Spanish Manchego cheese with blueberries, nectarine, and honey drizzle

Appetizer or dessert!

Ingredients:

Manchego cheese

Nectarines

Blueberries

any fruit! the sky is the limit

Honey

Butter (optional)

Directions:

1. This one's easy! String a chunk of Manchego, a piece of nectarine, and a blueberry or two onto a tooth pick and drizzle honey top-down.

Optional: if you're feeling decadent (think dessert) melt a pad of butter and mix with the honey before drizzling. This is all over the internet. I don't honestly see a big difference and it makes the bite less sweet so go healthy and just go with straight up organic wildflower honey!

So what's in it for you?

I'm loving blueberry and nectarine season...aside from that I chose these fruits for health purposes. Lil blueberries have 2x the antioxidant capacity as spinach and 3x that of oranges. Anti oxidants act to neutralize free radicals, which helps prevent cancer and other age-related diseases. Got diarrhea? Blueberry juice contains anthocyanin, which helps with the runs. Additionally, blueberries have antibiotic properties that fight intestinal bacteria that causes diarrhea.

Onwards to nectarines! Sorry to be so gross in a blog about food. Nectarines are pumped with vitamin C, vitamin A, fiber, beta carotene, potassium, calcium, and iron. Don't cut the skin off! It, like blueberries, is packed with anti oxidants. However, they are rather sugary compared to most fruits, which is why I throw them in a dessert like this!

Where would I be without Manchego cheese? My brother, who has spent much time in Spain, introduced me to Manchego. It's such a unique cheese. Made only by sheep of the Manchega breed Manchego is firm but with a buttery texture. You won't get it until you try it if you haven't already. Totally "well developed" but not too too strong. There are three types of Manchego: fresco (aged 2 weeks, rarely found outside of Spain), curado (ages 3-6 months, sweet and nutty), and viejo (or, "old" in Spanish, this cheese is aged to firmness for one year). I used curado, you can definitely taste the nuttiness. Plenty of protein, calcium, vitamin A, and no carbs. However! Don't over-do it with the Manchego because it is rather high in saturated fat. Again, why it's good as a dessert.

HONEY is great way to sweeten a dessert as it is a natural sweetener packed with antioxidants (theme of this dessert), is FAT, cholesterol, and sodium FREE! In fact, one antioxidant known as "pinocembrin" is ONLY found in honey. You'll also be drizzling on an array of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids should you chose to use it!

Earth friendly tips:

This is a perfect opportunity to stress why not only buying organic honey but organic foods is important. Bees are responsible for pollenating the agricultural crops that we eat! HOWEVER, intensive farming (cutting down trees and using pesticides) methods destroy bee colonies. Global warming, radiation from wireless communications, and genetically modified food crops might also be contributing the disappearing honey bee population. Without bees, which also pollinate alfalfa that feeds the livestock and thus our dairy industry, only 1/3 of our agricultural system would cease to exist. It has been said that bees pollinate $14 billion worth of crops per year in the U.S.

I am terrified of getting stung by a bee but I'm far more terrified of the agricultural system collapsing when all the bees disappear.

Also, the next time you have a cough or sore throat I recommend Bee M.D. cough drops! They taste like delicious honey, soothe symptoms, and a portion of proceeds go to contribute to aid in the research and protection of bees! Unlike other brands, these lozenges contain no high fructose corn syrup or other refined sugars. Healthy product and packaging.

"if the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years left to live" - Albert Einstein

What I'll try next time?

As this is more of a dessert than appetizer maybe I'd try combining Manchego with olives and perhaps roasted red peppers and garlic. If you know me this doesn't surprise you. Expect a post soon :)

Links

http://www.fourthbranchofamerica.com/Importanceofbees.shtml

http://www.beemd.com/