Welcome to summer! Canadians work hard for their few and very short dog days of the season. My hope is that you make the most of them with delicious hydrating, high nutrient foods. Take a look at what the Meteorological Service of Canada predicts the hottest day will be in your area, and then stock up on high nutrient, refreshing foods to keep you going.
Predicted Hottest Day of the year, by Canadian city
Provided by: Environment Canada’s Meteorological Service of Canada
| Barrie | Jul-24 | Quebec City | Jul-24 | |
| Brandon | Jul-29 | Regina | Aug-02 | |
| Calgary | Jul-31 | Saskatoon | Aug-01 | |
| Charlottetown | Jul-28 | St. John’s | Jul-29 | |
| Edmonton | Jul-30 | Sudbury | Jul-23 | |
| Fredericton | Jul-26 | Thunder Bay | Jul-26 | |
| Halifax | Aug-01 | Timmins | Jul-21 | |
| Iqaluit | Jul-26 | Toronto | Jul-23 | |
| Kamloops | Jul-30 | Vancouver | Aug-02 | |
| Kelowna | Aug-01 | Victoria | Jul-31 | |
| London | Jul-23 | Whitehorse | Jul-20 | |
| Montreal | Jul-22 | Winnipeg | Jul-28 | |
| Ottawa | Jul-22 | Yellowknife | Jul-17 | |
Phew! Hot enough for you?
You can beat the heat with watermelon — summer’s quintessential thirst quencher — because it not only hydrates, it also balances your electrolytes with its mineral content. According to Medical News Today, one cup of watermelon contains 17% of vitamin A, 21% of vitamin C, 2% of iron, and 1% of calcium needs for the day. Watermelon also contains thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, choline, lycopene, and betaine.
Don’t grab a sugar loaded sports drink to rehydrate, try these methods instead:
- Make watermelon water by blending one cup of cubed watermelon and adding to one litre of water.
- Freeze watermelon cubes to suck on (Great dog treats too!).
- Use watermelon to make salsa or gazpacho in place of tomatoes. Check out a few recipes at watermelon.org
- Slip a slice of watermelon into a grilled cheese. Trust me, it’s delicious!
Any fruit or vegetable will help hydrate you to beat the heat but there is something special about watermelon juice running down your forearms that brings you right back to summer camp days.
And when you have had your fill of the fruit out of hand, chop up any that’s remaining and make salsa with this recipe from Watermelon.org. It pairs well with corn chips — and a Riesling — but it’s also a refreshing addition to grilled fish, chicken, or pork.
Watermelon Salsa
This is a high nutrient, low sodium salsa to serve in place of tomato salsas with bread or corn chips. It is also great as a topping for grilled chicken, fish or pork. And when you are done with that application, blend it and serve it as gazpacho.
Makes 4-6 servings Takes: 10-12 minutes
1 cup diced seedless watermelon
3/4 cup diced strawberries
1/4 cup diced red onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons diced seeded jalapeno chile
1 tablespoon lime juice
Toss together gently in a bowl and chill in fridge at least one hour before serving.
Theresa is an on-camera food and health expert, nutritionist and writer who loves to spread the word on food.
This is so great! We have a tradition in our family. We *always* buy a big watermelon to eat the first week of summer break. When we were in Ottawa, we would share a giant watermelon with friends the day after school ended. We’d pack up and head to a splash pad and have a great day! We are no longer near our Ottawa besties, but we still honour our tradition. 😉 Delicious and nutritious. You are right. There’s nothing like the feeling of watermelon juice dripping down your arms. We were talking about this yesterday (as we were chopping up the watermelon) and I decided there are two kinds of people, those who enjoy the cool, delicious, face hug a slice of watermelon gives you and those who can’t wipe their faces fast enough. Guess which kind my family is! 😀