By Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD
Fresh apricots have a fleeting season, so enjoy then while you can! Eat them as is for their once-a-year specialness or halve them and add to salads, couscous, pasta, or hot cereal. You can also include apricots as a “secret” ingredient for savory-sweet casseroles, salsas, or salad dressings or grilling sauces, or toss them into smoothies. Fresh apricots can be pitted and halved, placed on toast with a sprinkle of maple syrup, and broiled in the toaster oven for a quick minute, creating an alternative to avocado toast!
Fresh apricots are fairly delicate, so, if you are not able to eat your fresh apricots within a few days, make some plans to process them. Halved, pitted apricots can be sautéed quickly in vegan margarine or butter and served over frozen desserts or baked goods. Cook them down with water and a dry vegan sweetener to create syrups, or pit and halve and store in vinegar, in the refrigerator, for a week or less, and use as a condiment or an ingredient in salsa, sweet iced tea, or salads. You can chop fresh apricots and mix with a small amount of chopped tomatoes, sweet onions, red pepper flakes along with a solace of orange juice and use as a condiment for savory entrées, such as grilled seitan or six-bean chili. If you have the time, halve and bake apricots until just soft; stuff apricot halves with a filling of almond paste (or chopped almonds), chopped raisins, and maple syrup.
Pitted and halved fresh apricots can be frozen, initially in a single layer to allow for uniform freezing, and then in freezer bags, to be used later in the year for smoothies or baking. Apricot halves can be dried, using your dehydrator or in a very low temperature oven. Make an apricot cream pie by dicing fresh apricots, blending with silken tofu, some minced ginger and syrup of your choice (rice, maple, agave), and pour into a pie shell and freeze for about an hour until firm.