After a week at home in the States, I had the unique opportunity to visit Finland on business during the week of the summer solstice. The Finns value their summers, and I can see why, especially after living in Beijing for a while. Just getting off the plane and taking a deep breath was a real treat, not to mention the fact that I could enjoy the long days after work, when the sun didn’t set until about 11PM. I took a few snapshots of the beautiful Baltic Sea on my evening walk.
Alas, when I returned to Beijing after this short trip, I came home to an empty fridge, and a trip to the market was desperately needed (Judy was still back in NJ at this point, so I went solo).
I’d had my share of salmon, fish and even some reindeer in Finland, but the lettuce in my salad was just about the only green vegetable I could find. In Beijing, however, the vegetables at the market never disappoint, and I bought some fresh asparagus, purple amaranth, bean sprouts, and some really nice choy sum. I’m planning to make some simple vegetable dishes that are both healthy and quite tasty, so keep a lookout for new posts in our recipe section.
The summer fruit was in full swing–much more exciting than the standard apples and oranges in Finland. Mangoes, lychees and mangosteens (the weird-looking purple fruit) are now readily available.
Crunchy Asian pears seem to be always available, but they’re especially great in summer (I’ll be needing their cooling Yin qualities in the likely event that I over-indulge in spicy food).
Late June is the beginning of the season for lychees, so the quality of the fruit will get better in the next month. I didn’t wait, so I grabbed some and plan on making a nice lychee cocktail or martini for the weekend. Cheers!
