Fruit Archives – Karyn's Kitchen

Have Fun With Summer Fruit In a Savory Meal

What can you pair with summer fruit to create a savory meal the whole family will enjoy?

What’s your favorite summer fruit? I love peaches, plums and apricots. The only problem is that sometimes they’re all ripe and ready to be eaten at the same time. While I enjoy eating them for breakfast and snacks, they can also pair well with a more substantial meal.

After putting a chicken into the oven to roast, I pondered how I might serve some peaches with it. I decided that steamed brown rice flavored appropriately could complement both items. Develop your intuition in the kitchen to create something amazing with ingredients on hand. What do you think would tie these various elements together harmoniously?

chicken breast with spiced rice, arugula and summer peaches on a white plate

Here’s How I Spiced Up the Rice to Accompany Summer Fruit:

minced fresh ginger (from my treasure chest of freezer flavor gems)
dried onion flakes
powdered turmeric
ground fenugreek
ground coriander
salt
olive oil

What would coordinate well with this sweet, spicy, floral combination? How about a peppery arugula sautéed in olive oil with garlic until wilted? Drizzled just a touch of balsamic vinegar at the end and plated arugula. While the pan was still hot, I put some freshly sliced peaches into the same skillet and lowered the heat. Flipped them over once they had just a tiny bit of color. I didn’t really want to cook them through, but just to warm them up and bring out their sweetness.

I had intended to use some plums as well, but they were so juicy that they ended up in my mouth instead of the skillet. What can I say? Summer fruit is irresistible! Do you ever use them as a side dish for a savory meal? Get Inspired With an Anchor Ingredient and Free Your Creativity.

Get Happy With Apples and Cabbage

Find an appealing way to use whatever you have in abundance.

It seems like apples have been multiplying in my refrigerator. While others might decide to bake apple pie, I prefer to use them in a savory dish. While a chicken roasted in the oven unassisted by me, I was free to mull over the possibilities. What would you do with them?

I cut off an inch of bacon from my treasure chest of freezer gems and looked into the refrigerator for some kind of leafy green to accompany it. Then I realized that I had bought a new head of cabbage, while another older one had been waiting for its turn. Yes, the cabbage would be perfect for combining with the apples and bacon. Now that I am writing this, I wonder how it might have worked out as a salad. Maybe I will try that next!

Roasted chicken and yams served with cabbage and apples on a white plate with a fork resting on top. A lemon, onion and apple sit in the background while a glass of white wine and beige linen napkin lay beside the plate.

Am I old fashioned for putting a trio on my dinner plate? A variety of colors and textures appeals to me, so here’s how it often works out. I made a huge pot of this cabbage with apples, so it could have been a meal in itself. Nothing wrong with leftovers for later. We did, in fact, enjoy it for days!

Cabbage With Apples

bacon
onion
cabbage
rosemary
apples

After browning the chopped bacon in a large pot, I discarded most of the grease before adding some chopped onion. Once that had softened, I added the chopped cabbage and some dried rosemary. Why? It seemed to me like a good match for everything that was going on here: the chicken and bacon and fruit…And indeed it was! What else might you try? I added the apples near the end of cooking the cabbage because I didn’t want them to become overly soft. Michael isn’t a huge fan of cooked fruit. I just wanted everything to be pleasingly tender. Poke around with a fork to see when it’s right for you.

Because of the bacon, this dish didn’t even require much salt. I love cabbage to begin with, but the apples, rosemary and bacon gave it so much additional flavor. It was a party for the taste buds. I’m just saying, if you are having trouble getting others in your household to eat vegetables such as cabbage, try it with a savory, sweet and herbal component. Vegetables, like people, enjoy being well dressed. So experiment with different ingredients and see what appeals to your family.

Yams

As for the yams: after cutting them into wedges, I sprinkled them with Herbs de Provence and put them into the roasting pan with the chicken during the last half hour of cooking. While the finished chicken rested, I put the yams under the broiler for a minute to get a touch more color.

After talking to a friend the other day, I realized how many of you still think it’s a big deal to roast a chicken. She said, “That’s a lot of work. You have to brine it. You have to season it…” Well, it’s true that you can get very creative and do all kinds of things with it, but it’s not really necessary. If you’re still not confident in roasting a chicken, trust me when I say it’s just about the easiest thing ever. Read Don’t Be Chicken next.

Fine Clementines and So Much More

Find delicious new ways to use up everyday ingredients like mandarin oranges.

Do you have more Clementines than you know what to do with? You know those little mandarin orange hybrids branded as Cuties or Halos. We snack on them and like any other citrus, they go into our morning smoothies with vegetables. Why not use them in a sauce or a healthy homemade salad dressing?

Panko crusted salmon on a white plate with rice, greens, carrots and citrus soy sauce on a white plate. A metal basket filled with Clementines sits in the background with a blue and white vessel of sauce.

After sautéing some minced garlic in olive oil, I added the juice of a few Clementines to the pan. I cooked it down a bit, added a splash of soy sauce and thickened slightly with tapioca starch. It was the perfect finishing touch to panko crusted salmon. Any kind of fish or chicken would be great with this. What about crushing raw garlic and using the same ingredients minus the starch? Healthy homemade salad dressing.

How about quickly searing some shrimp in a preheated screaming hot skillet with garlic? Add the juice of some Clementines to the skillet at the end and give thanks for the perfect sweet zing. It couldn’t be easier.

Shrimp with garlic clementine sauce served with black beans, rice and broccoli on a white plate. A head of garlic and an orange napkin in the background.

I love simple sauces, don’t you? Here’s another idea for chicken or fish that is best prepared a day ahead so the flavors have a chance to marry:

1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 teaspoon or less of minced ginger root
1/4 teaspoon or less of wasabi paste
1 Tablespoon of mayonnaise
1 teaspoon of soy sauce

Chicken thighs topped with yogurt sauce sit on a white plate with spaghetti squash and mushrooms and roasted carrots

Roasted chicken thighs and carrots get dressed up with this sauce alongside spaghetti squash and mushrooms. As you can see, I love all kinds of vegetables. How many can you get on a plate?

Taste Mystery Greens to Make Interesting Things and see this same sauce on fish.

Indulge Someone in a Berry Special Treat

Simple indulgences for an after dinner treat.

When I first started this blog, a friend commented that she didn’t see many desserts. Bingo! I don’t do many of those. I bake only once in a blue moon and generally find that a piece of fruit or dark chocolate satisfies the occasional sweet tooth. How about combining both for a special after dinner treat? Strawberries anyone?

A white platter is set with strawberries in a dish beside yogurt and brown sugar. One that has been dipped in them sits to the right. 3 chocolate dipped strawberries sit in the foreground next to a colorful china espresso cup and saucer. A glass of rose wine is in the background.

Everyone loves strawberries dipped in melted chocolate. Here’s another idea that is very simple and elegant: Serve sour cream or Greek yogurt with brown sugar for dipping. Does sour cream sound odd to you? Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Some of the best ideas sound unusual at first. Dip strawberries first in sour cream and then into brown sugar. A marriage made in heaven.

What about liqueur for a special after dinner treat? A friend sent me these cognac filled chocolates. What a thoughtful gift combining two indulgences!

A box of cognac filled chocolates stands behind a cut crystal decanter and small glass of liqueur on a silver tray.

What’s the best indulgence of all? Someone making breakfast especially for me! Pancakes are my favorite. Even Michael has made them successfully from scratch. Yes, you can too!

Enjoy Mango Jalapeno Trio Pronto

A hearty snack can be a simple meal.

Another heat wave…another flex alert. I needed to put a quick snack together and the mango I had bought a while ago was finally ripe. Time for mango salsa made with chopped red onion and a little jalapeno from the freezer. Seasoned with salt, lemon juice and olive oil. Wait! Where’s my protein? A can of tuna was perfect for this 5 minute preparation. Simple meals don’t always require cooking.

mango salsa with tuna and tortilla chips in a white bowl

Here’s an example of how I usually use a piece of jalapeno from the freezer. Frozen, I cut off a sliver appropriate for my purposes. In this case, a quarter inch was sufficient. Chopped fine and tossed with the mango, it defrosts immediately and it’s awesome. If I were making a pot of chili, I might use a whole jalapeno. But I would treat it the same way by taking it out of the freezer just when I want to use it because otherwise it will turn soft by defrosting in the refrigerator. The same goes for ginger, which I also keep in the freezer. Frozen, I cut off just the amount I want to use in a given dish and put the rest back into the freezer. Chop it up while it’s still firm because chopping things that have gone soft is much less convenient. Simple meals begin with a well stocked freezer and pantry.

Mango Jalapeno Trio

ripe mango
jalapeno
can of tuna
chopped red onion
salt
lemon juice
olive oil

Ready for another cool, refreshing meal without cooking? Please read Simple Ceviche next.

Care a Fig For Simple Meals

Experiment simple meals using figs and pork.

Last time I went shopping, there wasn’t an incredible amount of variety in meat choices. So, I purchased a pork tenderloin because there were plenty of those. With my anchor ingredient set, I decided something fruity would pair nicely with it. I decided to experiment with some fresh figs and repurpose leftovers for many simple meals.

fig pork tenderloin with rice and spinach on a white plate

Figs

Figs are my favorite in sweet and savory preparations. I am amazed at how many people say they don’t care for them. My friend, Amber, suggested that perhaps it’s because their first experience was with a prepackaged fig bar and that’s a sorry waste of a fig. I don’t mind fig bars myself, but I certainly would not say they express the true character of a fig.

Cooking Pork

I must say that I have a tendency to overcook pork tenderloin. My mother-in-law does it beautifully, but I have trouble serving it too pink. The package instructed me to cook this small one for 30-35 minutes at 350.

After preheating the oven, I rubbed the tenderloin with some olive oil and sprinkled with a little:

salt
garlic powder
cardamom

Put it into a casserole dish and cooked for 25 minutes before adding the quartered figs so everything could cook together for another 10 minutes to equal 35.

When I took the pork out of the oven, I removed the figs to a plate and sprinkled with a little salt. After resting for about ten minutes, I started slicing the tenderloin and decided to put it back into the oven for another 10 minutes because it appeared too pink for my sensibilities. (I don’t have a working thermometer at the moment, so if I am afraid that it’s underdone, I would rather cook it a little more just to be sure.) Before returning the baking dish to the oven, I drizzled a little balsamic vinegar in there along with some chopped red onion.

Zero waste cooking means the leftover pork reappeared in subsequent simple meals.

romaine salad with diced pork, figs, apricots and and toasted stuffing on a white plate — Leftover pork tenderloin topped this salad tossed with balsamic dressing. Apricots and toasted leftover stuffing balanced out flavors and textures.

pork tenderloin with broccoli on a china plate with black and gold edging. — After freezing leftovers and reheating the tenderloin, it reappeared with steamed broccoli dressed with lemon juice, red onion and parmesan

For another idea on adding fruit to your main dish, please read Feelin’ Caribbean next.

Feelin’ Caribbean With Easy Mango Chutney and Fish

Learn to cook fish and experiment with new flavors.

I have never been to the Caribbean and don’t claim to have much experience in sampling their cuisine. But I wanted to cook some fish and I had a ripe mango and a red bell pepper that I needed to use, so I decided that my inspiration would come from the islands with a mango chutney.

First I must say that my ratio wasn’t ideal here. I wanted to use that red pepper, but I should have used less in relation to the mango. Note to self and to the rest of you: More mango, less red pepper. Develop your intuition in the kitchen as you start cooking without a recipe.

Mango Chutney

mango
red bell pepper
jalapeno (always keep one in the freezer)
ginger (always keep some in the freezer)
shallot
garlic powder
red pepper flakes
cardamom
lime juice
salt (in case that wasn’t obvious)

Again, I’m not giving you a recipe to follow. I mixed together some things that I thought would taste good together and sampled along the way, trying to balance spicy, sweet and sour elements. In the end, I added a tiny pinch of sugar because I wanted it a little sweeter, but if I had used more mango compared to bell pepper, that would not have been necessary.

Additional lime juice squeezed over everything finished off the dish nicely. By the way, slitting the lime wedge for your diner means they won’t squirt juice in your eye when they squeeze it on their meal.

The Fish

Just about any fish would have been fine here. I had some cod pieces because they’re so affordable. I recommend buying pieces because you can often find them at a better price than their more attractive fillet counterparts. At my local fish market, I look for chowder pieces because I can usually get more expensive wild fish varieties at a discount that way.

I seasoned this fish with garlic powder and Chinese 5 Spice, which contains:

Anise
cinnamon
star anise
cloves
ginger

Then I baked it in the oven at 350 until it was done. Maybe 15 minutes? Thin fillets and pieces really don’t take very long to cook. What I know about fish is that you just have to check it periodically to see if it’s ready.

Growing up, we always cooked fish whole and ate it with chopsticks. I recommend the chopsticks if you cook a whole fish because it’s easier to eat around the bones.

Testing Fish for Doneness

How did my mother know when the fish was ready? She would call my Japanese father in once she decided it was time to check it. He would come in, test it with chopsticks to see if it flaked in the middle. Usually he would then say, “Little more bet.” Translation: Cook it a little bit more.

So, that’s my method for not overcooking fish. Look at it before you think it’s ready and then check it again in a couple minutes if it needed longer the first time. It’s that simple.

For another idea on dressing up your fish, please read Fearless About Fish next.