What's Ripe: Eat like a pirate -- fruit kebabs

As you read on the cover of today's Taste, grilling some summer fruits can be a great way of enjoying their great flavors. The heat dehydrates some of the moisture, leaving the wonderfully intense flavor of the fruit.

In "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," we find Capt. Jack Sparrow as part of a tropical fruit kebab, along with mangoes, papaya, pineapple and melons (cantaloupe is best). Those happen to be some of the best fruit to grill. Cut the fruit into large cubes and then thread them onto metal or wood skewers. If you're using wood skewers, be sure to soak them for about an hour to keep them from burning. It only takes a few minutes on the grill, turning them onto each side. A simple dipping sauce would be a small container of vanilla yogurt, 3 tablespoons of honey, the juice of two limes and 2 tablespoons of finely chopped mint. Mix them all together and drizzle over your kebabs.

White peaches and nectarines are also great summer fruit to grill. It's one fruit that doesn't need to soften before it is sweet. A good kebab combination is firm swordfish and white peaches. Smother with a marinade of 2 tablespoons each of olive oil, apple juice, lemon juice, rubbed sage and minced garlic. Grill for 7 to 10 minutes.

-- Michael Marks

In the bins	Growing area	Nutrition	Price	Buying tips
Lemon cucumbers	Salinas, local	low calories	89 cents to 99 cents per pound	They should have the color of a lemon; if they are mostly white, they are immature; if they're dark orange, they're past their prime.
Gala apples	San Joaquin	fiber	99 cents to $1.49 per pound	A few weeks late, but California's Valley new crop is coming in; Galas have higher sugar and water content, which means a shorter shelf life.
Litchi	Mexico, Israel	vitamin C	$3.99 to $4.99 per pound	A dull shell color is a sign of age; a bright shell color is a sign of freshness. Make sure there are no cracks in the rough skin.
Green onions	Salinas, Baja	low calories	59 cents to 79 cents per bunch	The horrible July heat will have its most immediate impact on "tiny" items, such as spring mix and green onions.

Source: Michael Marks, known as "Your Produce Man" during the noon news Mondays on Channel 13 (KOVR), has been in the produce industry for more than 25 years.