What's in season: Apricots and other stone fruit are a common sight at market stands this time of year, but the flavorful fruit are really starting to come into season. Apricots, including sweet, plump Helena apricots, large Robadas and fragrant Poppy apricots, as well as crimson Flavor Royal pluots and other pluots and apriums (hybrid fruit created by crossing apricots with plums) are making a colorful show with a season that typically lasts well through the hot summer months. Green apricots — unripe apricots similar in appearance to almonds — pop up occasionally at the odd stand; these are bitter- or sour-flavored fruit often used for pickling.
What to cook: Sometimes the best apricots are best savored as a simple snack, with a stack of napkins handy to help with each juicy bite. Slice the fruit to add sweet notes to a quick salad, or halve and grill apricots to caramelize the sugars before serving alongside a simple scoop of ice cream. Turn the fruit into a shrub — a sweetened, vinegar-based drink also called "drinking vinegars" — or add diced fruit to a summer sangria. If adding to a tart, galette or crumble, the skins are easily removed before using: Score the base of each fruit with an X, then place in boiling water just until the skin begins to curl. Remove the fruit to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and peel the skin away as soon as the fruit is cool enough to handle.
What's on the horizon: Tomatillos, wrapped in their delicate paper skins, are making a good show at a number of stands, and corn is starting to show up.
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