So many of our favorite garden veggies and fruits are ready for harvest in May, and while they’re pretty delicious on their own, it’s always fun finding creative recipes that let them shine. Plus, now that folks are spending more time at home and eating out less, it’s fun to experiment with new recipes that use healthy, homegrown vegetables. We compiled a few of our favorite recipes using some of the most popular May harvest veggies and fruits here in Florida. Try them out—you’ll love them!
Ratatouille with Tomato, Zucchini, and Eggplant
If you’ve been eating spaghetti a bit more often than usual (guilty as charged!), you’ll enjoy this ratatouille recipe, which has that same delicious, savory flavor profile, but heavier on the vegetables instead of the carb-heavy noodles. Your garden zucchini and eggplants are the standout stars of this ultra-healthy comfort food, but you’ll also need some onions, peppers, garlic, tomato sauce, and herbs to complete the recipe.
Start by slicing up two tomatoes, two eggplants and two zucchinis into rounds. Set tomato slices aside, and place the zucchini and eggplant on a baking sheet (though, you’ll probably need two to fit them all), drizzle them with oil, and season them with salt and pepper. Roast them at 425°F for 15 minutes, take them out to flip them, and then roast them again for 10 more minutes, or until they start to get a golden brown edge. While most ratatouille recipes call for adding the raw veggies directly into the sauce to cook, we find roasting them first creates a nicer texture that isn’t too soft.
Next, mince an onion, bell pepper, and three cloves of garlic, then fry them in some oil in a large pot. Add spices like basil, red pepper flakes, and oregano to taste.
Then, open a can of store-bought or homemade tomato sauce and add it to the pot. Once your vegetables have finished roasting in the oven, layer them with the tomato slices in the pot, working in a spiral formation. Reduce heat to 350°F, place the pot into the oven and bake for another fifteen minutes. For some extra deliciousness, you can bake it with a layer of mozzarella cheese and a sprinkle of garlic salt!
Mango Salsa
Chips and salsa are the perfect mini-meal for enjoying out in the sunshine—but instead of the standard tomato salsa, try something a little different! Mango salsa with a spicy kick of jalapeño tastes amazing with corn chips—like, seriously amazing. This salsa has addictive qualities, so don’t be surprised if you eat the whole bowl in one sitting!
Chop up a couple of mangoes into little chunks, then toss them in the bowl. Finely mince half of a sweet onion, and one or two jalapeños, depending on your spice preference, then add them to the mix. Next, you’ll want to add a bunch of chopped cilantro (though, if you’re a cilantro hater, you can skip this option). Squeeze in some fresh lime juice, sprinkle in a bit of salt, do a taste test to ensure it’s seasoned to your liking, and then you’re good to go! It’s one of the simplest, most delicious spring recipes around.
Passionfruit Curd
Everyone seems to be baking like crazy these days—breads, scones, pastries, you name it! With all those fresh baked goods, you’ve gotta have a tasty topper to pair them with. This passionfruit curd recipe is perfect to dollop onto all of your latest baking creations. For this recipe, you’ll need ½ cup + 2 tablespoons of strained passionfruit pulp, another 2 tablespoons of passionfruit seeds, one tablespoon of lemon juice, 7 oz of sugar, 6 oz of cubed butter, and 3 eggs plus 2 additional egg yolks.
Start by adding the passion fruit pulp and seeds, lemon juice, sugar, and butter into a pot on the stove on medium heat, then stir until the sugar has melted. Once the mixture is well combined, and the sugar has dissolved, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
Next, grab a separate bowl to combine the eggs plus two extra egg yolks. Take the passionfruit mixture and slowly pour it into the egg mixture while continuing to whisk. Pour it in as slowly as you can! If you pour too fast, the hot passionfruit mixture will cause the eggs to scramble, and that’s definitely not what you’re going for with this recipe.
Once the passionfruit sauce is fully incorporated into the egg mixture, pour it back into the saucepan on low heat and keep stirring until the mixture is thick enough to coat your spoon. Once it has cooled, it’s ready to use! If you properly sterilize your jars, your passionfruit curd will last in the fridge for up to three weeks.
Grilled Pineapple
A staple side dish in Brazillian cooking, grilled pineapple is an absolutely divine add-on for grilled meats like pork and chicken, or for chopping up and adding into tacos al pastor. It’s definitely one of the easiest recipes to make, with only three ingredients! All you need to do is slice up your pineapple into rings, fill a freezer bag with one cup of brown sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, and then toss the pineapples into the bag two or three at a time, and shake them up to coat thoroughly.
Heat an outdoor grill and coat the grate with a little bit of vegetable oil. Cook the pineapple rings for about five minutes on each side, so the sugars caramelize and darken, adding a little bit of crunch. That’s it! So simple, and so yummy. For a special summer treat, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt!
Once you’ve finished with your May harvest, if you’re looking for some new fruits and veggies to grow through the latter half of the year, stop by Living Color and see what’s in season! Remember, we have curbside pickup and delivery options available, so if you’d like to make arrangements, feel free to call us in-store!