Chow Vegan

At the farmers market a couple of weeks ago, I happened upon a Piel de Sapo melon. I’ve neither heard of nor seen this football-shaped melon before. Originating in Spain, Piel de Sapo literally translates as “Skin of Toad” probably because of its mottled green and yellow skin.

Inside, it has white flesh with just a bit of orange in the middle. The flavor is sweet, crisp and refreshing similar to watermelon but the texture is more like honeydew or cantaloupe.

As it ripens, it’ll start to have tinges of yellow to the green skin. The melon also has a long shelf life, it sat around the kitchen counter this whole time. I’m thinking of getting a few more and see how long I can keep them into the winter.

Cruising the farmer’s market this week, I spied a cluster of brilliant, light pink jewels glistening in the sunlight. They were pink pomegranate seeds!

Not only pink but they’re also sweet with a bit of a fruit punch flavor. And nowhere nearly as tart as the familiar deep red pomegranates. I had no idea there was even different varieties of pomegranates available.

Once home, I pulled on gloves and my oldest, grubbiest t-shirt to peel the pomegranates only to find I didn’t need to – it’s non-staining! As an added bonus, they’re also easier to peel.

So good and refreshing, I just ate the seeds as is and didn’t have any leftover for a salad. Now I have to wait until the end of the week to get more. If you see it, give it a try. Pomegranates are pretty tasty in pink.

Recently, a large crate of fruit arrived at my doorstep, courtesy of The FruitGuys, a company that delivers mostly locally grown, organic and conventional fruit to offices and homes nationwide.

From across the room, I can smell the fresh fruit and it was still in its box. Opening it up, I’m hit with a kaleidoscope of brilliant colors. It’s like a farmer’s market in a box.

It doesn’t come in just any ol’ box, it looks like a custom-made box with very convenient handles on the sides (totally recyclable of course). And the fruit was well-protected for their trip in their own little compartments.

As for taste, each piece of fruit was sweet and full of flavor. From delicious strawberries to crisp apples to juicy citrus, it was all fresh and tasty. I don’t think there was a bad one in the bunch.

You’re probably thinking, why not just go to the farmer’s market for fruit? You could but sometimes there isn’t one nearby or it’s not open year-around or you’re just too busy to make it to the market.

In fact, I’m signing up my mom for the service. I think it would make a perfect Mother’s Day gift. Mom doesn’t like to drive all that much nowadays so it’s a challenge for her to get good fruit. A fruit delivery is nice and healthy and something besides the usual flowers or candy.

It’s hard to believe that on Monday, summer would be over and fall begins. It seems like just yesterday I was enjoying a nice white peach. Oh wait, it was yesterday. There’s still time to get in on some late season summer produce. Hurry!

Chilled White Peach Soup
Serves 2

1 large white peach, plus an additional peach for garnish (if you want to be all fancy)
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons apple juice
Agave nectar to taste
Mint to garnish

Peel, pit and chop the peach. In a blender, combine the peach, orange juice, apple juice and agave nectar if necessary to sweeten to taste and blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and chill for about an hour.

Serve with a mint garnish and a few peach slices on top.

No Croutons Required is a monthly food blogging event hosted by Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa’s Kitchen. This is my entry for September’s theme of a soup or salad with fruit, just in time to enjoy a last bite of summer fruit.

I finally managed to tear myself away from the wonderful strawberries and peaches that I’ve been eating lately to focus on some of the other summer fruits that abound. Next up, is watermelon. Instead of the usual wedges, I made a refreshing, two-toned chilled watermelon soup.

I got the red watermelon at the local farmer’s market. Unfortunately, I didn’t see the yellow ones and had to get that at the grocery store. It wasn’t quite as sweet as I expected, but I’m hoping to find it at the farmer’s market to try as it’s supposed to be sweeter than the red.

Red and Yellow Watermelon Soup
Serves 2

4 cups ripe red watermelon, seeded and cut into pieces
4 cups ripe yellow watermelon, seeded and cut into pieces
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
Agave nectar to taste
Salt to taste
Fresh mint sprigs for garnish

In a bowl, combine the red watermelon, half of the lime juice and the agave nectar and salt to taste. Blend until smooth, place in a covered container to chill in the fridge for at least an hour. Keeping it totally separate, do the same for the yellow watermelon.

To serve, hold one container in each hand and pour at the same time so that there’s one color on each side. To make a fancy decoration, use a toothpick to swirl a bit of one color into the other. Garnish with a mint sprig and serve.

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While I’m not a big fan of heat waves, I do enjoy what else summertime brings – a bounty of fresh, delicious, sweet fruit.

Since I got all of the fruit (except the lychees) from the local farmer’s market, it doesn’t really need much more to make it any better – just a bit of lime juice and mint.

Minty Summer Fruit Salad
Serves 2

1 white peach
1 pint strawberries
6 lychees, fresh or canned
1 lime
1 tablespoon mint, minced
Agave nectar

Chill the fruit before using, wash and slice the peach and strawberries. Slice the lychees. In a mixing bowl, juice the lime. Add the mint and a drizzle of agave nectar to taste, mix well. Add the fruit to the bowl and make sure everything is well coated.

To plate, fan out the peaches. Pile the strawberries on one side, top with the lychees. Garnish with additional mint.

No Croutons Required is a monthly food blogging event hosted by Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa’s Kitchen. This month’s theme is a vegetarian soup or salad showcasing your favorite herb or one you haven’t experimented with yet.

Minty Summer Fruit Salad is my entry for the event. Mint is one of my favorite herbs, but I usually add it to savory dishes (I don’t know why, it’s just how I am). The minty fruit salad is a refreshing change from my normal usage of the herb, so it’s an favorite and kinda an experiment. And now it’s my favorite experiment.

Lately, fresh lychees have started to pop up at the Asian grocery store. Beneath the red bumpy skin is a sweet, fragrant, juicy, translucent grape-like white fruit. If you’ve never tried them before, they’re quite the summertime treat.

Fresh lychees are so good as is, I’ve never been able to bring myself to actually use them in a recipe. They have a freshness that the canned version doesn’t quite capture. With such a short season (a few weeks) I must eat them before they’re all gone.

To eat, just stick a thumbnail in towards the top to break the skin (be careful not to squirt juice all over the place) and the rest of the skin should easily be peeled off. I like to eat them as I’m peeling them – watch out for the smooth, shiny, hard pit in the middle.

I also remember eating bags of dried lychees as a kid. Although I haven’t seen the dried lychees at any store for years. The whole lychee is dried with the skin on. When dried, the skin turns a cinnamon-brown color and becomes somewhat brittle and the inside becomes dark brown and raisin-like. They were mighty tasty and fun to eat too.

I was down south in the Central Coast area last week, and picked up a half flat of farm fresh strawberries from Okui’s Strawberry Stand in Grover Beach. They’re locally grown, actually in the field right there behind the stand. Can’t get any fresher or sweeter than that.

A half flat of strawberries contains 6 pints – that’s a lot of strawberries. I’ve been eating them plain as a snack. I’ve been eating them with cereal for breakfast. I’ve been drinking them in smoothies. I even convinced my Mom to try some in her salad. She thought I was kidding but it really is tasty in green salads.

But there’s still a lot left, I’ll have to think of something else to do with them strawberries. Any suggestions? Oh, I think I hear the freezer calling their name.