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Produce Geek offers “What’s ripe now?” suggestions

Here are more delicious produce notes from The Produce Geek. U-m-m-m! You may want to visit the Website (click on the logo) and take another peek. The Produce Geek’s also got other recommendations there!

Basil

PEAK SEASON | BEST FLAVOR

Presto! It’s time for pesto! The sweet taste of basil shines through other full flavors, enhancing recipes with brightness. Keep Basil handy to use with sauces, pizza, hot or cold pastas and cooked vegetables. Just a few shredded leaves of fresh Basil can dress up simple tomatoes. Ahh, summer love.

With the advent of summer comes peak season for field-grown, fresh, sweet Basil. Peak season means you can buy Basil in larger amounts at many stores (instead of little packages) at reasonable prices. And if you have a garden with Basil in it, chances are it’s ready now. What do you do when there’s more Basil than you can eat fresh? Make pesto to use right away or freeze in an ice cube tray for portions to use later. Basil does not like to be too cold, it turns the leaves black. That’s why room temperature with the cut end of the stems in water is a nice way to store it.

White Peaches … on the grill

White Peaches – eat ‘em hard & crunchy, soft & juicy, grilled & caramelized.

Wish you could eat a peach when it was hard and crunchy or soft and juicy, and still be able to enjoy it? You can do exactly that with White Peaches. Why? White-flesh Peach varieties are low in acid so the natural sugar comes through in the flavor from the moment they are picked. Use White Peaches the same way you would Yellow-flesh varieties – for baking and snacking. Peak season is here for White Peaches. I’ve enjoyed fantastic ones from both California and Virginia this week. Select White Peaches that have no greenish coloring in the white areas of the skin – a sign of under-ripe. Store them a room temperature.

Grilled White Peaches:

  • Pre-heat grill to high
  • Halve White Peaches and remove the pit
  • Spray White Peaches with a quick burst of spray-able oil on each side
  • Reduce grill heat to medium-high
  • Grill for about 3 minutes on each side, flesh side first
  • Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, garnish with mint

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