blackberries

I am in produce heaven right now. Since it's Summer, the farmers markets in my area are full of fruits and veggies in every color you can imagine. For good reason everyone is going sort of crazy for strawberries and cherries. But what about the oft-neglected blackberry? Despite it being a pretty yummy fruit, blackberries are usually the last of the baskets to be picked up whenever I hit the market. Here are a few reasons to buy a basket the next time you're in the produce aisle.

• They're full of fiber. It's important that you eat 25 to 30 grams of fiber every day. Besides helping with digestion, fiber may reduce your risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer, help lower your cholesterol, prevent heart disease, and flatten your belly. Blackberries are an easy (and tasty!) way to get more fiber into your diet — one cup of blackberries equals about 11 grams of fiber.
• They're high in vitamins C and K. Eating just half a cup of blackberries gives you 35 percent of your RDA of vitamin C and 25 percent of your RDA of vitamin K.
• They're high in antioxidants. It might sound like the name of a dinosaur, but proanthocyanidins are a type of antioxidant that may prevent cancer and heart disease. Lucky for us, blackberries are full of proanthocyanidins.
• They're low in calories. Blackberries are about one calorie per berry. That means you can eat a whopping 100 berries for a nutritious and filling 100-calorie snack.

Reader Brisas uploaded this photo of a baby chard, arugula, kohlrabi microgreens, avocado, and blackberry salad to the Savory Sights group in the YumSugar Community. It's dressed with a simple vinaigrette. Do you have an image of something delicious that you recently made or enjoyed? Upload it to the YumSugar Community and it may be featured here!

It's my favorite time of year in San Francisco: blackberry picking season. I discovered an especially fruitful patch on a frequent exercise route, and being an overly ambitious multitasker, I take a berry-picking break during my runs, and then jog home with my daily stash.

There are so many things I love about foraging for my own berries: being zero degrees removed from the local-food movement and knowing precisely what it is that I'm putting into my mouth; the gritty juiciness of the berries; the fact that they cost zero dollars. Oh, and the boundless possibilities of what I'm going to make!

Except I know, without a doubt, that the first thing I'll be doing is mixing myself a refreshing blackberry cocktail, muddled with lemon juice, syrup, and vodka, and garnished with fresh mint. See the recipe after the jump

A Summer cocktail party must have a specialty cocktail. At first I thought to serve a classic concoction like a martini or Manhattan, but when I came across this updated version of the sidecar — a drink dating back to World War I that consists of cognac, lemon juice, and orange liqueur — I knew I had to make it. The basic three ingredients are there, but the addition of pineapple juice and muddled blackberries provide a distinct and deceptively delicious taste. To ensure that I'm not making cocktails all night, I'll set the ingredients up on a table in the garden and print out the recipe on nice paper. Then, I'll encourage guests to shake their own cocktails!

I've also asked everyone to bring either beer or wine, so they'll be plenty to drink when the cocktails run out. For the recipe, read more

I grew up in a fruit-forward household, so I'm intrigued whenever I come across a variety I don't recognize. So when I found an article about mythical-sounding fruits called tayberries, I knew I needed to try them for myself. A cross between the Aurora blackberry and a European raspberry variety, this relatively young berry breed was developed at the Scottish Horticultural Research Institute, and named after the country's River Tay. It's been said to resemble the tart loganberry — a fruit I've never had the pleasure of trying — but with a sweeter finish. Follow me on my search to locate tayberries and see my comparison photos after the jump.

Although one can buy the famed Bi-Rite ice cream around the corner and creme brulee in Dolores Park, I still plan on making a delicious picnic dessert for my sister and her friends. The menu is healthy and light, so this theme will continue with a fruity, melt-in-your mouth crumble.

I chose this recipe because it utilizes blackberries: I'm always making sweet treats that feature strawberries or blueberries, but rarely plump juicy blackberries. These blackberry crumb bars come together quickly and simply and can be made up to three days in advance. To serve this recipe at your next picnic, read more