Happy Labor Day!  I hope this day finds you with a day off from work and some delicious barbecue or grilling plans ahead.  I’m not grilling today, but I do have a tasty, healthy recipe that will compliment many of your barbecued delights.  And it’s just perfect for those of us who are holding on to the last moments of summer.

Now that school has started back up I live in fear of the day that I walk into Whole Foods and see that the summer fruit selection has dwindled.  Fresh peaches, plums, apricots, pluots, berries, and most of all cherries are simple summer pleasures that I’m just not ready to let go of yet.  But I’m preparing.  I’ve been buying up cherries by the bagful, pitting them, and freezing them for winter smoothies. But I’m enjoying cherries fresh as long as I can too.

I haven’t been using cherries in desserts this summer.  I’ve been incorporating them into more savory dishes.  I surprised myself with a cherry chili hummus a few weeks ago.  And yesterday I made the most delicious sweet cherry salsa that you can use with just about anything.

Scoop it with a tortilla chip, spoon it over a salad, spread it over baked chicken or baked fish, slather it on grilled meats, wrap it up in swiss chard or lettuce. This refreshing sweet cherry salsa just might make summer last a little bit longer.

Sweet Cherry Salsa

by Heather

Ingredients:

• 2 c. chopped cherries (cut each cherry in eighths)
• 1 c. chopped cucumber
• 1/4. c. minced cilantro
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 T. finely chopped red onion
• 1 T. white balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

1.  Chop cherries and veggies and place them in a medium-sized bowl.

2.  Add white balsamic vinegar and salt and stir gently.

3.  Let the salsa sit for 30 minutes before serving.

This sweet cherry salsa worked perfectly on baked tilapia, but you could put it on any grilled fish.  The mild white fish allowed the salsa to be the star of the show.  And she gave a performance that begged for an encore.

Baked Tilapia with Thyme

by Heather

Ingredients:

• 4 tilapia fillets
• 1/2 T. olive oil
• 4 sprigs of thyme
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350.

2.  Place 4 tilapia fillets in an 11×13 inch baking dish.

3.  Brush each filet with olive oil.

4.  Place one sprig of thyme on each piece of fish and sprinkle with sea salt.

5.  Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

6.  Serve topped with Sweet Cherry Salsa (recipe above).

Serves 4

I hope this simple summer meal brightens your day and stretches your summer out beyond Labor Day.