In Season: Summer: Bell Peppers

In Season: Bell Peppers
Enjoy creative ways to serve these sweet gifts from the late-summer garden.

There’s no disguising a bell pepper. While summer vegetables such as zucchini and eggplant tend to absorb other flavors, bell peppers assert themselves in dishes. Even when used as a garnish―say, finely diced bell pepper showered over pasta or grilled scallops―the bright taste of the pepper hits your palate first.

In Season: Summer: Watermelon

In Season: Watermelon
Make room in the fridge for these fruits that offer a slice of summer.

Watermelon hits its prime in August, sweetening backyard barbecues, lazy-day picnics on the grass, and beach parties. It boasts an unbeatable combination for long, hot days: It’s colorful, sweet, crunchy, refreshing, and portable. In addition to quenching thirst― watermelon is 92 percent water―it provides hefty doses of vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium, and lycopene (a disease-fighting antioxidant found in red fruits and vegetables).

In Season: All-Star Medley of Leeks

All-Star Medley of Leeks
Try adding leeks to risottos, salads, gratins, and stews. You'll be glad you did.

Wallflowers of the greengrocer, leeks often sit forlornly in the bin looking like green onions on steroids, passed over by shoppers. Though they are available year-round, we tend to think of these mildest relatives of the onion family as foreign visitors-called upon when we want to impress friends with continental classics such as vichyssoise or potage Parmentier.

In Season: Strawberries

What's in Season?
Winter, spring, summer, and fall each offer their own unique fruits and vegetables for distinct seasonal flavor. Learn to choose and use each season's best.

Strawberries
8 ways to take advantage of spring's best berry

Each year as the temperatures begin to rise, you begin to notice all of those little things that tell you spring is here and summer is just around the corner-the flowers begin to bloom, the days get a little longer, and strawberries take their place on shelves in grocery stores and farmer's markets. Because of their no-fuss appeal-no peeling, no coring, no mess-strawberries have made their way into almost everything, from muffins to margaritas.