Summer Solstice, June 20, 2024, was the longest day of the year and the first day of summer. Summer brings fresh fruits and vegetables for your table. Seasonal foods refer to the times of year when certain foods are at peak, either in terms of harvest or its flavor.
This is usually the time when the item is the least costly at your local market. The food's peak time at harvest usually means that the flavor is at its best.
Other than year-round foods, imported and shipped-in foods, fresh produce you should find available in summer are: Apricots, Basil, Cantaloupes, Cilantro, Chard, Chickpeas, Chiles, Corn, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Green beans, Shallots, Squash, Watermelons, Zucchini/
Summer fruits include some berries (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries) and stone fruit (nectarines, peaches, and plums) as well as melons.
Do You Throw Away Spoiled Fruits and Vegetables?
Eating more fruits and vegetables is a requirement for every healthy eater. But when you buy more fresh produce, do you end up throwing away more than you eat? You're not alone.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the average American family of four throws out approximately 25 percent of the food and beverages they buy -- amounting to $1,365 to $2,275 annually.
How you store fruit and vegetables will have a major impact on their taste and texture when you serve them.
Almost everything can be stored in the refrigerator except for bananas, tomatoes, potatoes, lemons, and limes. These items should be kept in a cool, dry area, but will experience strange changes if kept at too cold a temperature.
Garlic and onions should be also be kept at room temperature (or cooler) in a well-ventilated area.
How to Store Fresh Produce
According to most food experts, storing fresh produce properly takes little time. First, certain foods shouldn't be stored together and some produce that many everyday cooks commonly keep in the fridge could actually be left on the countertop.
To keep your produce optimally fresh (and cut down on food waste), use this handy guide.
Countertop Storage Tips. There’s nothing as nice to see as a big bowl of crisp green apples on the kitchen counter. To keep those apples crisp and fresh, store them "out of direct sunlight."
Refrigerator Storage Tips. For produce that is best stored in the refrigerator, remember the following guidelines.
1. Keep produce in perforated plastic bags in the produce drawer of the refrigerator. (To perforate bags, punch holes in the bag with a sharp object, spacing them about as far apart as the holes you see in supermarket apple bags.)
2. Keep fruits and vegetables separate, in different drawers, because ethylene can build up in the fridge, causing spoilage.
3. When storing herbs (and interestingly, asparagus, too), snip off the ends, store upright in a glass of water (like flowers in a vase) and cover with a plastic bag.
Important. Fruits and vegetables give off an odorless, harmless and tasteless gas called ethylene after they're picked. All fruits and vegetables produce it, but some foods produce it in greater quantities.
When ethylene-producing foods are kept in close proximity with ethylene-sensitive foods, especially in a confined space (like a bag or drawer), the gas will speed up the ripening process of the other produce.
Use this to your advantage if you want to speed up the ripening process of an unripe fruit by putting an apple in a bag with an unripe avocado. But if you want your already-ripe foods to last longer, remember to keep them away from ethylene-producing foods.
Handy Chart. Click on the "How to Store Fruits and Vegetables" chart, and print it full size so you can refer to it after your trip to the grocery store.
You want to make sure to keep meat and produce separate in your fridge. The best place for meat is the bottom shelf, so no blood or other contaminants drip down onto your produce.
Crisper drawers help protect your produce and also keep the moisture in to maintain freshness for longer. Many refrigerators now have high and low humidity drawers depending on what you're storing.
Nearly all fruits and vegetables can be stored in the freezer as well, except for some herbs and lettuce. Freeze everything in small pieces on sheet trays and place the frozen pieces in airtight containers or plastic freezer bags for easy use later.
* Sources: Food Network, Wikipedia, Spark People