Written by Diann Leo-Omine & Lisa Lin, Pictures by Lisa Lin. This submit was initially revealed in 2016 and has been up to date to incorporate produce-picking ideas and extra photographs.
July is every little thing we love about June after which some. We’re spoiled with nightshades galore, with eggplants of all shapes, plump tomatoes bursting with umami, and shishito peppers by the basketful. Sundown-hued nectarines and aromatic plums be part of the get together with different summer time stone fruit. This July produce information is full of vegatables and fruits that may maintain your style buds glad.
EGGPLANT
Eggplants are literally fruits, and the pores and skin is the place the antioxidant diet hides. Rectangular, skinny, lengthy – eggplants come in additional sizes and styles than you’ll assume. You’re most likely most accustomed to the globe eggplant, which is deep purple and rectangular with a chubby base. There’s additionally Thai (small and spherical with inexperienced and white pores and skin; also called Kermit), Ethiopian (orange with inexperienced stripes and formed like a tomato), in addition to Chinese language (lengthy and lightweight purple) and Japanese (lengthy and black-ish purple) eggplants. Who would assume there’s a whole rainbow of eggplant colours?
You will have heard that eggplants are bitter and that salting them removes the bitterness. Bon Appetit says that the bitterness is mostly bred out of eggplants today, however salting the eggplants will assist draw out any further water out of the flesh. I don’t discover salting the eggplants particularly obligatory anyway when utilizing Asian eggplants, that are slender and with smaller seeds. Take a look at my recipes utilizing each globe and Asian eggplants beneath.
HOW TO CHOOSE AND STORE EGGPLANT
Choose eggplants with a agency texture and minimal bruises or spots. With eggplants being heat climate fruits, maintain at room temperature for a day or two. Within the worst case, retailer within the fridge for a day or two extra, however keep in mind they’ll flip bitter the longer they sit from harvest.
RECIPES USING EGGPLANT
FIGS
There are numerous styles of this teardrop-shaped fruit with deep purple, inexperienced, yellow-ish, and brown skins. The inside flesh is contained by a pale wall (syconium), giving option to a juicy middle (usually pink-ish crimson or brown) with crunchy edible seeds. Frequent varieties embrace the Black Mission, Kadota, Calimyrna, and Brown Turkey. Figs comprise vitamin Okay and, notably, a whopping excessive supply of plant-based calcium. I like slicing up figs and serving them with yogurt and a drizzle of honey.
HOW TO CHOOSE AND STORE FIGS
Choose figs which might be tender, however not at all mushy. Figs don’t proceed to ripen after harvest, so the tender flesh is telltale to simply how candy it will likely be. Cross on onerous textured or tangy smelling figs. Retailer within the fridge for as much as per week.
RECIPES USING FIGS
MINT
On the grocery store, you’re prone to encounter recent mint in peppermint (purple stems) or spearmint (inexperienced stems) varieties. One among my favourite farmers on the Sunday Farmers Market in Sacramento, Andy Rogers, sells quite a lot of mint each Sunday: sweet mint, apple mint, chocolate mint, and so on.
As a result of the peppermint selection comprises menthol, which is famous by the distinctive cooling sensation like a mouthful of chewing gum, the spearmint selection is mostly extra common for cooking. Toss a number of sprigs of mint right into a glass of ice water for an immediate refresher. Just some leaves of mint additionally provides a crisp taste to Vietnamese shrimp or vegan spring rolls.
HOW TO CHOOSE AND STORE MINT
Select bunches of mint which might be vibrant inexperienced and with none black spots. Skip mint that appears unhappy and droopy. Many sources suggest conserving mint in a jar of water on the kitchen counter and altering the water repeatedly, like a bouquet of flowers. This hasn’t labored nicely in my kitchen, however you may definitely give it a strive. I in any other case will roll the stems of mint in a moist towel and retailer in a plastic bag within the fridge for as much as per week.
RECIPES USING MINT
NECTARINES
Nectarines are a kind of peach. Like peaches, nectarines are available many sorts with white or yellow flesh. Typically smaller and firmer, they lack the attribute fuzz that marks a peach’s exterior pores and skin. In line with the Kitchn, the distinction between nectarines and peaches lies in a gene variant, which leads to that fuzz. As a result of they’re on the firmer facet, nectarines have a tendency to carry up higher to cooking, even dealing with excessive warmth from the grill.
HOW TO CHOOSE AND STORE NECTARINES
Select nectarines which have a delicate give to their flesh. You possibly can ripen nectarines by conserving them at room temperature. Retailer nectarines at room temperature till they ripen. If you wish to maintain nectarines for an extended interval, retailer agency nectarines within the fridge. Relying on how agency they had been while you began storing them, the nectarines can maintain for 1 to 2 weeks.
RECIPES USING NECTARINES
OKRA
A member of the hibiscus household, okra is a fruit that we prepare dinner as a vegetable. Okra provides a candy grassy taste and is wealthy in nutritional vitamins Okay and C. Okra is most notable for its mucilage, the slimy inside substance hidden in every pod. If this slippery texture bothers you, strive a excessive warmth cooking technique – roasting, grilling, or frying. Simply Recipes additionally advises conserving the okra as dry as doable earlier than slicing it in order to keep away from any added moisture.
HOW TO CHOOSE AND STORE OKRA
Select okra that’s agency and with out brown or yellow marks. Search for pods which might be about 4-5 inches lengthy – greater is certainly not higher. Retailer at room temperature if planning to prepare dinner immediately, or within the fridge for 3 to five days.
RECIPES USING OKRA
PARSLEY
Parsley is usually thrown on completed dishes as a garnish, however do you know a half cup of parsley fulfills 50% of the beneficial vitamin C necessities? Along with vitamin C, parsley is excessive in nutritional vitamins A and Okay.
What’s the distinction between curly leaf and flat leaf parsley? Curly leaf parsley tends to be extra subtly herby whereas flat leaf parsley tends to be extra ahead and punchy.
HOW TO CHOOSE AND STORE PARSLEY
Select parsley that’s inexperienced and perky. Keep away from bunches which might be limp or discolored black and yellow. Retailer within the fridge for as much as per week in a plastic bag.
RECIPES USING PARSLEY
PLUMS
Plums are yet one more summer time stone fruit, associated to cherries, apricots, and peaches. The styles of plums we encounter are almost certainly crosses between the Asian and European species.
Don’t overlook about prunes! Famend for his or her fiber content material, these dried plums had been a favourite snack for me as a child. For a savory twist, dried plums additionally inject a pure sweetness into stir fry sauce.
HOW TO CHOOSE AND STORE PLUMS
Select plums which might be agency but with a little bit give to them. Keep away from plums with discolored or mushy spots. Retailer within the fridge for as much as per week. If not but ripe, retailer in a paper bag.
RECIPES USING PLUMS
RASPBERRIES
This ruby-pink fruit is a kind of bramble, crops that develop in thorny shrubs or lengthy vines that bear fruit. In addition to raspberries, berries like blackberries, boysenberries, and loganberries are all kinds of brambles. Brambles and roses are additionally a part of the identical household. Every raspberry consists of many tiny drupelets, seed-containing fruits, that stick collectively to kind one berry.
HOW TO CHOOSE AND STORE RASPBERRIES
Raspberries are most frequently offered by the basket or inside plastic clamshells. When deciding on raspberries, I attempt to keep away from packages the place the berries look mushy or beginning to mildew. Retailer raspberries within the fridge and attempt to eat inside 4 to five days.
RECIPES USING RASPBERRIES
This isn’t an official recipe, however I like consuming raspberries with some yogurt, toasted walnuts, and a drizzle of honey. Right here’s some extra recipe inspiration:
SHISHITO PEPPERS
TOMATOES
There’s nothing fairly like consuming ripe, juicy tomatoes through the summer time. Tomatoes originated in Central and South America, and the Aztecs introduced tomatoes to the Spanish in the 16th century. Ultimately, tomatoes made their method into Italian delicacies, and the Spanish launched tomatoes to their colonies in Asia and Central America. Tomatoes are a part of the nightshade household, and they’re a superb supply of vitamin C, potassium, and lycopene, an antioxidant that’s been linked to reducing the risk of heart disease.
Rising up, I assumed that tomatoes had been crimson solely. My thoughts was blown after I noticed all of the various kinds of heirloom tomatoes obtainable at farmers markets! Every kind of heirloom tomato has totally different ranges of sweetness and acidity, so it’s value making an attempt as many sorts which you can get your palms on!
HOW TO CHOOSE AND TOMATOES
Choose tomatoes which have vibrant shade and taut pores and skin, when you’re planning to eat them over the course of some days or per week. Retailer them at room temperature; tomatoes have a tendency to show mealy while you retailer them within the fridge. The one caveat is that if the tomatoes are bruised, they’re greatest saved within the fridge, as mildew can kind across the bruises. I purchase blemished or not-so-perfect tomatoes from the farmers market actually because they are typically discounted. I’ll refrigerate them and prepare dinner with these tomatoes in a day or two.
RECIPES USING TOMATOES
TOMATILLOS
Tomatillos are native to Mexico, the place it has been a part of their delicacies for hundreds of years. The identify tomatillo means “little tomato” in English, and like tomatoes, they’re a part of the nightshade household.
Tomatillos are typically inexperienced with a sticky pores and skin and encased in a skinny, papery husk. Because the fruit matures, the papery husk will dry up and go from a light-weight inexperienced to mild brown shade. The tomatillos I purchase on the farmers market are typically about 1 to 2 inches in width, although I’ve seen bigger ones on the grocery retailer. Sometimes, I’ll purchase purple tomatillos on the farmers market!
Though they appear to be tomatoes, the flavour of tomatillos are fairly totally different. Tomatillos have a tart taste and usually not as juicy as tomatoes. In case you’ve ever had salsa verde, you’ll have eaten tomatillos, as it’s the important ingredient in salsa verde.
HOW TO CHOOSE AND STORE TOMATILLOS
Search for tomatillos that don’t have main brown spots and pores and skin that hasn’t utterly dried out. You’ll seemingly discover tomatillos utterly encased within the husk or ones right here the husk has break up open. It’s completely high-quality if the husk has break up, so long as the precise fruit doesn’t appear to be it’s going dangerous. Retailer the tomatillos within the fridge for two to three weeks.
RECIPES USING TOMATILLOS
YARDLONG BEANS (CHINESE LONG BEANS)
Also called Chinese language lengthy beans or asparagus bean, yardlong beans are very lengthy beans which have a barely bumpier exterior, in comparison with common inexperienced beans. In Chinese language, there are a number of names for yardlong beans: 長豆 (actually “lengthy bean,” pronounced cheung dau in Cantonese; chang dou in Mandarin) and 豇豆 (“cowpea,” pronounced gong dau in Cantonese; jiang dou in Mandarin).
Wealthy in Vitamis A & C, yardlong beans can are available many various shades, akin to forest inexperienced, mild inexperienced, deep purple, and lavender. I discover yardlong beans have extra bean-y taste in comparison with the usual inexperienced bean.
HOW TO CHOOSE AND STORE YARDLONG BEANS
Yardlong beans which might be youthful are typically thinner, so the pores and skin and flesh of the beans wrap tightly across the seed. Conversely, extra mature beans are thicker and have looser pores and skin. Personally, I desire the beans when they’re thinner however I do know some individuals like the feel of mature beans with looser outer pores and skin and bigger seeds.
Yardlong beans are typically offered in bunches. Whether or not you like the youthful beans or extra mature beans, ensure to pick out bunches that don’t have a lot brown spots on the beans. Retailer the beans in a plastic bag for as much as per week.
RECIPE IDEAS WITH YARDLONG BEANS
My mother loves stir frying yardlong beans with some garlic, onions, and a little bit of fermented bean curd. That might be one among a number of vegetable dishes that she would serve for dinner.
I like so as to add some yardlong beans to my egg fried rice. I simply minimize up the beans into 1-inch chunks, till I get about 1 1/4 cups of the beans. Then, I stir fry the beans together with different greens and blend them with the rice.
