With beautiful plump summer apricots beckoning us with their fragile golden orange velvety skin and juicy sweet-tart flesh, who can resist?
Personally, every summer I can’t wait to fill up my farmer’s market trolley with lots of delicious apricots which I use in a variety of ways. I love their flavor and my favorite way to enjoy them . . . is simply to eat them plain as a healthy snack.
Packed with nutrition, apricots are a good source of vitamin C, dietary fiber and potassium and an excellent source of beta-carotene with one apricot providing our daily requirements of vitamin A.
Baking and simmering apricots intensifies their flavor so they are an ideal ingredient for fruit sauces, jams, preserves, tarts and sweets as well as many savory dishes with a bit of Mediterranean flair.
Fresh, dried or cooked, apricots always add a touch of color, taste and
brightness to even the simplest of dishes and I particularly like them in aromatic rice and summer salads with feta cheese and fresh thyme.
To satisfy your summertime sweet tooth try making a lovely moist Apricot Sponge Cake which is always a crowd pleaser . . . and most importantly truly easy to make! For recipe here is a link to the recipe on the website blog.
For something even quicker . . . try roasting or grilling your apricots (halved and stoned and placed in a buttered shallow baking dish) with a little brown sugar, honey or maple syrup and enjoy the scrumptious caramelized results with a scoop of strained creamy yogurt topped with chopped pistachio nuts or ultra-rich vanilla ice-cream.
YUM!
© KaritasM – May 2018