What We're Making: The Nature Made Team Shares Their Favorite Summer Meals

The first day of summer is on the horizon! As the days get longer and more active, we want to eat healthy, tasty, and nutritious meals. Healthy summer recipes are the order of the day, so we asked our Nature Made® Team to send us their favorite healthy summer meals.

Jonathan Mun, Ph.D., Principal Nutrition Scientist

Hot summer days always put me in the mood for Vietnamese grilled pork vermicelli with eggrolls (Bún Thịt Nướng). Cool, light, refreshing, complex in flavor and balanced in texture, this dish wows my tastebuds every time.

Crisp, pickled daikon and carrot contrast the soft, chilled rice vermicelli noodles. The vinegar's acidity cuts the fat of the grilled pork. Aromatic herbs, seasonal produce like romaine lettuce, and julienned cucumber explode with the summertime vibes of fresh vegetables. Fish sauce may wrinkle the noses of the uninitiated but blasts the dish with savory, umami richness unlike any other cuisine. Top it all off with the crunch of an eggroll every couple of bites, and you've got a meal that will fill you up without filling you out.

If I want to try my hand at making some healthy summer meals at home, I love Hungry Hu's home-cooked recipe, but preparation can be a pretty time-consuming process that I'm not always up to. Thankfully, I live near Little Saigon in Orange County, California, which is home to the largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam and offers a ton of great options, so I can always go out or order in! Check your local Vietnamese restaurants to see if they have it on the menu.

As a nutrition scientist on the Nature Made® Team, I recognize my diet has multiple nutrient shortfalls because it's hard to get enough fiber, calcium, magnesium, and choline , as well as other nutrients in our daily diets, especially if we avoid certain foods. The CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) shows that I'm not alone in having inadequate micronutrient intakes and that dietary supplements help fill these nutrient gaps that may be missing from our diets. I hope you find this helpful in your personal nutrition journey, and I hope you have a great summer of culinary adventures!†

Kalyn Williams, Science & Health Educator

For me, the best part of summer is coming out of winter "hibernation" to spend time outdoors with family and friends. That's why I keep things as simple as possible when it comes to eating healthy in the summer. One of my favorite summer salad recipes is hardly a recipe at all – it requires minimal ingredients and prep time, as well as no cooking in front of a hot stove!

The recipe is called Prosciutto and Melon - or Prosciutto e Melone in Italian, where it is one of Italy’s traditional summer dinner recipes. The ingredients are simple: thinly sliced prosciutto (Italian dry-cured ham), your favorite melon (I prefer cantaloupe or honeydew), balsamic glaze or honey, and fresh herbs to garnish (basil is best, although mint can also be yummy). 

No matter the season, one of my best tips for making healthy choices is to focus on seasonal produce, and summer fruits and vegetables are some of my favorites. Melons are their sweetest and juiciest in the summer and will also be at their peak nutritional value. Cantaloupe is a great source of vitamins A & C, potassium, and fiber. I love pairing this dish with a green arugula salad and some herbed potatoes for a balanced meal & enjoying it with family and friends.

Surviving summer will be easy with the Nature Made® Team’s healthy summer meals. These summer recipes will provide you with your fill of seasonal produce; maybe you'll find a new favorite too!

† These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.