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.

Many people enjoy olives in their Martinis, or a Dirty Martini made with olive brine. But these are green olives, typically stuffed with pimento.

Why give black olives (ripe olives) the cold shoulder? Here are some recipes from California Ripe Olives to inspire entertaining. Try them for Father’s Day!
 
 
BLACK OLIVE MARTINI

Ingredients Per Cocktail

 
Preparation

1. FILL a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the vodka, olive brine and dry vermouth. Shake for several seconds to mix, then strain into a Martini glass.

2. Garnish with a pick of black olives and serve.

RECIPE: BACK PORCH BEER COCKTAIL

Ingredients For 1 Cocktail

 
Preparation

1. FILL a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the tequila, lime juice, olive brine, sweet and sour mix and pico de gallo.

2. SHAKE for several seconds until well mixed. Strain into a chilled glass and add beer. Garnish with a lime wedge and one black olive.

Something different: beer, tequila and Mexican seasonings. Photo courtesy CalOlive.com.

Ingredients For 1 Cocktail

 
*You can buy pickled vegetables make your own with this pickled vegetable recipe.
 
Preparation

1. COMBINE all of the ingredients except for the garnishes in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake for several seconds to mix well.

2. STRAIN into a new glass with or without ice. Garnish and serve.

Here’s a photo of the cocktail.

Find more olive recipes at CalOlive.com.
  

Rainbow carrot colors, including the
now-standard orange, were bred centuries
and millennia ago from mutations. Photo
courtesy Colorful Harvest | FB.

Grilling carrots brings out their natural sweetness; the grill contributes a mellow smokey flavor. These grilled rainbow carrots are perfect drizzled with the basil vinaigrette or served with the vinaigrette on the side for dipping.

And, you can add leftovers to simple green salads for a splash of color and flavor.

You’re looking for rainbow carrots, that transform the ordinary root veg into something quite spectacular. If you can’t find rainbow carrots (in a specialty produce store or farmers market), simply substitute standard orange carrots. You can also find rainbow baby carrots.

THE ORIGINAL CARROTS WERE WHITE!

That’s right: The iconic orange carrot began life as a wild white carrots, similar to parsnips*. With natural mutations, purple and yellow carrots were cultivated more than 1,000 years ago in what is now Afghanistan.

Other colors are the product of generations of traditional plant breeding. Orange carrots were first successfully bred in Holland from an orange mutation by Dutch farmers. Here’s more history of carrots, plus an explanation of how the different hues of carrots get their colors.

Try this recipe for Grilled Rainbow Carrots with Basil Vinaigrette: an eye- and palate-pleaser. It’s from In Sonnet’s Kitchen. Prep time is 5 minutes, cook time 10 minutes.

As a variation from the vinaigrette, you can use pesto or a honey glaze.
 
RECIPE: GRILLED RAINBOW CARROTS WITH BASIL VINAIGRETTE

Ingredients For 4-6 Servings

This dish can be served warm or at room temperature. The carrots can also be sliced into smaller pieces before serving.

1. PREHEAT grill to medium-high. Trim carrot tops as desired and slice carrots in half lengthwise (this decreases cooking time).

2. TOSS carrots with oil (or oil the grill as needed) and grill for 4-5 minutes, until the carrots develop sear marks and are beginning to soften. Flip, cover and grill for another 4-5 minutes. Carrots should be softened, but still retain their crunch. Meanwhile…

3. BLEND the vinegar, basil and olive oil into a vinaigrette. Season to taste. Serve drizzled over the carrots or on the side for dipping.

4. GARNISH with herbs and serve.

 
*Carrots (Daucus carota) and parsnips (Pastinaca sativa) are both members of the Apiaceae family, which includes caraway, celery, chervil, dill and fennel.

[1] Deconstruct enchiladas into an enchilada salad (photo © QVC).

[2] Fresh cilantro is an ingredient in many Mexican dishes (photo © Good Eggs).

[3] Homemade tortilla chips (photo © Anna Hinman | Crunchy Creamy Sweet).

Instead of wrapping enchilada fillings in a tortilla, the fillings become part of a crunchy salad, and the tortillas are toasted and cut into crispy strips.

David sent this recipe for Cinco de Mayo, but it’s also a good choice for a light, flavorful warm-weather lunch or light dinner.

Notes David, “With all of the flavor but half of the prep of regular enchiladas, this is a great recipe to whip up for a weeknight celebration.”
 
 
RECIPE: DECONSTRUCTED ENCHILADA SALAD

Ingredients

For The Dressing

 
For The Salad

 
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*You can substitute ready-made tortilla chips. They don’t provide the same flavor and texture as frying your own, but they’re delicious in a different way.