Apricot

These fragile peach-like fruits, with their perfumed aroma and ultra-sweet flavor, contain impressive amounts of beta-carotene. They are also a fair source of potassium, and supply a good amount of fiber.

• • Mini Meatball Appetizers with Apricot Dipping Sauce Mini Meatball Appetizers with Apricot Dipping Sauce
• • Dessert Pancakes Dessert Pancakes
• • Cornish Hens with Honey-Apricot Glaze Cornish Hens with Honey-Apricot Glaze

Asparagus

To keep asparagus fresh, cut 1/2 inch off of the base of the stalk and stand the asparagus upright in an inch of warm water (do not let the tips soak in water!). This will also revive asparagus that looks wilted and limp. For an elegant appetizer or spring salad, steam asparagus, sprinkle with red wine or Balsamic vinegar and refrigerate. When ready to serve, remove from the refrigerator, top with chopped toasted almonds, and enjoy!

• • Grilled Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Grilled Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
• • Fresh Corn and Tomato Salad Fresh Corn and Tomato Salad
• • Beef Stir-Fry with Green Beans Beef Stir-Fry with Green Beans

Blackberry

These deeply hued, juicy berries grow wild across much of North America. Cultivated varieties, which are actually raspberry/blackberry hybrids include boysenberries, loganberries, and ollalieberries. Like most varieties of berries, blackberries are a rich source of antioxidants. Try these delicious sweet berries on ice cream or yogurt, or for a real breakfast treat, serve them in a crepe filled with lightly sweetened ricotta cheese, and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

• • Puff Pastries with Blackberries and Mascarpone Cheese Puff Pastries with Blackberries and Mascarpone Cheese
• • Yummy Blackberry Muffins Yummy Blackberry Muffins
• • Paleo Strawberry-Blackberry Lemonade Smoothie Paleo Strawberry-Blackberry Lemonade Smoothie

Blueberry

Blueberries literally burst with flavor and nutrition. These sweet little berries provide an abundant supply of free-radical fighting antioxidants which offer innumerable health benefits. These berries are delicious added to just about anything. Try them mixed in yogurt, sprinkled on ice cream or your morning cereal, or even added to a salad of fresh spring greens.

• • Blueberry-Lemon Muffins Blueberry-Lemon Muffins
• • Mixed Greens with Fresh Blueberries and Balsamic-Blueberry Vinaigrette Mixed Greens with Fresh Blueberries and Balsamic-Blueberry Vinaigrette
• • Crispy Peach & Blueberry Bites Crispy Peach & Blueberry Bites

Cantaloupe

These sweet, golden-fleshed melons make a refreshing snack, and are delicious in fruit salad. A cantaloupe is ready to eat when the blossom end is slightly soft, and the melon is mildly fragrant.

• • Melon Ambrosia Salad Melon Ambrosia Salad
• • Fruit Platter Fantasia Fruit Platter Fantasia
• • Fun and Fruity Cantaloupe Fun and Fruity Cantaloupe

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Corn

Fresh corn should be sweet, crisp, and juicy. It is best eaten as fresh as possible, as it starts to lose its sugar content immediately after harvesting. The most common way to prepare fresh corn on the cob is to boil it, but roasting is also an excellent way to prepare it. To roast corn in the husk, first pull back the husks so that you can remove the silk, then replace the husks and tie them with kitchen string. Soak the corn in cold water for five minutes. Place corn on the grill and cook, turning occasionally.

• • Glazed Pork Sirloin Roast Glazed Pork Sirloin Roast
• • Cranberry Spoon Bread Cranberry Spoon Bread
• • Easy Mongolian Beef Easy Mongolian Beef

Cucumber

Just in time for warm weather, cucumbers are crisp, cool and moist - refreshing attributes due to their exceptionally high water content. These are a delicious snack, and a welcome addition to salads, sandwiches and cold soups such as gazpacho.

• • Quick and Easy Romaine Salad Quick and Easy Romaine Salad
• • Great Greek Salad Great Greek Salad
• • Healthy Potato Salad Healthy Potato Salad

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Fig

Fresh or dried, lusciously sweet figs are a superb source of fiber, thanks to the tiny seeds that fill the fruit. Fresh figs have an incomparable taste, but they also have about the shortest life-span of any fruit on the market: Once harvested, they last only about a week. If you can find them fresh at the market, be sure to scoop up a few of these delicious fruits.

• • Flank Steak Strips with Pear-Fig Salad Flank Steak Strips with Pear-Fig Salad
• • Fabulous Fruit Bars Fabulous Fruit Bars
• • Easy Fig Chutney Easy Fig Chutney

Grapefruit

Super nutritious, with a clean flavor that is tart, yet sweet, pink grapefruits make a great snack. They are also excellent paired with many varieties of fish, and are great for added zing in salads.The three major types of grapefruit include white, pink/red and Star Ruby/Rio Red. Each variety has it's own unique flavor nuances, but they all have a clean refreshing, sweet-tart flavor. Grapefruits are traditionally halved, then eaten with a spoon, but they can also be peeled or sliced and eaten like an orange. Grapefruits are excellent paired with many varieties of fish, and are great for added zing in salads.

• • Grapefruit-Cilantro Salad Grapefruit-Cilantro Salad
• • Citrus-Avocado Salsa Citrus-Avocado Salsa
• • Fruit Platter Fantasia Fruit Platter Fantasia

Green Bean

Fresh green beans, a delicious warm weather favorite, are an excellent source of a variety of nutrients, most notably vitamin K (important for maintaining strong bones), with a whopping 122% of the daily value in one cup.

• • Quick Louisiana Red Beans & Rice Quick Louisiana Red Beans & Rice
• • Kung Pao Beef Kung Pao Beef
• • Hot Italian Antipasto Hot Italian Antipasto

Honeydew

These melons have a sweet, mild and refreshing flavor. For a creative meal idea, try serving a chicken or tuna salad in a half melon. The sweet, refreshing flavors of the melon will be nice contrast to the salty flavor and creamy texture of the salad.

• • Melon Ambrosia Salad Melon Ambrosia Salad
• • Fruit Platter Fantasia Fruit Platter Fantasia
• • Honeydew Melon Soup with Lime and Basil Honeydew Melon Soup with Lime and Basil

Kiwi

For the sweetest, fullest flavor, choose plump, fragrant kiwi fruit that yield to gentle pressure, like ripe peaches. Unripe fruit has a hard core and a tart, astringent taste. If only firm kiwis are available, ripen them for a few days before eating them. Avoid shriveled or mushy fruits, or those with bruises or wet spots.

• • Kiwi Pie Kiwi Pie

Lime

Slightly sweet, tangy lime juice and lime zest makes a delicious and refreshing addition to a variety of foods and beverages. Limes will keep up to six weeks when refrigerated, so there is no reason not to have a few limes on hand this summer.

• • Lime Muffins Lime Muffins
• • Melon Ambrosia Salad Melon Ambrosia Salad
• • Fiesta Pork Kabobs Fiesta Pork Kabobs

Nectarine

Sweeter than its cousin, the peach, and darker-fleshed (hence richer in beta-carotene), nectarines are a sweet, juicy summer treat that is virtually fat free and a good supply of vitamin C and fiber. It is suspected that the name nectarine comes from the word nektar meaning "drink of the gods."

• • Nectarine Cake Nectarine Cake
• • Nectarine and Spinach Salad Nectarine and Spinach Salad
• • Open-Face Turkey, Brie and Nectarine Sandwich with Simple Arugula Salad Open-Face Turkey, Brie and Nectarine Sandwich with Simple Arugula Salad

Okra

Okra is best known as a key ingredient in gumbo, however this unique vegetable is delicious in a variety of dishes and on its own. Try it roasted. Just brush with olive oil and place on the oven or on the grill.

• • Shrimp Gumbo Shrimp Gumbo
• • Creole-Style Chicken Stir Fry Creole-Style Chicken Stir Fry
• • Chicken and Sausage Gumbo Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Peach

The third most popular fruit grown in the Unites States (right behind apples and oranges), the peach is really an All-American summertime favorite. The best peaches show a warm background color of yellow or cream, and have a rich, ripe aroma.

• • Rise and Shine Smoothies Rise and Shine Smoothies
• • Fruit Platter Fantasia Fruit Platter Fantasia
• • Spicy Cajun Meatballs Spicy Cajun Meatballs

Peas

Fresh peas are a delicious warm weather treat. Not only are they sweet and refreshing, they are a great source of protein. A one cup serving of fresh peas provides more protein than a whole egg or a tablespoon of peanut butter, but contains less than a half gram of fat.

• • Light Cream Sauce for Pasta Light Cream Sauce for Pasta
• • Grilled Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Grilled Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
• • Hummus Hummus

Pineapple

Despite its tough bristly appearance, fresh pineapple is very easy to prepare, and well worth the work! It is a similar process to cutting a melon into chunks or slices: simply cut the lengthwise into quarters, then cut the quarters into slices. To prepare for fruit salad, cut skin off of the slices, remover the hard center core, then cut the fruit into smaller chunks.

• • Zingy Pineapple Coleslaw Zingy Pineapple Coleslaw
• • Fiesta Pork Kabobs Fiesta Pork Kabobs
• • Pan-Grilled Salmon with Pineapple Salsa Pan-Grilled Salmon with Pineapple Salsa

Plum

There are about 30 different varieties that will be available at the supermarket at different times during the summer. Ranging in color from black to pale yellow, and from sweet to tart in flavor, you'll only find each of these special varieties for a short period of time, so when you see a new one, be sure to take the opportunity to try it.

• • Linguine With Tomatoes and Artichoke Hearts Linguine With Tomatoes and Artichoke Hearts
• • Mediterranean Pasta Salad Mediterranean Pasta Salad
• • Mediterranean Baked Whitefiish Mediterranean Baked Whitefiish

Radish

Radishes are root vegetables with a distinctive flavor that range from the juicy crispness of the familiar red globe radish to the sharp bite of the turnip-shaped black radish. Radishes are usually eaten raw; however, they are diverse. They can be added to cooked dishes such as soups, or heated and served as a whole vegetable. Or try them pickled. As with many other root vegetables, their green tops are edible and lend a peppery taste to salads.

• • Shrimp Cocktail with Remoulade Shrimp Cocktail with Remoulade
• • Breaded Tilapia Breaded Tilapia
• • Pork Hocks & Sauerkraut Pork Hocks & Sauerkraut

Raspberry

These lightly fragrant, sweet berries have a subtly tart overtone and a texture that almost melts in your mouth. These delicious berries are terrific eaten alone, and they are also wonderful for added flavor and garnish on a variety of summer desserts from cheesecake to sorbet.

• • PB & J Cookies PB & J Cookies
• • Raspberry Cream Cupcakes Raspberry Cream Cupcakes
• • Divine Raspberry & Peach Shortcakes Divine Raspberry & Peach Shortcakes

Strawberry

Not only are strawberries a delicious treat, they are incredibly good for you too. The deep red color of these berries comes from a high content of anthocyanins, a potent antioxidant that has repeatedly been shown to help protect cell structures in the body.

• • PB & J Cookies PB & J Cookies
• • Dessert Crepes with Filling Dessert Crepes with Filling
• • Strawberry Milkshakes Strawberry Milkshakes

Summer Squash

Summer squashes, range from the ever-popular zucchini to yellow crookneck squash. These squash have high water content and are very low in calories (about 19 per cup of raw sliced squash). Their mild, refreshing flavor and satisfying texture make them suitable for inclusion in many different dishes.

• • Cream Cheese Stuffed Cupcakes Cream Cheese Stuffed Cupcakes
• • Easy Mongolian Beef Easy Mongolian Beef
• • Kung Pao Beef Kung Pao Beef

Tomato

Nothing reflects the vibrant color and warmth of summer like tomatoes. While tomatoes are available year round, the flavor of fresh summer tomatoes simply can't be beat!

• • Mexican Stuffed Tomatoes Mexican Stuffed Tomatoes
• • Mango Pico De Gallo Mango Pico De Gallo
• • Lemon-Pepper Ribeye Steaks with Roasted Tomatoes Lemon-Pepper Ribeye Steaks with Roasted Tomatoes

Watermelon

• • Fruit Platter Fantasia Fruit Platter Fantasia
• • Easy Watermelon Salad Easy Watermelon Salad
• • July 4th Fruit Salad July 4th Fruit Salad