This week, we hope you enjoy the first grape tomatoes of the season! It’s been so long since we’ve been able to provide you with tomatoes!! If you’re craving a fresh salad, this week you can make one with arugula, tomatoes, peppers, grated carrots and beets, and chevre. Yum! Make sure to check out all of the sour cherry recipes too. Enjoy!
On the Menu this Week:
Fruit:
Frozen Sour Cherries (NudeFruit)–see feature below.
Apples (Lincoln Line Orchards)
Veggies:
Grape Tomatoes (Sovereign Farms)
Beets (Hillside Garden Farms)
Carrots (Hillside Garden Farms)
Red Pepper (St. David’s)
Orange Pepper (St. David’s)
Cilantro (Sleger’s)
Arugula (Sleger’s)
Sweet Potatoes (Round Plain)
Turnips (Zephyr)
Cheese:
Flavoured Chevre–great in a salad or stirred into pasta!
Meat:
Pork Chops! Always a favorite with our OAS members! Enjoy these chops from Select Fine foods. See recipe below.
Pantry:
Frozen Vegetable stock. House-made at Culinarium, this delicious vegetable stock is made without any salt, oil or herbs…just veggies and love! A perfect base that you can use in soups or sauces, or to add great flavour when cooking rice, beans and grains!
Featured Ingredient: Sour Cherries!
This week, we are providing frozen sour cherries in your bags for you to enjoy!
We are lucky in Ontario to be able to enjoy two different types of cherries in the summer months–sweet cherries and sour cherries. And also luckily for us, the people at NudeFruit have made frozen sour cherries available year-round! These cherries are pitted and have no added sugar! Most frozen sour cherries have sugar already added, so this is one reason we love the NudeFruit ones!
Most of us are very familiar with sweet cherries (also known as wild cherries)–dark, sweet and delicious, these cherries are best eaten fresh, but can be used in baking and cooking. Sour cherries (also known as tart cherries), may not be as familiar to you, unless you enjoy making pies and jams. Sour cherries are lighter in colour and smaller than sweet cherries. They can be eaten fresh, but as you can guess, they are quite tart. Cooking and baking with them brings out their sweetness, and they are hardy enough that they keep their shape when cooked. Most prepared foods that are cherry-based (like cherry juice, cherry jams, and dried cherries) are made with sour cherries.
Cherries are not native to North America–in fact both the sweet and sour varieties were brought to Canada and the U.S. in the 1600s by French and English settlers. Sour cherries grow well in cooler climates and today, Russia is the world’s top grower of sour cherries. It’s a good thing that our climate in Ontario is similar to Russia’s! In fact, 84% of Canada’s sour cherries are grown here in Ontario. The Montmorency variety of sour cherry is by far the most popular one grown here.
And they’re good for you! Sour cherries are considered to be a superfood, due to their high levels of antioxidants. Sour cherries also seem to possess a compound that relieves pain and reduces inflammation.
Enjoy trying these frozen sour cherries! Once you try them, I’m sure you’ll look forward to trying the fresh sour cherries in July!
Sour Cherry Recipes:
Sour Cherry Buckle
I had no idea what a “buckle” was in food-lingo. Turns out, it’s a cake with berries in it, with a crumble topping. Sounds good to me!
Sour Cherry Granita
It may be a tad cold for this right now, but sooner than later you’ll want this to cool you down!
Sour Cherry Pistachio Crisp
Sweet and Sour Cherries with Bay Leaves
I made these pickled sour cherries few years ago with fresh sour cherries, but they say it works with frozen ones too. A nice alternative to serve with your cheese or charcuterie platter! They look gorgeous in a mason jar too!
More Recipes:
Pork Chops and Apple Sauce
A truly classic combination! Use up any apples (or pears!) you have lurking in the back of your fridge. This recipe calls for 8 chops, so you’ll have to cut it in half, at least.
Root Vegetable recipes–mix and match veggies with recipes
I’ve featured this interchangeable root vegetable recipe guide before, but I love it so much, I’m featuring it again!
Quinoa with Black Beans and Cilantro
This is an easy recipe that is good warm, and also at room temperature the next day for lunch.