Tomatoes have been enjoying a seasonal high, as evidenced by overflowing amounts of virtually every variety (from Roma to Heirloom) at local markets and numerous bloggers displaying photos of the red-ripe (and green) fruits of their gardens.  Of course, we can always count on Jackie at The Vegan Diet to capture the essence and history of a single food in writing, plus we love the dairy-free recipes she always shares.  Whether you harvested them yourself, or couldn't resist purchasing a cart-full, Jackie will make you feel more virtuous for consuming tomatoes, and give you numerous mediums (aka dairy-free, vegan, gluten-free, and raw recipes) to do so....

As if avoiding anything labeled with “milk,” “cream,” or “cheese” somewhere in the title isn’t enough, the food manufacturing business has found hundreds of other ways to hide milk in our food supply.  While I consider myself somewhat of a dairy-free guru, capable of spotting the dairy ingredients on a Kraft foods label in a single scan, I was recently busted by the moo juice within yet another unsuspecting form...

Susan Russo, Fit Fare - Summer is the time for simple pleasures such as going to baseball games, walking along the beach, and biting into a hunk of sweet, juicy, chilled watermelon. Watermelon season lasts approximately from May to October, but the ripest, most flavorful melons can be found now because they love the summer heat. Eating watermelon isn’t just a summer pasttime though; it’s remarkably nutritious. A 2-cup serving size is only 92 calories and zero fat. Plus, of all fruits and vegetables, it has the highest levels of the antioxidant lycopene, which helps reduce your risk of cancer.

Like many, I follow an uncontrollable amount of blogs, most of the food persuasion.  With so many wonderful posts to read, and incredible recipes to ponder, it seemed only natural that we should highlight a few of the “month’s best.”  Since there were so many to choose from, we opted to go with the “bloggers' bounty” theme, featuring those that made good use of fruits or vegetables from the garden.  Indulge your senses ... do not resist the temptation to view these recipes:

Paul England, Cookies Etc. - As a child growing up, I enjoyed reading The Little House On The Prairie books. I was amazed at what they did to survive. A child of the Seventies, all I knew were supermarkets. Sure, my parents and grandparents told me stories about how it was when they were growing up but stories about the someone getting the first car or TV in the neighborhood didn’t compare to the seemingly outlandish concept of having to hunt and grow everything you were going to eat for the next year.

By Hannah Kaminsky, My Sweet Vegan - Feeling for all the world as if I had just swallowed a ton of bricks, the dread of leaving for school grew only more powerful as the hours passed, my days in a comfortable home numbered and quickly slipping away. There wasn’t a thing I could say to express my jumbled emotions, no matter how I tried to talk through it, ignore it, or try to keep my mind off it; I’m simply no good at keeping anxiety at bay. Laying awake in bed, pondering what on earth might make my mind at ease, there was only one answer that kept coming back, echoing through the depths of that tired brain, but I was desperate enough to try anything.