In the Spotlight - Apricots

Apparently if you dream of apricots it is meant to bring you good luck. I'm not so sure about that, but apricots are certainly a good source of Vitamin C when fresh and when dried they are a concentrated source of beta-carotene, fibre and potassium. Although they have a short season in the UK - they come in July and are gone by the end of August - don't forget that they are also available tinned; try to choose those in natural juice if you can or at least drain off the sugary syrup if that is all you can find. Buying apricots tinned can also be a more economical option, as they are not a cheap fruit to buy fresh.

We talked about how dried apricots might be used in the previous post, but what could you do with them when they are fresh or tinned? I know it comes up time and time again, but if you're a lover of cereal for breakfast, they can be chopped and added to your bowl. In fairness they might not go that well with cornflakes, but I think they are an ideal partner for Weetabix or porridge. Apricots also work well in savoury dishes to accompany pork, chicken and pulses - a favourite of mine is a tagine, a North African dish, which you can think of as like a slow-cooked stew with spices and indeed contains apricots. If you prefer your fruit in a dessert, apricots can be stewed on their own or maybe with apple - perhaps with some added cinnamon or ginger - and served with natural yoghurt, custard or used as the base for a crumble.

For further ideas using apricots to tempt your taste buds, visit the following links:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/search.do?keywords=apricot
http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/popular-ingredients/apricot
http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipes/tag-1922/apricot-recipes.aspx?search
http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/search?q=apricot

As I was happily typing away about the nutrients in the first paragraph it struck me that although my regular followers and anyone with a grasp of nutrition will be well aware of what each of these nutrients is important for, anyone picking up a post by chance might not be. It's perhaps time I invested in a post on the blog that details all the macronutrients - protein, fat, carbohydrate and fibre - and micronutrients - vitamins and minerals - that I can direct people to, rather than assume prior knowledge. There might also be enough scope for a nutrient blog in itself...though perhaps a second blog is slightly ambitious.

Photo by carol via Wikimedia Commons