Using kale in a salad adds great texture, and this recipe from The Alzheimer’s Prevention Cookbook is rich in brain-boosting foods. Not only is kale an excellent source of flavonoids and vitamin C, but blueberries are also high in antioxidants and pomegranates provide a great source of resveratrol.

Kale, Blueberry, and Pomegranate Salad

from The Alzheimer’s Prevention Cookbook by Dr. Marwan Sabbah and Beau MacMillan

Ten Speed Press, November 2012

Makes 4 servings

3 bunches kale, stemmed and chopped
1 cup fresh blueberries
2 medium carrots, peeled and shredded
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup Soy-Sesame Vinaigrette (see below)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine the kale, blueberries, carrots, pomegranate seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, and mint in a medium bowl and toss well. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and toss again. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve right away.

Soy-Sesame Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons peeled, chopped fresh ginger
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup peanut oil
1 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
Combine the ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, sesame oil, and peanut oil in a blender and puree until creamy. Pour the mixture into a medium sauté pan and cook, stirring, over low heat until aromatic and golden in color, about 6 minutes.
Add the vinegar, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar to the sauté pan. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water, and then stir the cornstarch slurry into the contents of the pan. Set the pan over low heat and bring the mixture to a boil to thicken, stirring to dissolve the sugar, about 2 minutes.
Transfer the dressing to a bowl and let cool. Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

For more recipes from The Alzheimer’s Prevention Cookbook, see the excerpt below:

Recipes From the Alzheimer’s Prevention Cookbook by Dr. Marwan Sabbah and Beau MacMillan

Anna Mintz is a Publicist for Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House, and is an editor for The Recipe Club. Originally from Atlanta, she now lives in New York City and loves exploring NYC’s restaurant scene and trying out new recipes in her own kitchen.

I was so thrilled when Elizabeth, one of my best friends from college who is now about to start her final year of law school, told me that she’d gotten an internship in New York for the summer. To celebrate her arrival to the city, my friend Preston decided to throw a welcome brunch in Elizabeth’s honor this past Sunday. As you all know by now, I love to cook, so of course I offered to help out and make something special for the brunch. I’d made a great coffee cake before, but this time, I thought I’d try out a new recipe. I chose Blueberry Crumb Cake from Barefoot Contessa at Home (Clarkson Potter, 2006) by Ina Garten, and boy was it good!

As I read over the recipe on Sunday morning, I was really pleased to see that I already had most of the ingredients stocked in my pantry. I just needed to run to the grocery store to grab a lemon, some fresh blueberries, eggs, and sour cream, and I was good to go. One thing I really love about this recipe (well, really all of the Barefoot Contessa recipes) is that the instructions are so clear and the steps are easy to follow. The first step for this recipe: Making the streusel topping (super easy!) by combining granulated sugar, light brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, and melted butter.

Next, I made the cake batter out of butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, sour cream, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and the secret ingredient: lemon zest! I love the very subtle zing that the lemon zest brings to the cake. It totally pumps up the flavor without hitting you over the head with a sharp lemon taste. After combining the batter, I carefully folded in the fresh blueberries. The recipe calls for just one cup of blueberries, but I added almost two cups because I love them so much, especially in the summer.

Then, it was time to pop this baby in the oven! The recipe calls for a 9-inch round baking pan, but I just used an 8×8 Pyrex baking dish, and that worked just fine. The end result was a light and fluffy cake with juicy blueberries and a crisp and crunchy streusel topping. Perfection. Best of all, there were a few pieces left over after brunch, so I’ve been able to enjoy a slice with my coffee the past few mornings. I can honestly say that it’s just as good on day three!

Blueberry Crumb Cake Recipe from Barefoot Contessa at Home:
Serves 6 to 8

For the streusel:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake:
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup fresh blueberries
Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

For the streusel:
Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

For the cake:
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers, crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar.

Anna Mintz is a Publicist for Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House, and is an editor for The Recipe Club. Originally from Atlanta, she now lives in New York City and loves exploring NYC’s restaurant scene and trying out new recipes in her own kitchen.

Recently, I wanted to make a delicious dessert for a girls’ night. I selected this amazing Blueberry Nectarine Crisp from Cook Like a Rock Star (Clarkson Potter, October 2011) by Anne Burrell. I’d just returned to New York from book tour with Anne and was so inspired to try one of the recipes in her book! I thought that with the combination of blueberries and nectarines, this would be the perfect homey dessert to straddle the fine line between late summer and early fall.

To make the filling, I combined the blueberries and nectarines with ½ cup of sugar, lemon zest, and ¼ cup cornstarch. Then I poured this mixture into a baking dish and got started on the topping for the crisp. The topping was made of whole wheat flour (which helped us all feel a little less guilty about dessert!), rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, and butter. I pulsed these ingredients together in my food processor to make the topping and then sprinkled it over the berry mixture. The crisp baked for 30 minutes in the oven and came out tasting like perfection!

This crisp was a great choice for me to make because it didn’t require any special equipment, other than a food processor. And I love any excuse to use my food processor! As Anne would say, her Blueberry Nectarine Crisp is “super-cinchy” (aka EASY!) to make, and it’s really a great dessert that can be made year-round, substituting apples, peaches, pears, plums, berries—pretty much any fruit or combination of fruit that you like.

Blueberry Nectarine Crisp from Cook Like a Rock Star:
For the filling
2 pints blueberries, picked through for stems and crushed berries
5 nectarines, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1-inch chunks
½ cup granulated sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
¼ cup cornstarch

For the topping
1¼ cups whole wheat flour
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of kosher salt
12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pea-size pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the blueberries, nectarines, sugar, lemon zest, and cornstarch.
3. Place the fruit mixture in a wide, shallow baking dish (2 to 2½ quarts) or eight 1-cup ramekins.

For the topping
1. In a food processor, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt and pulse.
2. Add the butter and vanilla and pulse, pulse, pulse until the mixture looks dry and crumbly.
Add 1 tablespoon water and pulse again until the mixture starts to come together. If the mixture still seems dry, add 1 more tablespoon water and pulse again. Sprinkle the topping over the blueberry mixture.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the filling is hot and bubbly and the topping is crispy and nicely browned. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.
Berry delicious!