Seasonal Eats: Strawberries
Summer may have officially begun, but that doesn’t mean it’s peach and tomato season just yet. In fact, after a bit of a weather-induced delay, strawberries — the first fruit after rhubarb to appear in the spring — have finally hit farmstands in full force, meaning now’s the time to take advantage of the juicy, diamond-shaped treat…
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Seasonal Eats: Spring Peas and Beans
It’s been so warm lately (90-degrees in May? Really?) that it feels like we should skip all further discussion of spring vegetables, and move right onto eggplant and tomatoes. And yet, those bright green pods busting with sweet, emerald-colored seeds are at the beginning of their season, and we want to help you make the most of them…
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Seasonal Eats: Spring Onions
After a long, cold winter subsisting on roots and tubers, we simply can’t wait to get our hands on incredible, warm weather produce. But it will still be a few weeks yet before farm stands and restaurant menus begin overflowing with fiddleheads, sweet peas, asparagus and more. In the meantime, you can content yourself with a wide array of spring onions — which, much like crocuses, are generally the very first verdant signs of life to appear, merrily popping through the still occasionally frosted ground.
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Seasonal Eats: Spotlight on Citrus
It can be hard to get jazzed up about winter fruits and vegetables, but citrus is a real bright spot (literally!) in a season full of tubers and roots. And we’re not just talking about lemons and limes, but grapefruit, oranges, tangelos and more, in a number of different hybrids and varieties, that are sure to gift a lift to any hearty, cold weather dish.
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Seasonal Eats: Sweet Potatoes
So lets get this out of the way first — sweet potatoes are not the same thing as yams. In fact, they’re from two entirely different plant families. And as opposed to sweet potatoes, yams are dry, highly starchy & have a white-colored flesh. But if you insist on continuing to refer to that classic Thanksgiving dish as “candied yams,” well, who are we to argue?
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Seasonal Eats: Pumpkins
There’s no question that pumpkins are the ultimate fall accessory; arranged in harvest displays amidst haystacks or carved into grinning jack-o-lanterns for Halloween. After all, the cool weather cultivar is native to North America, and remains one of the most popular crops in the US, with over 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkin produced each year. Much more importantly, they’re one of our favorite fall foods…
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Seasonal Eats: All About Apples
Forget about squash and pumpkins, because when it comes to produce, sweet and crunchy apples are the ultimate harbingers of fall. After all, who hasn’t gone apple picking in the autumn, bobbed for apples during Halloween, or tucked into a cinnamon-scented, all-American apple pie on Thanksgiving?
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Seasonal Eats: The Skinny on Peaches
What could be more evocative of summer than biting into a fuzzy, sun-warmed peach? After all, although peaches can technically be found — albeit, often in rock-solid, tasteless and bone-dry iterations — in supermarket fruit bins for the better part of the year, they’re truly at peak, fresh-off-the-tree form from late June through early September. Which means that right this moment is the very best time to stuff yourself silly, on perfect, end-of-summer peaches…
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Seasonal Eats: Sweet Corn
While tomatoes are definitely our favorite summer fruit, when it comes to veggies, we absolutely have to give the top honors to corn. Because what would a backyard barbecue be without ears of succulent, butter-slathered corn, deposited in their husks directly on the grill, or a beachside lobster boil, where you’ll invariably find the sunflower-yellow cobs nestled in pots, alongside bright red crustaceans and floury potatoes?
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Seasonal Eats: Heirloom Tomatoes
One of our simplest — but most eagerly anticipated — pleasures of summer is biting into a sun-warmed, perfectly ripe tomato, full of flavor and fit to bursting with juice. Because save for a few months out of the year, who actually enjoys eating those wan, mealy wedges that show up in uninspired salads? We’d much rather savor the seemingly endless variety of entrancing heirlooms, such as lush Brandywine, sugary Golden Jubilee, and slightly acidic Green Zebra…
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Seasonal Eats: Morel Mushrooms
Emerging just as the snow recedes, highly delicate Morels grow wild throughout the United States, popping up in burned or disturbed forest beds, under fallen trees, in fruit orchards and under wood mulch through the beginning of summer. So unsurprisingly, morels are currently being used (albeit sparingly) in dishes at some of New York’s best restaurants…
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Seasonal Eats: Asparagus
Even though ramp mania is still at its peak, we wanted to give another great, green spring veggie its due: asparagus. A perennial garden plant belonging to the lily family, asparagus is harvested in the spring when it is 6 to 8 inches tall. Asparagus have fleshy spears topped with bud-like, compact heads, with a sweet, buttery taste and a tender texture. And while the most common variety of asparagus is green in color, two other edible varieties are available…
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Seasonal Eats: Ramps
Of all of the edible delicacies the spring season is known for — peas, asparagus, fiddlehead ferns, rhubarb, lamb and soft shell crab — ramps are undoubtedly the most lusted after. Sometimes referred to as a wild leek, the tender ramp, tasting like a cross between onions and garlic, is native to North America, with a burgundy-tinted bulb that resembles a scallion, and flat, broad, light green leaves…
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Seasonal Eats: The 411 On Meyer Lemons
Spring is undoubtedly one of the most exciting times of the year for produce, and it’s only a matter of time before farm stands are flooded with verdant, edible jewels like peas, asparagus, green garlic, ramps, artichokes and even fiddlehead ferns. But it also means that one of our very favorite citrus fruits is coming to the end of its season, which is why we’re taking a moment to spotlight the delectable Meyer lemon…
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Seasonal Eats: Sunchokes
For a vegetable that not many people have heard of, the Sunchoke sure has a lot of names. Jerusalem Artichoke. Sunroot. French Potato. And they’re all rather misleading, as the knobby little tubers are neither from Jerusalem or France, and they’re not related to artichokes or potatoes. So what gives?
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Seasonal Eats: Cranberries
Cranberries are intrinsically connected to Thanksgiving, whether as part of a slithery jelly that’s been slipped out of a can, or simmered on the stove into a rustic holiday relish. But why restrict your consumption of cranberries to the most basic, expected dishes? Especially now that the nutrient-rich superfruit is at the height of its season (appearing at markets from October to December), restaurants are taking full advantage, incorporating cranberries throughout their menus in all sorts of interesting ways.
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Seasonal Eats: Concord Grapes
Most of our experience with Concord grapes comes from supermarket jars of Welch’s jelly, and that’s really a shame. Because the oversized, intensely flavored, dark purple fruit is one of the most glorious harbingers of autumn, and just happen to be in season right now. Named after where they were first cultivated, Concord Massachusetts, concord grapes are hearty enough to withstand harsh New England winters, and thrive in the cool of autumn. Wondering what’s so unique about concord grapes? Well, they’re typically quite large in size and robust in flavor with a slip skin that separates from the pulp. This allows the uniquely American grape to survive on the vine or be stored in cold rooms before being shipped to the market.
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New York’s Best Seasonal Prix Fixes
New York City’s Greenmarkets are awfully tempting this time of year; an impossibly colorful cornucopia of yellow squash, crisp greens, blood red tomatoes and deep purple plums. But what are you going to do with baby artichokes and dinosaur kale when you spend half your time stuck at the office? Luckily, we live in a phenomenal food city, where those same fruits and veggies serve as inspiration for seasonal (and surprisingly affordable) menus at restaurants all over the city. Here are just a few places guaranteed to please the time-strapped locavore, from Mas La Grillade and Northern Spy Food Co. in Manhattan to Applewood, Rose Water and iCi in Brooklyn.
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Seasonal Eats: Figs
When it comes to fruit, what could more impossibly exotic, unreservedly luscious, and yes, even as downright sexy as a fig? Native to the Middle East and western Asia — although currently just as popular, if not more so, in the Mediterranean — the intensely sweet and juicy fig has been around since ancient times (you know, that whole Garden of Eden thing). In fact, it was one of the very first plants cultivated by humans, predating barley, legumes, and even wheat!
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New York’s Tastiest Summer Tomato Dishes
For the better part of the year, tomatoes can be sadly lackluster and often tasteless. But come summer, these colorful orbs reach their peak, bursting with sweet, bright flavor. Delicious either raw or cooked, and found in varieties like Brandywine or striking Green Zebra, oblong Plum or tiny Cherry, the summertime fruit is incredibly versatile. Take the savory Tomato and Zucchini Bread Pudding at The Harrison, the Mussels and Heirloom Tomatoes in Lobster Broth at RedFarm, and the surprising and refreshing Strawberry-Tomato Sorbet at Oddfellows, each showcasing tomatoes equally well as part of an appetizer, entrée or even dessert…
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