Summer Fruits and Vegetables

[Karen]

Tomatoes:

One thing I learned was, if you buy tomatoes "on the vine" they last longer. Leaving what I think of as "the collar" on the tomato is apparently key. They did a study where they took tomatoes picked at the same time, and studies various options - apparently the leaves staying intact keep oxygen from permeating and aging the tomato faster!

What is your favorite summer fruit or veggie tip?

I do not have garden where we are now, it has been many years since I could grow vegetables safe for consumption, but I still look forward to local cucumbers, squash, etc. hitting the markets!

Scored and sliced cucumbers in vinegar and salt? Yum!

[pomtzu]

Cantaloupe - my favorite. Cut the whole melon into cubes (with rind removed) and store in the fridge in a covered container. When you're wanting some to eat, it's already cut up and you don't have to deal with the mess of eating a slice that still has the rind on it. Also sprinkle lightly with salt before eating - it brings out the flavor! And for those of you that are frowning at the idea of salting it - don't knock it before you try it. It is delish!!!!! :D

[Karen]

Oh, and I am well aware, some of you have fruits and veggies that are ready and prevalent earlier than us, go ahead and brag if you want!


And speaking of summer fruit, why are all the watermelon these day advertised as "seedless"?
A) If they truly were seedless, you'd have a heck of time propagating them ...
B) Never seen one yet that didn't have at least a few small seeds and
C) How the heck can one have a summertime seed-spitting contest without a watermelon with plenty of good, launch-able seeds in it? and
D) How could one save up enough seeds to make necklaces with without good sturdy seeds?

[Asiel]

I'm a fruit and vegetable person year round but in summer I like the cool fruits like watermelon, honeydew and canteloupe. Strawberries, rasberries and blueberries all grow wild here so I gorge on those.Used to make preserves but been too tired these past yrs and I can't have sugar so I prefer not to be tempted. I make a bit for the rest of the family and they bring it home--out of sight.
I do like POM-- pare and cut up the melons and keep them in the fridge for when I feel like a snack....salt is off my to eat list but I know it is good on watermelon, used to salt mine just like I did with rhubarb.... miss that salt now.
Give me any veggie and I'm happy. I have to cook them or I get a reaction if eaten raw.

[luvofallhorses]

Ew I don't like cantaloupe and I have tried it with salt. ;) No thank you but my dad does that lol. Watermelon is very refreshing in the summer and I love fresh cherries from Flathead Lake but they usually not selling them til late July/early August. And I love honey dew melon. For veggies I love dipping celery, carrots and broccoli in ranch. :)

[pomtzu]

Ew I don't like cantaloupe and I have tried it with salt. ;) No thank you but my dad does that lol.


Your dad is obviously a smart man!!! :D

[cassiesmom]

Karen, I love cucumbers prepared that way in the summer. My dad sometimes puts tomatoes in the dressing too. I also like cucumbers with sour cream (although I mostly use fat-free yogurt instead) and just a little salt. I like cucumbers.

My sister puts just a thin coat of olive oil on strips of red or green bell peppers or zucchini before she places them on the grill. I have just the George Foreman grill so I don't oil them first. I really like grilled vegetables in the summer. One of my co-workers always grills way more vegetables than she knows she'll need for one meal. Then she makes a sandwich of the extras the next day with sourdough bread and a slice of mozzarella or provolone cheese. She zonks it in the microwave in our lunch room for a moment to melt the cheese and heat up the vegetables. It looks sooooo good!

[Pinot's Mom]

Fresh summer cantaloupe is very good, but all time number one summer enjoyment is.....

FRESH MARYLAND TOMATOES - with a touch of salt and Hellman's Mayonnaise! Yes, only Hellman's (or Best Foods if you're west of the Mississippi). :)

[RICHARD]

In El Lay you can find small carts all over the area that sell you a bag of cut up fruit - They put watermelon, cantalope, honeydew, pineapple, mango and what other fruits are in season at the time.

They also squeeze a lime into the bag and also put a seasoning named Tajin into it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj%C3%ADn_(seasoning)

This stuff is AWESOME.

I had to cut back on my salt and use this more often than not. But, it's especially good on fruit.

[Karen]

I adore good "real" tomatoes with a little mayo and a drizzle of basil vinegar - take a few leaves of fresh basil, and put it in a little jar with some white vinegar - let sit a few weeks, and viola! The perfect addition to summer tomatoes!

[PJ's Mom]

I love making a salad with fresh spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, and basil with lemon juice as the dressing. It's so yummy!

[kittycats_delight]

speaking of summer fruits I spent the day yesterday making jam. We are in full blown fruit season here. Almost everything you can think of is in beginning season, mid season or end season so it is perfect. Made 3 batches of jam yesterday which were strawberry/kiwi (local strawberries are basically over for the year), apricot (just started coming out this past week for harvest), & mixed berries....these come down from the mountains and are just starting too. Need to do a few other types. Pear which is just starting, plum which are about mid season now, peach which are also mid season, and want to do a pineapple/orange one too. Pineapples are just becoming available so maybe in next week will have another jam making day. :)

[Karen]

Hope you're making enough to share! That's an abundance of fruits all at the same time!

[Karen]

This is a great week at the local supermarket - cheap prices on strawberries, and blueberries and more! I now have two pints of blueberries in the freezer for future use, some in the fridge and 2lbs strawberries I will clean and slice tonight! Wheee!

[cassiesmom]

I saw strawberries at Meijer tonight, I think they were two or three boxes for $5. The problem for me is that they're so perishable that I can't use the whole box. I love them but I wish I could get them in a smaller quantity.

[Karen]

What you can do is like I did, sit and clean and slice the whole batch, slice 'em up, and put them in a bowl in the fridge with a sprinkling of sugar on the top, and they keep better that way. If I had too much, I'd freeze some of them to use in backing later, but I know I will eat the whole batch over the next few days.

[Karen]

I wanted to add one more tip for large quantities of strawberries. If you ever want to bake with them later, another way to deal with them is clean, dehull, and then slice the strawberries and lay the slices flat on a piece of wax paper laid on a cookie sheet. Then freeze until solid, and you can shake or peel them off and keep them in a plastic bag with the air sucked out in the freezer. They soften when being baked anyway, so the texture difference won't be at all noticeable in the finished product.

This also works for blueberries, raspberries, and the like - they don't even need to be sliced, just wash em off, let em dry a bit, spread on cookie sheet and freeze! Rhubarb can be sliced into 1-inch chunks and frozen, a rhubarb pie is like s lice of summer in the dead on winter!