summer vegetables and fruit recipes

Use these tips and recipes to make the most of what’s in season right now.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS PA—Whether you’re a backyard gardener, a farmer’s market fanatic, or an occasional cruiser through supermarket produce aisles, you can’t help but notice the abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables that are in reach right now. To find out some of the best ways to bring out their flavor, we turned to nutritionist and chef Laura Pensiero, RD, owner of Rhinebeck, New York’s Gigi Trattoria, and author of the just-published Hudson Valley Mediterranean: The Gigi Good Food Cookbook (HarperCollins, 2009) Consider these tips to optimize the flavors of the following seven nutritious, delicious summer staples.

#1: Tomatoes

Probably the top of everyone’s list of favorite summertime edibles, sweet, juicy tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C, and the super-healthy antioxidant lycopene. Adding a little fat helps your body absorb lycopene more easily, so Pensiero suggests her Tomato–Goat Cheese Gratin (adapted from Hudson Valley Mediterranean: The Gigi Good Food Cookbook):

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for the dish

1¼ cups coarse fresh bread crumbs from crusty bread (or unseasoned dried bread
crumbs)

1½ pounds (about 3) large tomatoes, sliced 1 inch thick

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled goat cheese

3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

2 tablespoons freshly grated Grana Padano or parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Oil a 9-inch square or oval gratin dish or casserole.

2. Combine the olive oil and the bread crumbs in a small bowl, and set aside.

3. Arrange a third of the tomato slices, slightly overlapping, in the prepared gratin dish. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle with one-third each of the goat cheese, bread-crumb mixture, and chives.

4. Repeat with two more layers of tomatoes, salt and pepper, and cheese, crumbs, and chives.

5. Sprinkle the Grana Padano over the top. Bake in the middle of the oven until the gratin is bubbly and the crumbs are golden, 15 to 20 minutes.