!Hurray, more first-fruits have arrived

One week after Shavuot (the holiday)is a perfect time to display the spring and summer premieres.

April, May, and so far June too, is the swing period between the seasons, which also affects the produce you see in the store and in the boxes you receive at your home.

The abundancy of winter vegetables is decreasing – the kohlrabi is gone, the beets are no longer as big and beautiful as they were at the peak of winter (but still I love the beets now – they color my morning juices and paint my tongue a crazy color), and of course by now there is no memory of all the beans we enjoyed so much just several months ago.

The cabbages are shrinking, so if you like making sauerkraut (which is a great thing and full of vitamins when prepared properly) – this is the time, maybe even the last minute, to get a good cabbage chop and appropriately salt.

You've probably noticed the ever changing interesting variety of tomatoes lately: the “regular” tomatoes gave way to big “hamburger” tomatoes – big, fleshy and firm.

While this week the tomatoes are tiny, round and dark-red. There are also “Maggie” tomatoes, perfectly sized for sandwiches (I absolutely love these, but of course I'm biased) as well as speckled tomatoes that make you want to see if they can be eaten in one bite.

The transition from winter crops, through produce grown in greenhouses, as well as those grown under the “real” sun, modify the vegetables that arrive to our plate.

On the other hand, watermelons are already here – perfect, small, round and delicious as well as pumpkins and nectarines (still in conversion to organic). Arriving soon are the Armenian Cucmber, the distinct symbol of summer and the subject of admiration of Roman emperors, and cherries and grapes.

I love summer fruits such as fresh raspberries and blueberries that are delivered to us, reminding me that good things sometimes come in small packages – and I savor each one in the box (and remember how they are so full of vitamins and antioxidants reminding me that the size doesn’t count). We are also waiting for the corn, peas, pumpkin and beautiful fuzzy peaches and apricots to ripen.

Among all this wealth, the nectarines make me particularly happy – a symbol of the perfect summer fruit: juicy and full of juice (to supply the body with water) and simple sugars (to fuel the cells, but not requiring them to break down heavy and cumbersome food for carbohydrates, like bread).

I like to see the blossom on the branches, which is almost as delicate and elegant as the cherry and almost as rich as the almond – but comes when the almond is already naked from white-pink petals, making the eye happy again.

I also love it’s scent, that tickles the nose in the summer the way strawberries do in the winter – tempting and cradling, filling the lungs and seducing like the pied piper making you want to grab one and set your teeth in it.

Strong people with healthy willpower will wait long enough to wash, and maybe even cut into cubes with some apple and papaya, but really, it is not necessary… It tastes good alongside kale (try it!), maybe because both are full of Vitamin K or maybe because it's just a good combination of sweet nectarine with crunchy kale.

Hoping to hear good news and welcome the soon-to-come summer fruits, all ripe and beautiful…

Yours,