As the summer heat persists, two things should be on your mind; where is the closest beach and how am I going to stay hydrated today?

Hydration is so important to almost all of our body systems; it keeps your blood flowing, flushes your kidneys, gets your digestive system moving, keeps your skin looking fresh.. I could go on and on but you get the idea.

Your daily needs for water not only depend on your body type and activity level but also the type of environment you live in. As temperatures rise during the summer months, so do your hydration needs. Use this great hydration calculator to figure out your specific needs.

Along with how much to drink, finding the right type of water can always be confusing. We are fortunate in the Lower Mainland to have great quality water at the turn of a tap, with no need to worry about fluoridation and other environment toxins. However, the added chlorine posses a laundry list of health risks and in a city like New Westminster where you are more likely to have an older house with lead pipes. But bottled is not the answer. Plastic bottles are not only hard on the environment but they also leach toxins into your overpriced water. Not to worry, inexpensive filtering units are easy to install and can be easily found at your local hardware store. Better yet,chlorine dissipates from tap water left to stand for 30 minutes or more.

Counting your 8 glasses a day can get monotonous so why not look to the market stalls to add some sparkle to your water, naturally. I’ve created a simple recipe for flavoured water that will tickle your taste buds.

Savoury Summer Sipper

• 1 litre filtered water
• 1 inch cucumber, thinly sliced
• Handful of cilantro
• The juice of half a lemon

Combine all the ingredients in 2 to 8 hours. The long the fruit and/or herbs sit in the water the more intense the flavours will be.

You can experiments with all kinds of different flavours; berries, citrus, other fruit or herbs like; mint or thyme.

By Elizabeth Whalley

By: Elizabeth Whalley R.H.N.

Do you smell that?

It’s the smell of fresh local tomatoes, coming soon to the Royal City Farmers Market! That’s right summer is just around the bend; bringing with it all the delicious harvests of the local farm. Get out your reusable shopping bags folks and experience all that Lower Mainland has to offer at the Summer Market!

I celebrate local summertime flavours in my take on this classic.

Purple Kale Pesto

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup almonds (blanched or raw)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• juice of half a lemon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4-5 kale leaves, stems removed
• 3 sprigs basil, stems removed
• pepper to taste
• 1″ square of Parmesan cheese (optional)

Method:

Soak almonds for four or more hours; this makes easy work for your food processor. I like to use almonds in this recipe but pine nuts also work well, no need to soak though.
Combine almonds, garlic, salt, olive oil, lemon juice and salt in a food processor (if you’re using Parmesan add it in now and omit salt). Pulse until a finely minced consistency is reached, add more oil if needed.
Add in kale and basil, continue to pulse until desired consistency is reached (I like my pesto coarse with lots of big basil leaf chunks). Season to taste.

This pesto makes a lovely salad dressing with the addition of a little more oil and lemon juice. Or it is the perfect complement to any whole grain (and gluten free) pasta, hot or cold.

Personally, nothing says ‘summer’s on its way’ quite like a little pesto over a goat cheese and heirloom tomato salad.

By Elizabeth Whalley R.H.N.

I’ll bet as part of your spring cleaning regimen you’ve dusted away all those cobwebs from even the hard-to-reach corners, wiped the winter grime from windowsills, and even thrown out that questionable jar of who-knows-what from the back corner of your refrigerator. But have you given any thought to what may have built up in your body over the past year?

Cleansing and detoxifying are important aspects of maintaining a healthy body. These days we live in a world where our bodies are faced with harsh toxins, chemicals and radiation at every turn. If not in our daily beauty routine then in our cereal bowl or along our morning commute. Our bodies are strong and very resilient, equipped to do lots of detoxing in our ever changing world, but giving your body a break every so often means it can get a leg-up on the competition. Shopping at the market is a great place to start! Local organic fruits and veggies mean no pesticides and less carbon emissions to get them to your plate. And naturally raised, organic meats mean your liver is not bogged down with hormones and antibiotics unlike supermarket products.

This simple springtime salad features lots of foods that support a little spring cleaning in your body;

Fennel and Radish Slaw

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch radishes
• 1 medium apple
• ½ medium fennel root
• 3 stalks celery
• zest and juice of half a lemon
• zest and juice of half an orange
• ½ cup oil (sunflower or grapeseed works best)
• chives and fennel leaf to garnish
• sea or rock salt to taste

Method:

A mandolin makes quick work of all the veggies in this recipe, however, slicing them all into matchsticks will work in a pinch. Combine the vegetables, apple and citrus zest in a medium-sized bowl. In a small bowl, combine the lemon and orange juice and slowly and whisk in the oil to emulsify. Drizzle over the salad, season with salt and toss.  Garnish with chopped chive and fennel leaf.