Summer Fruits and Veggies

Summer Produce

Summer rewards us for tolerating long, hot days with a bounty of great, fresh fruits and veggies. Our family frequently enjoys "Summer Supper" which is a mean entirely of summer's best sans any meat. The main dish is the bounty of fresh produce--sweet corn, green beans, watermelon, cantaloupe, peaches, etc. Here are some of our favorites.

Saturn or Donut Peaches

These peaches just came into our stores this week. They'll only be available for the next two or three weeks, then it's another year before we can enjoy them again. If you haven't tried these babies, you are missing out on some of the sweetest, juiciest peaches you'll ever wrap your tongue around. These are juice dripping down your arm white flesh peaches. They are flattened and are a flattened shape (like their common names indicate).

They are a little pricey, so bring your pocketbook. Don't bring any sugar. When they are fully ripe, they don't need any. These peaches used to be only available at high-end groceries, but they've become so popular that Wal-Mart Supercenters even carry them.

Pick the fruit with dark red coloring that are slightly soft near the stem. If they are hard and greener colored, you can ripen them in 1-2 days in a paper bag on your kitchen counter.

Sweet Corn

My mouth waters just thinking about fresh from the field corn. Local corn is coming in season in most parts of the corn-growing country. Don't be fooled by "yellow" field corn. To any sweet corn lover, this stuff is cattle feed and shouldn't be served on any table. You want to get the real sweet stuff. I think the white and bi-colored varieties are the sweetest and best.

Pick full ears and shuck it at the store if they provide bins. It saves the mess at home and lets you see what you're buying. Pierce one of the hulls with your fingernail. Juice should spurt out forcefully. That's the sign that the corn is fresh. If the ear is hard to pierce, then the corn will be chewy.

I always boil the corn (preferably the same night I buy it) in water with 2 tablespoons of sugar added. Don't overboil the corn. Once the ears look darker (usually 4-5 min.) the corn is ready.


Mini Watermelon

If you haven't tried the new mini, seedless watermelon, I encourage you to give them a go. We had our first ones a couple of weeks ago and were very pleased with this new variety. The mini melons fit very nicely in the refrigerator (compared to their larger cousins) and ours was sweet, juicy and seedless.

I bought ours at Sam's Club which was selling them two to a package. The ease and convenience of cutting, storing and serving these mini-watermelon makes them my first pick this summer.


What's your favorite summer fruit or veggie? Feel free to post your tips and preferences!

Enjoy a Summer Supper at your house.