Topic: Beneath The Peel / Digging Deeper

While fewer hours of daylight and cooler days ahead might trigger apprehension about the approaching winter, there's good news: it's squash season! Colorful, shapely and substantial squash are the workhorse of the winter kitchen lending themselves to soups, stews, curries, pastas, even pies and more!   

Learn all about the squash varieties you may find in your Boston Organics boxes, so you can make the most of these versatile vehicles of flavor.

With the shortening days come, pomegranates! Eating their seeds means a feast for the mouth and the eyes: both their burst of sweet and tart flavor and their bright red color are welcome this time of year.

It's late summer, the days are getting a little bit shorter and the nights are getting a little bit cooler. What this means is that a plethora of pepper varieties are reaching their full maturity, turning into their ultimate color destiny and finding themselves in many Boston Organics' produce boxes! To celebrate peak pepper season we created The Boston Organics Pepper Guide. Check it out!

While many people associate the catchall term 'squash' with the chilly winter months, summer squash varieties are a staple of the sunny season. As pleasant and colorful as our beautiful summers these seasonal beauties come in glorious shades of yellow and green and can add body and flavor to everything from quick breads and muffins to soups, stews, tacos, salad and more! Think of summer squash as a term for any of the soft-rind squashes of the warm season. 

Summer squashes are among our favorite summer vegetables. They are versatile, easy to cook, low in calories and lend themselves to numerous summer dishes from summery salads, to soups, stews, tacos and more! Whether roasted, grilled, bakes, fried, sauteed or served raw local, in-season summer squashes are sure to please! Fresh summer squashes will generally last numerous days in the refrigerator -  store unwashed in a plastic bag until you're ready to use them.

Hanging onto summer: Organic corn

Sweet, tender organic corn-on-cob says end-of-summer like almost nothing else. While exquisite, corn is very susceptible to pests, particularly silkworms. Unlike conventional growers, organic corn growers can't spray their fields with chemical pesticides, which is a big invitation for the little buggers to eat away.

We love avocados, finding their mild, buttery taste and creamy texture a welcome addition to oh so many dishes while being good for you too! The Harvard Gazette recently reported that eating just one avocado a week may lower heart disease risk. Yummy, versatile and heart healthy - everyone loves that!! If that's not enough to convince you to add this beloved gem to your meals we’re here to share some ideas with you and to go beneath their pebbly peel.

In many ways, avocados defy characterization. Though often thought of as a fruit, they are most commonly eaten in a savory setting. Be it as a smiley green garnish or as guacamole or in a salad or in avocado toast, avocados sure do get around. 

What would the perfect fruit look like? It would probably be sweet and juicy. It might have a bright, edible skin so you don’t have to worry about messy peels and rinds. While you’re at it, you’d want to make it easy to grow and sturdy enough to take with you without getting smooshed like a brown banana at the bottom of lunch bag. Do you have an image in your head yet? Does it look something like this:

This is a pluot, a beautifully constructed hybrid-cross between a plum and an apricot. Some people consider pluots to be the perfect fruit, but it’s also very much still a work in progress. Though the first successfully controlled cross between a plum and an apricot occurred more than a century ago, most people are unfamiliar with pluots. And those who are fortunate enough to have tasted these juicy fruits are often filled with questions about the mysterious hybrid.

Fortunately, Boston Organics is here to take you “beneath the peel,” giving you a better understanding of the mysteries behind the organic pluot.

Cabbage is often overlooked, relegated to an after thought or over used in bland, overly sweet coleslaws. With its mild flavor, cabbage can compliment many a flavor profile - soy. ginger and garlic, yes please; cilantro, chile and scallions, why not; curry? we'd do that. It adds crispness to your sandwich or spring roll, beefs up your next stew, fills out your soup. And it’s extremely affordable if you’re looking to stretch your dollar. Here are our favorite cabbage recipes!

Leafy greens are coming into season and so many wonderful varieties are available from our local farms! Greens are delicious on their own and can be elevated with our perfect recipe formula.

It's easy to forget that oranges were once an exotic fruit in the North East. Thanks to a steady and sophisticated supply chain they are now available year round. Not only is citrus a great source of vitamin C and fiber, but their bright colors provide a burst of light and hope during the dark days of winter.  As we get farther into winter, citrus season picks up! You will start to see a variety of sweet and flavorful fruit zipped up in its own brightly colored jacket. Make the most of the season with our guide to the most common (and delicious) citrus varieties you can expect to see in your Boston Organics deliveries, as well as tips for keeping these little gems fresh.