I actually enjoy eating fruits and vegetables.
It's the preparation part that kills me.
Cutting, dicing, chopping, roasting, and grilling are not easy tasks for one-handed mamas.
I almost always have a baby in my arms so I don't eat them quite as much as I would like, but we still usually manage to add them in somehow. Perhaps because we love them so much.
My 5 favorite fruits are:
Raspberries : If perfectly ripe, these berries are as sweet as candy. My 2-year-old and I could polish off a carton in minutes.
Blueberries : Good blueberries are surprisingly hard to find. We buy them often and, more times than not, they are disappointingly soggy, soft, or sour. BUT - when we do get a good batch, they don't last long. We eat them by the handful.
Oranges & Clementines : Tart, tangy, and tasty. Oranges are juicy and delicious on a sunny day.
Peaches & Nectarines : So yummy in the summertime. I love them whole, sliced, on top of ice cream or yogurt, or cooked in a crisp with an oatmeal topping.
Cherries : Served chilled, in-season cherries are the best.
My 5 favorite vegetables are:
Cucumbers : Peeled and sliced into quarters, cucumbers are great dipped in Ranch for an afternoon snack.
Garlic : Who knew it was a vegetable? Not me. I always pegged it for an herb, but apparently I'm wrong. I don't eat garlic plain, but it's great in stews, marinades, soups, and breads.
Potatoes : Baked, Mashed, Hashed, Sweet, Russet, or Red...I like them all. Baked potato "bars" are great for parties. Creamy mashed potatoes go perfectly with steak. Sweet potatoes are delicious topped with a little butter and brown sugar.
Squash : We eat zucchini squash fairly regularly. It's easy and quick to prep...and super scrumptious too.
Corn on the Cob : Yes, the cobbed variety is better. Especially when prepared on the grill in packets with butter, salt, and pepper.
*** For more fruit and vegetable inspiration, check out "Melissa's Great Book of Produce" by Cathy Thomas (John Wiley & Sons, 2006). The 326-page book tells you how to buy, prep, store, and serve more than 100 fruits and vegetables. Have you ever wondered how to tell if a watermelon is ripe or how to cut a pineapple or how to cook with chard or rutabaga? This book tells all (and features 200 full-color photographs to "keep you interested").
YOUR TURN: What are your favorite fruits and vegetables?
WIN IT! One winner will receive a copy of "Melissa's Great Book of Produce" by Cathy Thomas ($29.95). To enter, leave any topic-related comment on this post prior to Wednesday, June 3 at midnight (Don’t forget to follow the rules…all generic comments like “Enter me!,” “Love it,” and “Cool stuff!” will be disqualified.).
*UPDATE* The winner is #68 Deborah R. Congratulations!
Yay! Thank you so much! I e-mailed you my shipping info.
I like all of them that you listed except for squash.
My girls are so excited about our garden this year as we've planted a lot of produce in it.
I love cherries, strawberries and pomegranates. My fav veggies are zucchini, potatoes and cabbage :)
My favorite fruit is a juicy pear;vegetable would have to be fresh asparagus! I love fresh fruits and vegetables and am proud to serve them to our family!
Does it tell you how to pick the best produce out?
I'm so excited that the growing season is here and garden preparations are beginning. I love cucumbers, squash (of all kinds), strawberries, apples, asparagus, fresh green beans. I could go on.
for veggies i love broccoli,butternut squash,corn on the cob and fruits i love plums and pears :)
blueberries, strawberries, bananas, apples, corn on the cob, onions, tomatoes and cucumbers. I'm always looking for new ways to cook veggies especially during grilling season. Looks like a good book to own.
My favorites cherries, bananas and sweet potatoes.
Nothing like fresh picked tomatoes & green beans! Fresh cukes are divine too.
I love avacado, garlic, watermelon and asparagus the best. Well, not all together. lol
I could use this book. I would love to know how to properly store different fruit & veggies.
Broccoli is my favorite vegetable and raspberries are my favorite fruit. However, I'd choose a veggie over a fruit anytime.
Let's see --- I love broccoli, onions, potatoes, corn, fresh peas, green beans.
And then there's peaches, cherries, oranges, grapes, apples, pears.
It's all wonderful.
rsgrandinetti(at)yahoo(dot)com
I love love love raspberries and blueberries.
Yum. And as for vegetables? I love them all.
I was never a problem child when it came to eating vegetables, in fact I would eat them first before anything else!
Actually, I recently started to eat more fruit that usual, substituting it for the candy and cookies I used to buy. I do not regret it a bit! My favorites are cherries, blueberries, and apples.
Fruits: eggfruit, black sapote, strawberries, bananas
Vegetables: cucumber, carrots (and tops!) potato, spinach
Kiwi and spinach!
I love blueberries, raspberries, cherries, grapes, peaches and plums. I also love broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus, tomatoes, corn, fava beans and lima beans. Oh heck, unless it's star fruit or okra, it's my favorite if it's there!
I love strawberries, pineapple, mango, blueberries, and melons the most for fruit. For veggies it's tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, potatoes, and garlic. But really, they are all tasty!
I love just about any kind of fruit or vegetable.
My favorite fruit is blueberries and my favorite vegetable is brocoli.
I love all vegetables and fruits.
oh my gosh, i like them all! i guess one of my favorite fruits would be plums and as for veggies.. corn, lettuce, carrots, peas, spinach, everything!
Cherries and strawberries! we hope to garden next year- not a big veggie fan though
We always grow Watermelons, strawberries, carrots, cucumbers, squash, cabbage, bell peppers and totamoes in our garden every year. We always have fresh produce.
I'd really like to learn how to preserve produce for later use.
I was just lamenting to a man in the grocery store about picking out good cantaloupe!
We eat a lot of apples, pears and berries. Broccoli, carrots, bell peppers and "salad"
I'm not very good with food, need all the help i can get!
the summer fruits are the best i am so glad that summer is here
I love fresh produce right out of the garden. the folks at the store pick to early
I love fruits and veggies. Some of my favorites are artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, pineapple, and oranges.
apples and bananas
Heirloom tomatoes, fresh picked corn, avacados, watermelon and artichokes.
My favorite fruits are nectarines,cherries and strawberries and my favorite vegetables are cabbage, kale and eggplant(oh-eggplant parmesan-drool)
As a vegan, I love veggies and fruits of all varieties! Blueberries top my list of fruits and carrots are my favorite veggie (I juice about a pound of them a day (when I am not pregnant!))!
Fruit:
Strawberries
Bananas
Watermelon
Spinach
Cauliflower (if fried. lol)
Broccoli
I just named my top three's cause I hear my baby crying LOL
Nell
I love asparagus, home-grown tomatoes, sweet potatoes, spinach, avocados and any kind of fruit.
I can't think of any fruits I don't love! Well, I'm not crazy about bananas but I'm really partial to pears and all types of berries - and fuji apples.
My all time fave veggies are asparagus and summer squash! Yum!
My fav fruits are mango and pomegranate. Fav veggies are srtichokes and asparagus.
I like almost all fruits and vegetables (I'll pass on rutabagas), but some of my favorites are pomegranates, cherries, artichokes, brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes.
garlic and green beans and blueberries and peaches
we love watermelon, blueberries, cherries, bananas and blood oranges, and our favorite veggies are eggplant, onions, mushrooms, carrots and avocados.
tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, every kind of melon.
My favorite fruits are: berries (all kinds), watermelon, grapefruit, grapes and apples.
Veggies: (this is harder for me...) corn, green beans, peas, carrots (raw) and broccoli (which I did not eat until I was 30!).
I love all berries...couldnt get enough of them!
This book would be so great cause there are so many different fruits out there that I have never tried cause I dont know how you actually eat them or prepare them.
colleen_mouse at yahoo.com
I like fruits and vegetables, and like to mix up a green salad with some of them (like grapes, chopped apples, etc.)
i am trying to eat healthier and eat alot of watermelon, (gotta have that) lol
carrots, cauliflower, i LOVE rasberries. bananas.
Tomatoes and corn fresh from the garden are my favorite vegetables. My favorite fruits are tangerines and plums-yummy!
smchester at gmail dot com
I love to cook and eat veggies of all types. I grew up in Chile, S.A., where they cook veggies and then make cold salads out of them, which is yummy, too. I'm just now getting the hang of grilling veggies outside...this book might give me even more ideas!
we love fresh fruit yummmmm
It's hard to decide the favorites! I'd say my favorite fruits are peaches, strawberries, bananas, sweet cherries, and red grapes. My favorite vegetables would be white corn, broccoli, zucchini, potatoes, and avocados. Wait, I think avocados are fruit, huh? Well, they're vegetables now! :)
We are so blessed to live in the perfect place for produce! We picked strawberries at the farm today! One of my favorite vegetables is the artichoke, which grow abundantly, just a few miles down the road. We were a part of a CSA last year and it was amazing getting such a variety of fruits and vegetables each week. I've just been slacking in getting signed up again this year.
I am absolutely crazy about fresh fruits and veggies. I love everything berry, and if I listed my favorite vegetables we'd be here all day! Meat really isn't on the menu much around here. I'm not a vegetarian, but I love vegetables so much that I'd rather just have meat occasionally.
We had an abundant, wonderful blueberry crop last year... love, love, love them. The girls eat them frozen as popsicles. Veggies are more of a challenge than fruits, but some favorites are tomatos and spinach.
Good food is one of the greatest joys in life! There are many fruits and vegetables I love. Lately, my daughters and I have fallen for the loquat, an Asian fruit that tastes like the peeled grapes in a fruit cocktail.
As strange as this may seem, we discovered the loquat trees through a web site - http://www.neighborhoodfruit.com/
You can punch in your zipcode and radius in order to find public fruit trees in your area. We walked by these loquat trees nearly every week for two years without knowing what we were missing!
pineapple is my favorite fruit and spinach vegetable
My favorite fruits are cherries, plums & strawberries. My favorite veggies are green beans, potatoes & spinach. This book sounds great!
i love to make stir fry with summer squash [email protected]
I can't wait for the locally grown nectarines and sweet cherries to arrive.
As far as veggies, I love summer squash, new potatoes, asparagus and mushrooms.
As a vegetarian I eat fresh fruits and vegetables every day so there aren't any I don't like. Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli are particular favorites. Thank you for the contest.
I really need to eat more fruits and veggies. I do love a few but don't eat them often. Potatoes and garlic (veggie really?) are my favorites.
this reminds me that i need to be eating more fruits and veggies. my very favorite vegetable is a potato... in fact, my favorite food is a baked potato with butter, salt, and pepper. i also like broccoli, zucchini, carrots and corn. as for fruits... nectarines, strawberries, apples, bananas, dried cranberries, grapes and cherries are at the top of my list.
I love spinach, green beans, tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, jicama,lettuce, carrots.
I love blackberries, pomegranate, grapes, raspberries, watermelon, nectarines, apples.
these make my mouth water right now.
we've been getting into blackberries a lot...they had them for sale the last few weeks in our area so we ate a ton!! we are also strawberry freaks, i can go through a 1 lb carton by myself in under 30 minutes =)
autumn398 (at) yahoo.com
We like a lot of the same veggies and fruits. I think corn is also best grilled. Strawberries are in season right now, and we have been treating ourselves to fresh strawberries and vanilla ice cream. Yum.
summer vegetables are my favorite......zucchini , yellow summer squash and patty pan....... wonderful heirloom tomatoes and eggplant.....I'm so hungry right now just thinking about it........
I love blueberries and corn. Enter me please.
I love fresh fruit for breakfast in the morning. Berries, melons, bananas. Yummy.
We have to follow a strict diet in our house and we're always looking for ways to diversify the way we prepare veggies for dinner.
I love fresh veggies & fruits. I had the best zucchini & squash on the grill the other night.
I'm trying to eat as many fruits and vegetables as I can (it gets easier as the weather gets warmer) and I'll go for anything ripe, fresh and ready to eat. Favorites include corn, tomatoes, jicama, apricots, avocados, mangoes, pineapples, sugar snap peas, watercress, watermelon, nectarines, strawberries, asparagus, plums, peaches, honeydew, Japanese turnips, kohlrabi and artichokes.
My favorite fruits are grapes and strawberries. My favorite veggies are corn and broccoli.
We really enjoy all kinds of fruits & veggies too. Berries of any kind are a top favorite, as well as mangos, apples, grapes, cantaloupe... For veggies, sugar peas, carrots, asparagus, fresh green beans, steamed broccoli, and corn on the cob are all popular around here.
Oh boy I have a long list but my favorite fruit at the moment are cherries (never used to like them and still can't stomach anything else cherry like) and favorite veggie is a toss up between asparagus and brussel sprouts.
My favorite fruits are blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, and oranges (especially clementines)
Corn is soooo much tastier on the cob! it's probably my favorite veggie of all. But close to that is asparagus. When it is well roasted it is divine. Then of course I love onions, raw or cooked. Garlic is divine too!
Avocados are my favorite of all fruits! I could eat plain avocado slices all day. Strawberries and raspberries come in right after that.
Nice giveaway, especially since they opened a Farmers Market near us. Many times I see produce I have no clue about, and would love to try but am a little nervous about spending money for something I might not like. My kids and I love fruit, my husband is a berry nut.
I love just about any kind of fruit or vegetable. When I was pregnant with Sugar I craved fruit - it was a good thing that most of my pregnancy was in the spring and summer! With baby boy I've been craving ice cream... that's not so good :)
My favorite thing to order at the sandwich shops that make them are the veggie sandwiches - I'm not a vegetarian, but there is something about good bread with some good cheese and all those cool crunchy veggies that is yummy!
We have a garden every summer. We grow strawberries,spinich,tomatoes,corn,cucumbers.I love your post!
Our house loves strawberries, bananas, peaches, and pineapple. For the veggies we also love cucumbers, avacados, tomatoes, potatoes, peas, spinach, and corn on the cob.
This really does sound like a great book!
summertime is my favorite time because local fresh produce abounds. i LOVE summer squash, eggplant, tomatoes, garlic, and onions. i can make soups and ratatouille all summer long. hard to pick only 5 fruits: watermelon, strawberries, cherries, kiwi, peaches. however, if i was in asia, fresh lychees and asian pears would rise to the top of my list.
have you ever tried fresh cantaloupe juice? oh. my. goodness. amazing!
I love spinach and bananas. Not together, though!
This would be wonderful. We love a lot of different kinds of fruits at our house and are always looking for new and yummy ways to eat our veggies.
I love almost any kind of fresh fruits or vegetables. I planted a small garden and I have tomatoes, peppers, squash, butter beans, cucumbers and pumpkins planted. I harvested my first tomato today!
Watermelon, mango, raspberries, dragonfruit, rambutan
Peas, eggplant, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes
Raspberries, avocado, asparagus, blackberries :)