Relatives of peaches, apricots are small, golden orange fruits, with velvety skin and flesh. A good apricot is sweet with a flavor that is described as somewhere between a peach and a plum.

APRICOT NUTRITION

Apricots are an excellent source of vitamin A and a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, copper, dietary fiber, and potassium, as well as other vitamins and minerals.

The fruit’s phytochemicals (carotenoids, powerful antioxidants, including lycopene) help to prevent heart disease, reduce LDL (“bad cholesterol”) levels and offer protection against some cancers

WAYS TO ENJOY APRICOTS

 
Dried apricots are available year-round, and are handy to:

 
Apricots are also distilled into brandy and liqueur. Essential oil from the pits is sold commercially as bitter almond oil.
 
Try this Chicken Apricot Rice Salad from RiceSelect.com. You can make it with fresh or dried apricots (or a combination of both, for varying tastes and textures). Prep time is 15 minutes, cook time is 25 minutes.

RECIPE: RICE SALAD WITH CHICKEN & APRICOTS
Ingredients For 6 Servings

 
*Texmati Light Brown Rice, from Rice Select, is the quicker-cooking alternative to traditional brown rice. It cooks like white rice, yet tastes like brown rice and appeals to the nutrition-conscious consumer. You can substitute white rice or wild rice, or use another grain (barley, couscous, quinoa, etc.).

Preparation

1. WHISK together lime juice, oil, honey and ginger in small bowl; set aside.

2. COMBINE rice, chicken, apricots, onions and raisins in large bowl. Chill at least 1 hour. Just before serving, drizzle dressing over salad.

3. COVER individual plates with lettuce leaves and top with salad.

 
APRICOT HISTORY

Like peaches, apricots are originally from China. They arrived in Europe via Armenia*, where they have been cultivated since ancient times. Their botanical name is Prunus armenaica. (The Prunus genus of trees and shrubs includes the stone fruits: apricots, cherries, nectarines, peaches and plums, plus almonds.) The Greeks called apricots “golden eggs of the sun.”

The first American apricot tree arrived in Virginia in 1720, but it was thanks to the Spanish missions of California that the crop became widely planted, beginning around 1792. The sunny California climate is perfectly suited to the tree, and most tree-ripened apricots sold in the U.S. come from California orchards. Turkey, Italy, Russia, Spain, Greece and France are other leading growers.
 
*Armenia is a mountainous country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. It is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, Azerbaijan and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to the east, and Iran to the south.