This week we'll explore colorful bell peppers and summery watermelon salads. We'll also delve into this week's full moon and tips for making smoothies that are full of fiber and protein (instead of sugar!).

Eat Colorfully

Seasonal Ingredient Spotlight: BELL PEPPERS

Our local farmers market has been exploding with a rainbow of peppers lately, so this week I'm excited to celebrate these colorful seasonal treats. Bell peppers (and their various mini and heirloom relatives) are a bit sweet, a bit zesty, beautiful, and highly versatile. Here are a few of my favorite ways to use them:

• Add them to salads. Bell peppers especially shine in a chopped salad like my favorite Rainbow Vegan Chopped Salad.
• Dip them (like chips). If you have summer dips on the menu, enjoying the dip with chips can feel heavy. Instead, ditch the chips in favor of bell pepper slices or whole baby bell peppers. Check out this Grilled Corn Guacamole post as an example; you'll see lots of baby peppers served alongside the dip.
• Grill them. Bell peppers are fabulous on the grill since grilling enhances their sweet flavor and juiciness. You can grill them whole for a tasty treat, cut them in half and grill the halves (as shown in the photo below), or thread pepper slices onto kabob skewers.
• Stuff them. One of my absolute favorite summer meals is to make these Healthy Mexican Street Corn Stuffed Peppers with local peppers and local corn. You need to try this recipe before the season is over!

Try This Week: WATERMELON SALAD

If you're hosting a summer gathering, you have to try this Watermelon, Snap Pea, and Mint Salad. It's refreshing, hydrating, light, friendly for most diets, and make-ahead, so it's a party win. Personally, it's the salad I come back to again and again when we host friends on our deck.

Here are some of my favorite ways to change up this summer salad. Try them all over the next month! And of course you can use these tips for any watermelon salad you enjoy, not just the one on my blog.

• Use chopped cucumbers instead of (or in addition to) sugar snap peas.
• Add feta, vegan feta, or avocado for richness (just make sure to add them right before serving; feta can get soggy and avocado browns easily).
• Try using basil instead of (or in addition to) mint for a more Mediterranean vibe.
• Experiment with adding a second type of fruit, like berries or another melon.
• Toss in some chickpeas or cubed super-firm tofu to add protein and make it feel more substantial.

Live Colorfully

In the Natural World: THE STURGEON MOON

Keep your eyes to the sky on Saturday (August 9) for the full moon. August's full moon is traditionally called the "Sturgeon Moon", apparently named after the lake fish that were an important summer food source for Indigenous tribes near the Great Lakes.

Although some people (like me!) get excited about the full moon, it can actually be a pain for astronomers who are trying to look at things other than the moon. The bright light bouncing off the full moon can obscure our vision of other celestial objects. This coming week, the full moon will likely obscure our ability to see the the Perseid meteor shower, which will be peaking around the same time (August 12). So, if you want to catch the moon, aim for Friday night; if you want to catch the meteor shower, avoid Friday night.

Want to view the Sturgeon Moon in action? Its peak fullness will occur early on Saturday morning (~4:00AM), so you'll be able to see it best on Friday night (looking east if you want to catch the moonrise) or Saturday morning (looking west if you want to see it setting).

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Self-Care Pick: HOW TO MAKE A HEALTHIER SMOOTHIE

I've recently gotten some great questions about smoothies, so I wanted to focus this week's self care section on how to create smoothies that work for you rather than against you. Although Instagram is loaded with beautiful smoothie bowls, have you noticed that most of the recipes you see there have half a dozen or more servings of fruit? Don't get me wrong, I think fruit is a fabulous and precious gift from nature. But it's also pretty high in carbs and sugar, so many nutritionists would recommend that you enjoy it in moderation and alongside fiber and protein.

Here are my top five tips for how to take your smoothies from sugar bomb status to powerful fuel:

• Add veggies. Frozen cauliflower is my personal favorite; it disappears right into the smoothie. It adds great texture, fiber, potassium, and a few different vitamins too. This summer I've also been using frozen summer squash from my parents' garden.
• Add protein. There are many great plant-based protein powders. My personal go-to is Sprout Living (use the code ROGUE to save 20%). One serving has about 20g of protein, which keeps you satisfied and is important for many different reasons in your body. Or, try adding silken tofu; it's my new favorite trick since it completely disappears behind the other flavors.
• Decrease the fruit. Using more veggies and protein effectively crowds out the fruit (plus do you really need to eat four bananas at once? I think not...).
• Sweeten as you go. Especially if you're new to veggie-based smoothies, start with a small amount of fruit (e.g., two dates or a few tablespoons of fruit), blend it up, and taste. You can always add more fruit it you like, but you may be surprised at how little you actually need.
• Use other big flavors. Compensate for the decreased sugar by adding in some big flavor powerhouses like cinnamon, ginger, matcha, etc.

If you're looking to revamp your smoothie routine, I think you'll love my e-book "Blend the Rainbow". It has eight smoothie recipes that are based in cauliflower, carrots, and/or spinach rather than fruit. All of the recipes are high in plant-based protein and fiber, low in carbs and sugar, and loaded with veggie-powered nutrition. You can purchase the e-book here for $5.

Thanks for joining me for this issue of Eat Colorfully, Live Colorfully! I'd love to hear from you, so please feel free to reply with questions, thoughts, or requests. If you missed a previous issue, you can view all my newsletters here. Have a great week!