Even though Vanzants Farm stopped selling seasonal peaches does not mean that I stopped wanting to eat them. Nope. I still want them in.my.belly. Hopefully you were able to stock up and canned some while they were still bursting with rich summertime flavor. Or, at very least I hope that you were able to score some fresh-off-the-tree beauties.
This summer I played more with my peaches.
That just sounds silly.
Usually I keep it simple and eat them fresh, can them fresh, and slice them up fresh with ice cream. This year I branched out a bit and experimented because I wanted to figure out a way to bring out the full flavors so we could eat them year-round and still have the freshly picked taste.
Just because peach season is over does not mean that we have to stop eating them.
These two recipes are keepers.
The first recipe is a Fresh Peach and Tomato Salsa. The inspiration came from a quick summer visit to Amish country in rural Pennsylvania for my niece Shawna’s wedding. The rolling hills and farmhouses seemed stuck in time and were breath-taking. Those farms were quite a contrast to the commercialized little village that sold Amish goods to tourists on family outings.
Out of character for me, I sampled just about everything in one of the little Amish goods stores. Maybe it is a germ thing. Or perhaps it is the flush-faced embarrassment I feel whenever I come across samples, for whatever reason, I am just not into free samples. This visit was different and I gobbled up everything like a crazy starved contested just voted off the Survivor Island.
The sample I kept coming back to was a peach salsa.
Using that sample as inspiration, I created this Fresh Peach and Tomato Salsa for the July issue of TasteArkansas. I believe it is every thing you want in a clean-tasting salsa with just an extra “something” that is out of the ordinary. While in-season fruit is ideal, I believe that this salsa will taste marvelous all year long.
I have one more peach recipe for you to bookmark as the warm summer days wind down. When you are in the mood for something crisp and full-flavored, try this Fresh Cucumber and Peach Salad with Mint recipe that I created for the August issue of TasteArkansas. The inspiration came from just wanting to see what a peach and cucumber salad tasted like! As layers were added, my taste buds went WOW.
What can I say?
I love peaches and am just not ready to part with them.
What about you?
Eat well, my friends. Eat well.
Lyndi
