Finding your Healthy Summer Meals and Food options

Exploring East Asian Fusion Nutritious Foods for the Rest of Summer

Updated Aug 15, 2024

Now that we're in the heart of the sweltering summer in Toronto, it's essential to stay hydrated, eat well, and maintain a healthy exercise routine to keep our bodies in sync with the season's natural rhythms. With longer days and warmer nights, our bodies experience variations in energy levels, sleep patterns, and even digestion. This is not only due to socializing later into the relaxing nights, but also largely due to our circadian rhythm, which shifts with the season. To keep up with these changes, we're diving into some healthy summer meals, especially from East Asian origin that will keep you cool, nourished and energized.

In This Article:

• Quick Overview
• Understanding what “Healthy Summer Meals" are
• Meeting your Healthy Summer Goals with Mi BOWL

Quick Overview

Eating healthy summer meals requires that we have healthy summer foods to create dishes that will keep us healthy and satiated in the summer heat. These mainly come down to a couple of core factors:

• High Water Content
• High Nutritional Value
• Detoxifying Characteristics
• Spice

At Mi BOWL we try to keep up with seasonality and shift our menus so that our food keeps you feeling healthy and good about what you're putting into your body. The following curated dishes, each from different east asian origins we sometimes have on our menu are great options if you're looking for that refreshing and light feeling, while perfectly still satisfying your required caloric and nutritional intake:

1. Japanese: Grilled Chicken Salad with Japanese Roasted Sesame Dressing 日式烤鸡田园沙拉
2. Chinese: Beef Stew with Zhuhou Sauce and Radish on Brown Rice 柱候萝卜炖牛肉配糙米饭
3. Cantonese: Hong Kong Style Cha Siu With Brown Rice and Fried Egg 港式叉烧煎蛋饭
4. Korean: Korean Kimchi Fried Rice with Grilled Chicken 韩式鸡肉泡菜炒饭
5. Thai: Thai Basil Stir-Fried Shrimp with Brown Rice 泰式九层塔炒大虾配糙米饭
6. *Add-on*: Cold mung bean soup 冰冰凉绿豆汤
7. *Add-on*: Chilli Garlic Crunch

Make a smart choice for the rest of the summer and treat yourself to some delicious Asian fusion prepared healthy summer meals with this coupon code for our Mung Bean Soup add-on: “08MBS24” to get a 50% discount on the add-on the next time you order your meals!

Understanding what "Healthy Summer Meals" are

Traditionally, East Asian cuisine offers an abundance of ingredients and healthy summer meals that are perfect for the summer months. These healthy summer meals are refreshing and deeply rooted in traditions emphasizing balance and health. Usually, these ingredients come down to a couple of key factors in determining their effectiveness and purpose in food.

High Water Content Foods

Foods with high water content, such as cucumbers, watermelon, and leafy greens, help keep you hydrated during hot summer days by directly providing a substantial volume of water into your diet. Most vegetables eaten in summer are extremely high in water content, up to 96% water in cucumbers, so when you eat them, you consume both nutrients and hydration.

When you exercise and move around in high temperatures, which we're currently experiencing all across Ontario, you lose water through sweat due to the heat and your body requires rehydration consistently throughout the day. Higher physical activity also consumes other necessary nutritional composites such as sugars, vitamins, and minerals. In the following list of high-water-content summer healthy foods, we've chosen foods with high minerals like potassium and magnesium to also help maintain your body's electrolyte balance, further supporting effective hydration.

• Cucumbers: 96% Water content. You can find these in our Grilled Chicken Salad with Japanese Roasted Sesame Dressing 日式烤鸡田园沙拉. This salad is inspired by Japanese cuisine, combining refreshing cucumber slices with lean grilled chicken for a balanced, cooling meal.
• Watermelon: 92% Water content. Watermelon season is coming soon in Toronto and Ontario (Early September) so look out for fresh watermelon harvested locally! Places like the Dufferin Grove Organic Farmers Market, York Farmers Market, St. Jacobs Farmers Market, Whitby Farmer's Market, and many more are all great places to pick up some fresh watermelon. We recommend trying to find the Black Diamond Heirloom variety of watermelon which are extremely crisp and refreshing.
• Radish: 95% Water Content. You can find these in our Beef Stew with Zhuhou Sauce and Radish on Brown Rice 柱候萝卜炖牛肉配糙米饭. Radish contains antioxidants like catechin, pyrogallol, vanillic acid, and other phenolic compounds, which have been shown to also fight cancer.

High Nutritional Value Foods

Making sure we eat nutritious food is extremely important in the summer to keep our body functioning at a high level.

High-nutrition foods like leafy greens are a staple of healthy summer meals due to their high nutritional value and lightness, making them easy to digest even in the heat. They also retain much more water content compared to many other vegetables, which keeps them fresh and crunchy.

• Thai Basil: Although not traditionally promoted by nutritionists in western cuisine, Thai Basil contains many vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A, C, and E, fiber, and antioxidants. These nutrients not only help replenish what's lost through sweat but also support your energy levels and immune systems. On of our favourite dishes using this amazing ingredient is Thai Basil Stir-Fried Shrimp with Brown Rice 泰式九层塔炒大虾配糙米饭, which is extremely light, healthy, and aromatic.
• Mung Beans: One of the best foods to eat (or drink) in the summer! They contain anti-inflammatory properties that help protect against heat stroke, high body temperatures, and thirst, which is extremely important to prevent in the coming sweltering weeks! Check out our Cold mung bean soup 冰冰凉绿豆汤 and use coupon code “08MBS24” to get 50% off on your mung bean soup this week!

Detoxifying Foods

In the heat of summer, it's crucial to include foods that help detoxify your body and support digestion. Fermented foods and fungi are excellent for this purpose as they are rich in probiotics that aid gut health. Usually, these foods also have extremely high nutritional value while staying light due to their fermented nature.

1. Fermented Foods: Miso and fermented soybean paste are traditional East Asian ingredients known for their detoxifying properties. These foods help your body process and eliminate excess byproducts, which is especially beneficial in the summer when digestion can slow down. You can find fermented bean curds in our Hong Kong Style Cha Siu With Brown Rice and Fried Egg 港式叉烧煎蛋饭, which promotes that active digestion needed to help you detox.
2. Fungi (Mushrooms): Mushrooms are a superfood that plays a vital role in detoxification. They are low in fat and carbohydrates but high in protein, making them a light yet energy-rich option. Incorporating mushrooms into your summer diet can help clear out your system while keeping you active and healthy.

Spicy Foods

Spice in foods has been known to kickstart your metabolism and help you burn through grease and fat. During the summer, people often tend to eat more things like barbeque and foods high in grease and fat, which our body tends to not enjoy. However, we don't need to sacrifice that part of our life and enjoyment, since we can enjoy these events and delicious foods by also substituting healthy foods in the rest of our diet.

1. Chilli paste: Known for its ability to help the body naturally cool off through sweating. Our newest partnership introduces the Chili Garlic Crunch sauce which is a perfect example of heat to incorporate into your healthy summer meals, providing flavour and health benefits. The natural cooling effect of spicy foods is a time-tested way to beat the summer heat, making them a great addition to your summer diet. Not only that, you can add it to almost any prepared meal we serve!
2. Kimchi: We felt like we had to mention kimchi separately due to its unique nature being both a fermented and spicy food! Our classic Korean Kimchi Fried Rice with Grilled Chicken 韩式鸡肉泡菜炒饭 is a great dish to select which perfectly satisfies what we consider healthy summer meals!

Meeting your Healthy Summer Goals with Mi BOWL

At Mi BOWL, we understand that staying healthy and feeling refreshed during the summer can be a challenge. That's why our menu is crafted with the season's unique demands in mind, ensuring you get the best in flavour, nutrition, and hydration while eating healthy Asian Fusion dishes!

By choosing from our carefully curated menu, you're not just treating yourself to delicious meals; you're also making a smart choice for your summer health. Each of our healthy summer meals is designed to help you meet your health goals while enjoying the vibrant flavours of East Asian cuisine. So why not let us take care of the details while you savour the benefits?