Recipes For the Back-To-School Rush

September is a time of transition from the long lazy days of summer to the sometimes hectic, back-to-school schedule. Getting children to ballet and soccer practice and coordinating all the drop-offs and pickups mean that family life can get busy quickly.

This month’s recipes ease the transition by highlighting seasonal fresh market produce in easy late summer meals that are pulled together in 20 minutes or less. All of these recipes can be thrown together and served simply.

Many farmers’ markets stay open well into October, making it easy to pick up corn, late summer produce such as tomatoes and apricots, and early fall delights such as mushrooms. Whatever you do, remember to serve fresh fruits and veggies as part of the new school schedule.

Snow Peas with Portobello Mushrooms

Grilled Tortillas with Mexican Summer Salad

Apricot Sunrise Wrap

Oaxacan Memories–Mexican Dishes All Will Love

Last winter, on our trip to Mexico, I met my friend Nora, who was born in Oaxaca. She shared some of her original recipes with me, insisting that the most authentic Mexican food is prepared in her hometown.

Nora’s Mexican food is not only wholesome and nutritious; it is made with many health-promoting ingredients. Take chili peppers, for example: they dissolve blood clots, prevent bronchitis and colds, and clear air passages for easy breathing. My Mexican friends swear that chili peppers speed up metabolism, burn calories, and keep them slender. The agent that makes peppers so hot is capsicum, a reputed antibacterial and antioxidant with a special ability to keep the heart healthy. Tomatoes are another staple ingredient in Mexican food. They contain lycopene, a great cancer-fighting substance.

These two recipes are full of fibre for easy digestion. The tortillas combine whole-grain flour with corn–both are rich in the B-complex and other vitamins. If you are concerned about “low carbs,” rest assured the fruits and vegetables used in these recipes provide complex carbohydrates on the lower end of the glycemic index. This means that these foods provide energy over a long period of time.

Oaxacan Tortilla Soup

Chili Piquin Hot Sauce