June Cookbook Club Menu: Iced Tea, Tuna Burgers, and Grown-Up Fig Newtons
Plus, join me in Tuscany for a longevity retreat
Hello, Brain Health Ambassadors. Today is the second day of a two-day road trip from New Mexico to Wyoming, a 1000+ mile journey. Although I am leaving nearly perfect summer weather for my still-chilly mountain town, I am beyond excited to get home. A very wet spring in Jackson means it is a good year for brain-boosting morel mushrooms. You can bet I’ll be hunting down by the river first thing.
I am excited to announce details of a new longevity retreat in Tuscany this September. But first, let’s talk about the June menu for the BHK Cookbook Club. It warmed my heart to see so many people cooking last month’s recipes. I even received a report from a New York subscriber who was served Roasted Strawberries with Almost Instant Cashew Cream two nights in a row at dinner parties. How fun!
The BHK Cookbook Club is a way for us to share a monthly seasonal menu from my book, The Brain Health Kitchen: Preventing Alzheimer’s Through Food. Sometimes I’ll share the cookbook club recipes here, but for most you’ll need a copy of the book. Today I am sharing the recipe for Hot Hibiscus Iced Tea, one of my favorites from the Drinks chapter. The other two are in the book. All subscribers (free, paying, Founding Members) are welcome to cook along. Learn more about how it works here.
Summer is in the air, so let’s celebrate with easy, make-ahead recipes. This menu is perfect for a laid-back dinner party. Everything can be prepped in advance. When it’s time to eat, all you have to do is grill the burgers and assemble.
I can’t wait to see all your photos! Be sure to email them to me or tag me on Instagram. I love that some of you have made it a goal to cook each menu every month.
June Cookbook Club Menu
Hot Hibiscus Iced Tea
Tuna or Portobello Burgers with Wasabi Mayo and Mango Salad
Coffee, Date, and Oat Bars
Hot Hibiscus Iced Tea
June gatherings call for the beautiful and antioxidant-packed Hot Hibiscus Iced Tea on page 353. A pinch of cayenne gives this refreshing drink a little kick. Infuse the tea ahead of time and it will keep in the fridge for days.
The tea’s vibrant pink color comes from hibiscus flowers. As you can probably guess, they are are teeming with brain-healthy flavanols, specifically anthocyanins, which are thought to scrub the brain of abnormal proteins. Drinking hibiscus tea has been shown to effectively lower blood pressure, an important strategy for Alzheimer’s prevention as I went into here. In fact, daily hibiscus tea consumption has been shown to lower blood pressure just as much as antihypertensive medication.
RECIPE: HOT HIBISCUS ICED TEA
Serves 4
4 cups water
2 tablespoons dried hibiscus flowers or 6 hibiscus tea bags
One 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon cayenne
Ice
Sparkling water
Combine the water, hibiscus, ginger, and cayenne in a small pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and steep away from the heat for about 10 minutes.
Place a small fine-mesh strainer over a bowl. Strain the tea infusion into the bowl and discard the rest of the solids. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.
For each drink, fill a 10-ounce glass halfway with ice and add 1 cup cold tea. Top with sparkling water and gently stir.
Tuna Burgers with Wasabi Mayo and Mango Salad
Kick off grilling season with the Tuna Burgers with Wasabi Mayo and Mango Salad on page 167. You’ll make your “burgers” by pulsing ahi tuna in a food processor with ginger, garlic, and wasabi powder. (Hand chopping also works here.) While the burgers chill in the fridge, stir together the wasabi mayo and toss the mango salad. I really like serving these decadent burgers on whole-grain English muffins, but a regular burger bun works, too.
For a plant-based swap, try the Portobello Burger method from last month. These are getting rave reviews!
Coffee, Date, and Oat Bars
For dessert, the Coffee, Date, and Oat Bars on page 277 are my brain-healthy answer to the Fig Newtons of my youth. I give you a wide range of baking times here, so keep an eye on them and pull from the oven just when starting to brown. The bars are a satiating grab-and-go breakfast or snack. For an after-dinner dessert, make them with decaf coffee.