Pumpkins can be cooked and served as a hot vegetable. Pumpkin is a term that can be applied to almost hard-skinned squash. In the United States, the name pumpkin commonly means a large rounded orange squash. Favorite pumpkin recipes How to Make Pumpkin Ice Cream How to Make Creamy Pumpkin Soup Pumpkin with Coconut Curry […] More
Ways to cook tomatoes, try: fry, sauté, roast, broil-grill, stew, and steam, also make tomato gratin, stuffed tomatoes, and tomato soup. The tomato is a fruit used as a vegetable in savory dishes for its juicy texture and mildly sweet, rich taste. Tomatoes are at their absolute best vine-ripened towards the end of summer. The […] More
Tomatillo flavor is delicate but slightly tart in a green tomato sort of way, although it can sometimes border on sweet. Some say the flavor of the tomatillo is a combination of apple, lemon, and herbs. Tomatillo can be sliced raw into a salad or diced into salsa. Most often tomatillo is slowly simmered until […] More
Bitter melon can be eaten raw when thinly sliced raw but it’s commonly cooked. Bitter melon can be stir-fried, parboiled, or stuffed. The bitter melon picked at maturity will be bitter. The younger, thinner, shorter, and bright green bitter melon will be less bitter tasting. The bitter melon harvest season runs from mid-spring through late […] More
Okra is easily cooked and served. Okra has a rich, sweet earthy flavor. The flavor is similar to eggplant with hints of asparagus and artichoke. The peak okra harvest season is mid to late summer. How to choose okra Kitchen Helpers from Amazon: How to store okra How to prep okra for cooking How to […] More
Bitter melon is a favorite in Asian and Southeast Asian cooking. It can be stuffed with pork or shrimp and steamed or pickled or curried and served with meat or in soup. Bitter melons are—as their name suggests–a bitter and mouth-puckering acquired taste—something like the acquired taste of a grapefruit or very dark chocolate. The […] More
Eat sweet peppers raw in salads, or eat them steamed, stir-fried, roasted, grilled or roasted, or stuffed. Use them in casseroles or rice dishes. Sweet peppers are in season from late spring through late summer. Types of sweet peppers Sweet peppers are warm-season annuals in temperate regions and perennials in tropical climates. Sweet peppers are […] More
Chayote is a warm-season, tender perennial. Plant the whole fruit 3 to 4 weeks after the last average frost date in spring when the weather has warmed. Chayote grows best where summer temperatures are very warm to hot, in tropical or subtropical regions. Chayote requires 120 to 150 frost-free days to reach harvest. Here is […] More
Pumpkins are a warm-season annual that requires from 90 to 120 frost-free days to reach harvest. Grow pumpkins in the warmest, frost-free part of the year. Sow pumpkin seed or set out transplants about 2 weeks after the last expected frost in spring. Sow or plant a successive crop 4 weeks later. Sow pumpkin seeds […] More
Melons grow best when summers are hot, dry, and almost always sunny. The best-flavored melons will come from the hottest-growing regions. Both cloudy and rainy weather will slow and all but stop melon growth. Melons grow best when both the soil and air temperature are at least 70°F (21°C). You can sow seeds directly in […] More
Tomatoes can come to harvest in early summer, mid-summer, or late summer depending on the variety. Early-summer harvest tomatoes are ready to be picked in 70 days or less after seedlings are planted. Mid-summer harvest tomato varieties come to harvest in 70 to 80 days after seedlings are planted. Late-summer harvest varieties come to harvest […] More
Young and tender chayote can be served finely sliced raw in salads, or it can be served puréed, or diced in soups or stews, or sautéed, steamed, boiled, stir-fried, deep-fried, and baked. Chayote has a mild cucumber- to apple-like flavor and crunch and can be prepared just as you would a summer squash. The mild […] More
Stephen Albert