List Of Summer Foods

Categories: • Seasonal Food • Spring Season • Gardening • Edible Flowers

Summer means it's time to enjoy flavors of newly harvested fruits and vegetables. Let our list be a guide for picking the freshest foods found at the market, while at their peak of flavor. ...there's nothing like summer sunshine put on a plate!

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Definition of Seasonal Food

Seasonality of food refers to the times of year when

a given type food is at its peak, either in terms of

harvest or its flavour. This is usually the time when

the item is the cheapest and the freshest on the

market. The food's peak time in terms of harvest

usually coincides with when its flavour is at its best.

• See The meal that welcomes summer

Foods common in the Northern Hemisphere

Vegetable Choices

• Eggplant • Green Bean • Baby Turnip • Basil

• Zucchini/Courgette • BellPepper • Broad Bean

• Cannellini bean • Trompettes de Mort • Samphire

• Rummer bean • Swiss Chard • Peas • New potat

• Borlotti bean • Sweetcorn cobs • Bitter melon

• Chanterelle (mushrooms) • Cucumber • Okra

Meat & Seafood Choices

• Soft shell crab • Crayfish • Sea Bass • Sea Trout

• Sardines • Clams • Skipjack tuna • Rainbow trout

• Aji • Ayu • Unagi (Japanese eel) • John Dory

• Pacific jumping squid • hamo •

Fruit Choices

• Cherry • Blackberries • Nectarines • Apricot

• Mango • Victoria plums • Watermelon • Fig

• Strawberry • Peach • Rhubarb • Raspberry

• Greenguages • Blackcurrant • Ume

• Walnut • Cantaloupe Melon • Tomato

Food Facts:

The Herb Basil:

Basil is a herb, & the species is most commonly the

sweet basil Ocimum basilicum (pronounced /ˈbæzɪl/ or, in

the US, /ˈbeːzɪl/), of the family Lamiaceae (mints). Depending on the species & cultivar, the leaves may taste somewhat like anise, with a strong, pungent, often sweet smell. Basil is commonly used fresh in cooked recipes. It is generally added at the last moment, as cooking quickly destroys the flavor. Basil is one of the main ingredients in pesto—a green Italian oil-and-herb sauce. wiki

Blackcurrent

In the UK, blackcurrant cordial is often mixed with cider to make a drink called "Cider and Black". The addition of lager results in "Diesel" or "Snakebite and Black" available at pubs. Adding a small amount of blackcurrant juice to Guinness is preferred by some to heighten the taste of the popular stout. Macerated blackcurrants are also the primary ingredient in the apéritif crème de cassis.

Chard (Beta cicla):

also known by the common names Swiss chard, silverbeet, perpetual spinach, spinach beet, crab beet, bright lights (due to the bright and vivid spring colors when they are cooked or provided as a medley of vegetables), seakale beet, and mangold, is a leafy vegetable, and is one of the cultivated descendants of the sea beet, Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima. Although the leaves are eaten, it is in the same species as beetroot (garden beet), which is usually grown primarily for its edible roots.

Cucumbers:

Cucumbers are classified as fruits. However, much like tomatoes and squash they are often perceived, prepared and eaten as vegetables. Cucumbers are usually more than 90% water.

Green Beans:

Green beans are often steamed, boiled, stir-fried, or baked in casseroles. A dish with green beans popular throughout the United States, particularly at Thanksgiving, is green bean casserole, which consists of green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and French fried onions.

Over 130 varieties of snap bean are known. Varieties specialized for use as green beans, selected for the succulence and flavor of their pods, are the ones usually grown in the home vegetable garden, and many varieties exist. Pod color can be green, golden, purple, red, or streaked. Shapes range from thin "fillet" types to wide "romano" types and more common types in between.

Mangoes

Mangoes are widely used in cuisine. Sour, unripe mangoes are used in chutneys, athanu, pickles, or side dishes, or may be eaten raw with salt, chili, or soy sauce. A cooling summer drink called panna or panha comes from mangoes.

Ripe mangoes are typically eaten fresh; however, they can have many other culinary uses. Mango Lassi, a popular drink made throughout South Asia[citation needed], is created by mixing ripe mangoes or mango pulp with yogurt and sugar. Ripe mangoes are also used to make curries. Aamras is a popular pulp/thick juice made of mangoes with sugar or milk, and is consumed with bread, rice or pooris. The pulp from ripe mangoes is also used to make jam called 'mangada'.

Peas:

In early times, peas were grown mostly for their dry seeds. In modern times, however, peas are usually boiled or steamed, which breaks down the cell walls and makes the taste sweeter and the nutrients more bio-available. Along with broad beans and lentils, these formed an important part of the diet of most people in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe during the Middle Ages. By the 17th and 18th centuries it had become popular to eat peas "green", that is, while they are immature and right after they are picked. This was especially true in France and England, where the eating of green peas was said to be "both a fashion and a madness". New cultivars of peas were developed by the English during this time which became known as garden peas and English peas. The popularity of green peas spread to North America. wikipedia

Tomatoes:

Tomatoes are used extensively in Mediterranean cuisine, especially Italian and Middle Eastern cuisines. They are a key ingredient in pizza, and are commonly used in pasta sauces. They are also used in gazpacho (Spanish cuisine) and pa amb tomàquet (Catalan cuisine).

Tomatoes are now eaten freely throughout the world, and their consumption is believed to benefit the heart, among other organs. They contain the carotene lycopene, one of the most powerful natural antioxidants.

See Also:

List of Autumn Foods

List of Spring Foods

List of Winter Foods