With Blueberries. A mix of healthy fruit on top will add a heap of nutrients to this indulgent dish. Make it beforehand for overnight guests who love hearty and healthy.

Tart Me Up! Sweet Treats for Savory Times

Everyone’s talking about how fruit, especially the very versatile blueberry, can be a featured ingredient in your non-dessert recipes, and that’s a rumor worth spreading. The more fruit servings we rack up in our daily diet the better, and if carrot cake can be a veggie-laden dessert favorite, then hey, fruits and berries can be known for elevating favorites like pork, chicken and fish.

But there’s no question that sometimes dessert is the best way to fully appreciate a fruit. Enter what could be the tastiest experiment for putting healthful ingredients into luscious packages ever. It’s the tart, on colorful display in Martha Stewart’s New Pies and Tarts: 150 Recipes for Old-Fashioned and Modern Favorites. With examples of sweet tooth gratifiers that include Lattice-Top Blueberry Pie, Apricot-Pistachio Tart, and Cheddar-Crust Apple Pie, it’s a fruit lover’s romp. Recipes also embody full tart expressions of non-fruit love in the form of Summer Squash Lattice Tart and Leek and Olive Tart.

In celebration of the book, food52.com has a new contest that involves all things tart. And get this: the winner will be flown to New York City on Monday, March 28th, where their winning recipe will be featured on The Martha Stewart Show. That’s simply tart-errific! The deadline was extended to March 12th, so there’s still time. Get details at the food52 Best Late Winter Tart Contest.

A Wild Combination

While we’re on the subject of dessert, thanks to The Record for reminding their readers about our own decadent dessert from the Wild Blueberry Dessert file. If you haven’t had chocolate and blueberries together, we suggest you do so. After all, cocoa has assumed superfood status for its high antioxidant content. At least that’s what a study conducted by Hershey’s indicates. (Hm. Uh, well, when it comes to dessert there are some things you just don’t want to overthink.)

Fruit Inspired International Fare

Colorful Plates for Every Meal of the Day

We are deep in the mid-winter doldrums and it’s the perfect time to check in on your nutrition.

Are you meeting your serving requirements for fruits and vegetables?

Have you been relying on a fruit cup as an afterthought to accompany a meal in an effort to meet your servings?

Worse yet, have you been thinking of blueberries and other fruits as simply a garnish rather than a valuable featured ingredient in your meals?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, it’s time to jolt your thinking from same-old to colorful-new.

We’ve highlighted the unusual and the exotic in recipes that take their inspiration from all over the globe to create nutritious and indulgent meals with an international twist. These recipes, some of which are new arrivals to WildBlueberries.com (recipe-central for unique, nutritious mealtime ideas), will jump start your mid-winter cooking ennui. They feature the powerfully antioxidant-rich wild blueberries (in addition to some other fruits and vegetables) in a way that showcases their versatility, color and palatability.

Starting with an all-American breakfast and ending with a captivating dessert from a country known for its extraordinary cuisine, we’ve constructed the ideal day of international wonders on a plate. All dishes are easy to make and feature real food, along with some underappreciated tastes. Of course, this is just and example of how you can infuse your meals with a little dynamism – search through other wild blueberry recipes by meal and occasion and fill your days with intercontinental delish.

Have a delicious trip!

Breakfast: Sweet Wild Blueberry Omelet Rolls

Start the day in the States! This is not your grandmother’s egg dish, but they are still quintessentially American. Farm-fresh eggs and wild blueberries from a Maine or Canadian barren come together to appeal to your early AM sweet tooth. It’s a unique take on a breakfast roll-up that gets your day going with a serving of fruit right from the starting line.

Lunch: Mini-Naans with Wild Blueberry Pear Marmalade

We love this Indian-inspired dish: Low-fat yogurt and a colorful pear and wild blueberry marmalade makes a wonderful light lunch or snack (perfect to follow a breakfast of satisfying omelet rolls) in conjunction with homemade min-naans (made ahead – there will be rising). It’s a perfectly on-trend dish, as naan is a popular side or pizza foundation for those who love it and want to save calories (they can run under 100, depending on the size).

Snack: Kumara Crisps with Wild Blueberry Vanilla Chili Marmalade

Discover New Zealand’s sweet potato – a bright yellow gem from down under, it is known to be rich in antioxidants and high in vitamins, and it provides a nutritionally-rich snack in salads and as a side. This unique recipe, which requires peeling, slicing and frying (or baking), satisfies a need for chips in a delicious new way, especially when paired with a yogurt-based dip.

Salad: Quinoa Salad with Wild Blueberries

Quinoa, with its South American origins, is the food of the moment, lauded for its nutritive value. It enlivens this salad recipe which ends in an geographically eclectic mash-up thanks to the inclusion of zucchini and complement of Havarti and baguette. Say si, oui or you betcha to this healthy, hearty, veggie-rich salad with a zing of blue.

Dinner: Tandoori Chicken Sticks with Wild Blueberry Fig Sauce

Figs get there due in this light-fare recipe and make an ideal fruit combo in a dish that takes us East. This is an easy, low-fat entrée that wakes up dull chicken by skewering and bathing it in healthy, vibrant fruit.

Beverage: Wild Blueberry Caipirinha

Looking for a Brazilian kick? Look no further than a Wild Blueberry Caipirinh. Leveraging the health benefits of wild blueberry juice (not to mention the taste) with the exotic cachaça, a Brazilian liquor popular in tropical drinks, this cocktail is a fun, colorful way to start a special meal. At 180 calories, it’s a special addition to a diet built on moderation, not deprivation.

Dessert: Wild Blueberry Mascarpone Semifreddo

For dessert, head to Italy with a gorgeous, indulgent semifreddo awash in bright color. With a hint of chocolate, a generous helping of marscapone, and garnished with pistachios, wild blueberries and mint, this dessert takes fruit to a whole new level of amazing. What a way to kick off a color-inspired, transnational meal!

Find more recipes for breakfast, snacks, entrées, drinks and desserts that include wild blues and array of colorful fruits and ingredients.

Dave Lieberman Does Lemon Blueberry Poundcake

We can talk about healthy food all we want, but it doesn’t do any good unless we’re eating it. Dave Lieberman, known for his Food Network shows Good Deal and Eat This draws from his book 10 Things You Need to Eat for this fast and easy recipe for Lemon Blueberry Poundcake. His book presents 10 important foods that provide powerful health benefits, and it gives readers plenty of ideas for how to incorporate those foods into recipes. This irresistible dessert features the undeniably great-for-you antioxidant-rich blueberries.

This and other fun, healthy-food related video clips can be found at WildBluerries.com. Get quick recipe tips for Wild Blueberry Grahttps://www.wildblueberries.comnola French Toast and Venison Loin with Wild Blueberry sauce with Jonathan Cartwright, and view Mariel Hemingway sharing her approach to healthy eating from her book Mariel’s Kitchen, among others. Eat and be healthy!

Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry – Step Aside!

As Baskin said to Robbins, there’s a new flavor in town! We couldn’t let this stunning endorsement (from food52’s blog Cooking From Every Angle) for one of our favorite healthy, colorful foods go by. If you haven’t indulged in this warm weather treat yet, there is still time.

Merrill extols the virtues of low-bush, or wild, blueberries, including their complex flavor concentrated in smaller packages. To think that they have practically unmatched nutritional power, too.

It’s true that no food is inherently evil, and that goes for dessert, too. If you like, you can follow Michael Pollan’s advice: make your treats from the season’s best produce, and set a rule to always make them yourself. It will mean you’ll go to the trouble less often, and you’ll likely be using mostly real, whole food. Here’s to late summer treats with a dollop of health and color!

You can find more recipes for nutritious delicious desserts that offer a daily dose of blue.

Enjoy more amazing eating from Cooking From Every Angle.

BOOM! BANG! July 4th Recipes Put Colorful Foods on Display!

From Jell-O flags to 3-layer pies, this weekend is perfect for foods of color, and that means America’s birthday is the best time to celebrate both fun and nutrition. There’s no time like the present to get out your wild blueberries, combine them with raspberries, watermelon, or cherries, and throw in a little something white (hey, it’s a holiday). Here are some patriotic selections that will inspire you to color up the Fourth of July holiday and add some oohs and aahs to those bang-booms!

Pillsbury offers many berry-laden ideas.

Recipezaar makes the perfect flavorful flag.

Better Homes & Gardens offers a killer three color fruit pie.

Taking Pride in Your Colorful Creation? Snap your tri-color treat, send it to [email protected], and we’ll post the spoils here! Happy 4th!

Don’t Be Fooled By Big – Get the Skinny on Small

There is currently a commercial for blueberry juice on TV that shows the characters standing in a field with a typically overall-clad “Maine blueberry farmer”. Part of this goofy pitch is to show off the blueberries, presumably straight from the barren, lined up in their pints.

But the blueberries look so big. So uniform. Are these truly wild blueberries straight from the harvest?

If they are from barrens in Maine as the commercial exhorts, they surely are wild. But something seems odd. It’s as if these outsized spheres might be photogenic stand-ins for the distinctively small, variant wild.

Wild or Whoops?

It’s a common gaffe. It can be seen repeated more often than you might think, in demonstrations of recipes on home and morning shows or by local chefs showcasing their concoctions. When topping a salmon entrée or truffle with the delicious and aesthetically pleasing blueberry, they seem to think the biggest of the big is the best way to flaunt their dish. While gargantuan blue orbs roll around on the plate, it makes a person wonder – are these cultivated berries chosen strictly for their size and consistency and not their taste and nutritional value?

It’s understandable. We are a nation that loves big. We choose large screens, we supersize, we value mass and acreage, we revere the guy with more. It’s only natural. But when a chef or food purveyor makes the mistake of choosing berries purely for their size, they sacrifice the privilege of saying they use wild, and wild is where the benefit is.

An Education in Small

Wild blueberries are native to North America where they have grown naturally for thousands of years. Their hardscrabble roots, thriving in challenging soil and four-season climates make them what they are: an array of naturally distinctive variations in skin color, height, taste, and fruit size. Part of this distinctiveness is their relative smallness when compared to their cultivated counterparts that have been planted and grown other parts of the country.

Wild blueberry fields and barrens actually produce many different lowbush blueberry clones, which account for the variations in color and size that characterize the wild blueberry crop. When you eat wild blueberries, part of what you taste is the variety of sweet and tangy berries together. It’s kind of a mouth explosion – a taste experience that can’t be duplicated in any other berry. It’s this variation of color, size, and taste that gives the wild blueberry its mystique.

Efforts to plant truly wild blueberries elsewhere have been impossible to achieve, and as a result, wild blues are native only to Northern American regions situated within fifty miles of the coast. In areas of Down East Maine and Canada where these wild blueberries grow, they are a source of pride. In late summer, the talk is strictly of the harvest, and fairs and festivals revolve around the crop, with pie eating contests, facility tours, and the crowning of Blueberry princesses and queens. It’s the time of year when small and wild reign.

Selling Health? Sell Small.

Most of the best chefs and food industry professionals understand the distinctive qualities of the wild blueberry, while some seem stuck on size. In fact, wild blueberries have superior performance – they maintain their taste, texture, shape and color throughout manufacturing and freezing, which makes them perfect for recipes.

But here’s the best benefit of small: the more diminutive wild blueberry delivers the best nutritional power. Small is the key here: the skin of the berry is where we find nutritional potent antioxidants, and small berries provide a higher skin-to-pulp ratio. As a result, their nutritional value skyrockets. So, if you’re selling nutrition in your dish or product and not using wild because you think cultivated are more photogenic, you’re missing the boat.

Native, wild, distinctive, nutritionally powerful, all in a small package. So what’s the deal, chefs and ad campaign managers? Let’s stop equating big with better. Instead, let’s embrace small over big and variation over uniformity. Next time you want to praise the chef’s crème brulee for the consistency of size and color of those giant blue globes, you might instead venture a polite, “Hey, are these wild?”

Hey, It’s Hot! Time For Cool Summer Recipes

Memorial Day has come and gone, prompting many to exclaim, “So soon?” While some people are quick to flip-flop, others have a hard time giving up their fleece. It’s time to face the fact that soon you’ll look out the window and see the neighborhood kids running through the sprinkler. You’ll whip off your wool turtleneck and say, “Hey, it’s HOT!”

On those days when you get caught short in the heat and start craving the cool, you can pop this great recipe in your fridge, and then in your mouth. It provides all the taste with all the nutritional benefits, since it features wild blueberries, a top antioxidant superfruit.

Find this and more great wild blueberry recipes for summer.