Nothing says, “hello summer!” quite like a glass of fresh squeezed lemonade. Now I know summer does not officially start for few more weeks but Memorial Day weekend always feels to me like the unofficial kick off to summertime. Particularly when it’s a warm sunshiny one like we are having here in San Diego. Luckily here at Specialty Produce we have an array of delicious lemons to choose from for all of your summertime lemonade making needs. Three of my personal favorites lemons are:

Organic Italian Sorrento Lemons

Sweet Meyer Lemons from Garcia Farms

And a beautiful Farmers Market find, Pink Lemons from J.J. Lone Daughter Ranch.

All three of these lemons made for an amazing glass of lemonade, are perfectly tart, and so lemony that their scent will linger deliciously on your fingers long after you have squeezed them of their juice.

There are so many different delicious ways to enjoy lemonade…

• Infused with herbs such as lavender or basil
• Served bubbly by substituting a little club soda for the water
• Sweetened with a simple syrup infused with vanilla bean
• With any number of colorful fruits chopped up and mixed in such as kiwi, blood orange, pineapple or blueberries

Here is one of my personal favorite lemonade recipes…

Muddled Strawberry Mint Lemonade

When at the peak of their season berries are a sweet addition to the tart lemon juice and on particularly warm days mint makes for an extra refreshing beverage.

Ingredients

2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice

5 or 6 cups of water

1 cup sugar (or alternative sweetener of choice)

1 cup sliced strawberries

1/3 cup mint leaves

Preparation

After juicing the lemons pour 2 cups of the juice into a pitcher and set aside.

Place about half of the strawberries, mint and sugar in a bowl and muddle together using the back of a spoon or fork. Add this mixture to the lemon juice and stir to combine. Add 5 cups of water and the remaining strawberries, sugar, and mint and stir until combined.

At this point you should taste your summery concoction and feel free to add more water or sugar to your hearts content.   

Pop the pitcher in the fridge to chill for a few hours or serve immediately over ice. If you have time you can make ice cubes with bits of mint leaves frozen inside of them or make ice cubes out of the lemonade to later serve it over.

There is nothing more scrumptious on a warm sunshiny day than fresh fruits and veggies. One of my favorite sides for just such a day is a mix between a caprese salad and bruschetta. The combination of juicy tomatoes, robust garlic, and fresh flavorful basil is delicious when placed atop pizza, mixed into pasta with a sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan cheese or simply enjoyed on its own.

The are only a few ingredients in this dish, the trick to getting this salad to really shine is to make sure you are using the freshest ingredients you can find. This past week I have found the Japanese tomatoes from Beylik Farms to be perfectly sweet, the classic Red On the Vine tomatoes work splendidly too, or for a splash of color try mixing in some Heirloom tomatoes.

Caprese Chop Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

8 tomatoes, cut into small squares

6-10 leaves of fresh basil, chopped

3-4 cloves of garlic, minced or crushed

sprinkle of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Combine the tomatoes, basil, and garlic in a small bowl, add salt and pepper to desired taste and wha-la it’s complete! Set aside to use as a tasty addition to a meal later or grab a fork and enjoy as is.

With the right ingredients even the simplest of recipes can be a scrumptious success!

Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and produce sections at markets all over town seem to be getting more and more colorful with each passing day. Spring has most definitely arrived here in San Diego and nothing says spring to me quite like strawberries. Here at Specialty Produce we offer an array of different strawberry varieties throughout the season to meet all of your berry needs.

Right now we are loving all of the strawberries from our local California farms which are a perfectly sweet snack on their own, make a simple yet elegant dessert when topped with a bit of fresh cream, and are scrumptious when enjoyed with Humboldt fog goat cheese.  From simple preparation to complex recipes there are so many different ways to enjoy this delicious springtime fruit, here are a couple sweet strawberry recipes I have been enjoying the past few weeks.

Chocolate Strawberry Oatmeal

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 cup oats
1¾ cup milk (soy or moo cow, you can also substitute water for some or all of the milk if you are watching your calories)
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 cup strawberries, cut into bite sized pieces
15 or so chocolate chips

Preparation

Bring the milk, water (if using), and oats to a light boil then reduce heat to a low simmer and add your vanilla flavoring and cocoa powder. After 5 minutes of cooking or when most of the liquid has absorbed from the oatmeal, reduce heat to low and add the strawberries. Stir gently to combine, let sit for a minute just to heat the strawberries through a smidge and then portion oats into two bowls and top with chocolate chips.

Berry Sweet Cupcakes

This recipe makes 12 cupcakes but you can always double the batter if you want 24, and if you have any hungry family or friends around trust me you will want more than 12! It is also a gluten free recipe that I promise tastes just as delicious if not dare I say better than any gluteny cake you have ever tried.

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
¾ cup brown rice flour
¾ cup potato starch or tapioca flour
½ teaspoon xanath gum
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 3oz package strawberry jello
½ cup canola oil
½ cup milk (soy or moo cow)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup strawberries

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 then combine the sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat until well combined. In another bowl sift together the flours, xanath gum, baking powder, salt, and jello. In a third bowl combine the oil, milk, vanilla and strawberries and using a stand or hand mixer blend on medium high until the berries have broken down. Slowly add the liquid berry mixture and the flour mixture to the bowl of egg and sugar and beat at medium speed until fully combined and slightly fluffy, about 1 minute.

Pour the rosy batter into a paper cup lined muffin tin and bake for 17 to 20 minutes or until cakes have browned along the edges slightly. Let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes before removing them from the tin to sit on a wire rack until completely cool. Top the cakes with your favorite frosting, I used a cream cheese one.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

½ cup cream cheese
½ cup butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk

Preparation 

Cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add to this the sugar, vanilla, and milk and mix until completely smooth. Spread the frosting onto the cupcakes. Any extra frosting can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Soft fluffy cake, sweet strawberries, and rich cream cheese frosting all wrapped up in a pretty pink package. The perfect springtime treat for all of the strawberry lovers in your life.

Our very first recipe! Much thanks to food writer Caron Golden for sharing her discoveries & hard work with all of us.  She records her adventures with food at San Diego Foodstuff and San Diego News Network.

“To Market, To Market… With San Diego Foodstuff is your guide to the culinary treats found beyond our region’s homogeneous supermarkets–in ethnic markets, artisan bakeries, specialty gourmet shops, produce markets and more.” – San Diego Foodstuff

French Heirloom Potatoes in Vinaigrette Recipe
By Caron Golden
Serves 4

If you can have a favorite potato, mine is the little French heirloom potato. It’s a petite red oblong tuber, about three or four inches long, with flesh that’s a very dainty yellow hue. Instead of roasting potatoes, which I love to do, I slice these and boiled them briefly, then toss them with the Dijon Green Garlic vinaigrette, sliced kalamata olives and, yes, the greens from the green garlic. The dressing soaks into the potatoes, giving them both a terrific consistency and pronounced flavor from the garlic and mustard.

• 6 French heirloom potatoes, scrubbed and sliced into 1/2-inch pieces

• ½ cup Kalamata olives, sliced

• 1 stalk of green garlic

• ½ cup Dijon Green Garlic Vinaigrette (see below)

Boil potato slices in salted water until just tender. Remove from heat and drain.

Remove greens from the green garlic and chop coarsely.

Make vinaigrette. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and gently mix them together to avoid breaking up the potato slices. Let sit for about 20 minutes to let the potatoes fully absorb the dressing. Add more vinaigrette if necessary.

Dijon Green Garlic Vinaigrette
Makes 1 cup

• 1 head/stalk of green garlic, minus the greens

• 2 tsp. Dijon mustard

• 1/3 cup white wine vinegar

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

• 1/4 tsp. sugar

• 2/3 cup olive oil

Mince head and white part of green garlic stalk.

Whisk together all the ingredients but the olive oil to blend. Then slowly whisk in the olive oil. Let sit for at least an hour to let the flavors come together. Taste and adjust seasonings.

**Photos & recipes courtesy of Caron Golden**