The Rosy Bottomed Fig

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE summertime? It's my favorite season. I love the heat and the summer rains. I love the long days, the feeling of vacation, and riding with my windows down and the radio blasting. Most of all, I love the fresh fruits and vegetables!!

Today I was out in the "field" working. There's a fig tree at one of the sites and I've been watching it all summer. I was excited that my travels took me there today. To my delight, I could see the hints of the Rosy bottomed fig as I drove up. My colleague and I went in to work and when we came back out, I told her that I'd meet her back at the office shortly, but had to pick some figs.

I adore fresh figs. They're so tender and sweet. If you pick and eat them right away, they taste like "green". As figs ripen, they begin to turn from bright green to rose, starting at the blossom end. The red begins to peek out and as they turn, the rosy red bleeds up in stripes from the bottom toward the stem end. You can eat them a little green, which is how I prefer them, or wait until they're almost all the way red. The green flesh is thin and turns white just inside until you reach the red center, which is filled with tiny edible seeds. They soften as they ripen and if you wait a day too long, they split in half and fall from the tree.

My friend laughed as she prepared to leave me to my excitement over the figs. She said she'd never had fresh figs, to which I replied, well "you must have one" and plucking the first ripe fig, placed it in her hand. She smiled ear to ear as she drove away with a treasure that I only hoped she'd appreciate. I grabbed a small plastic container and began to fill it with figs.

The fruit hanging low was easy to pick and I filled my container once just from the low branches. But I could see so many more just out of reach! I pulled my car up under the branches and slipped off my shoes. I emptied the container into a plastic bag and climbed on top of my car to get to the higher branches.

Standing with one foot on the hood and one foot on the windshield, I must have looked like a crazy person! It was worth it. As I threaded my arms through the tangle of branches and thick, fuzzy leaves, I filled my container again with the delicious fragrant figs. The smell of fresh leaves and sweet fruit was intoxicating as I nearly climbed up into the tree.

By the end, I had easily a quart of fresh, delicious figs. Now, what to do with figs? First of all, they're delicious just as they are, washed of course. I like to enjoy fresh figs chopped up into a salad or with vanilla yogurt and granola for breakfast. They're delicious as preserves spread on warm bread. Speaking of bread, they're actually delicious baked into bread. For an easy appetizer, stuff them with Gorgonzola cheese and bake them just until the cheese is melty and the figs are warmed through, drizzling them with golden honey just before serving...yum!

Nutritionally, figs are spectacular. Figs are mostly water and are high in fiber (more than most other fruits), which make them great for helping you feel full. They're high in potassium and even provide a little iron and calcium. They're a great way to help meet the minimum of 5 servings of fruit and vegetables per day. And if you have a friend with a fig tree, or know of a covert location like mine, you can get them for free (and with the cost of food these days, that's a treat in itself). If all of that isn't enough...they're just delicious!