Blueberry peach cobbler cups

Easy dessert perfection: Cute cobbler cups featuring juicy summer blueberries and peaches, topped with a buttery biscuit crust.

I probably don't need to wax poetic with you about the awesomeness of summer fruit, do I?

I hope not. I mean, just look at that fruit, juicy goodness up there, would you?!

Blueberries + Peaches 4 Evah

And I don't think it was merely a coincidence that the universe decided to have both blueberries and peaches hitting their stride at the same time in the summer. They are simply perfect together in so many juicy ways.

But as much as I love to eat both blueberries and peaches fresh, by the handful or slice, respectively, or to freeze them by the bagful for winter smoothies, they are amazing to cook with as well. A blog oldie but goodie, my blueberry bread is a house favorite and I keep meaning to re-make those blueberry cobbler bars before the berries are gone this year (plus, they deserve a new photo shoot, don't you think?). And if you haven't added the peach cake muffins to your late summer breakfast rotation, you need to fix that ASAP.

Sweet and savory summer peach recipes

Enjoy fresh, juicy peaches in not only sweet recipes but also savory ones: try these five easy, delicious recipes while peaches are in season.

PEACHES!!

There, now that I have your attention, let's talk about peaches. I'll admit, there's little better than eating a ripe, juicy peach, still warm from the sun, on a hot summer day. But when I've gotten a haul of fresh peaches, I can't eat all of them single-handedly. After freezing them for winter smoothies or canning them as peach puree for my homemade granola, I turn to these five recipes.

For your sweet tooth, I've got a grab-and-go breakfast muffin, an easy crumble and an unusual cobbler. But peaches are just as fantastic in savory dishes, especially when paired with their summer cousins, fresh tomatoes, or even tangy blue cheese.

Yep, The Ninj is serving peaches for dinner.

Blueberry peach crumble

Super-easy blueberry peach crumble with juicy summer fruit and a toasty oat crumble topping. Enjoy it for breakfast or dessert -- or both!

It's pretty much the perfect storm of summer fruit out there right now, isn't it? Everything I love is happening all at once: the strawberries and cherries are winding down, while the blueberries and peaches are totally kickin' it.

My freezer is a sea of vacuum-sealed bags of frozen summer fruit, ready to make the best winter smoothies (I don't know where I'd be without my FoodSaver vacuum sealer!).

But I'm not just freezing all my summer fruit: heck no! I'm eating it like there's no tomorrow and I'm also cooking with it.

One way I've used fresh peaches and blueberries (they are just THE BEST partners, aren't they??!!) is in this super-easy blueberry peach crumble.

Now, little known fact: a lot of people misuse the words "crumble" and "crisp" when describing their baked fruit desserts. I grew up on apple crisp that included oats in the topping. Apparently, that was a crumble, not a crisp. By definition, a crumble is just a crisp with oats in its topping -- or maybe it's that a crisp is just a crumble without oats.

(What the ... ?)

Regardless, this blueberry peach crumble is ridiculously easy to make and is so good and fresh that I almost enjoy it more for breakfast than I do for dessert.

Peach cake muffins (gluten-free)

Lightened, gluten-free breakfast muffins with all the flavor of fresh peach cake in a handy grab-and-go size.

Can you tell that I'm still holding on to summer? Yep, I'm still talking about peaches.

(I might possibly be the only food blogger on the planet that is not writing about that other type of orangey produce that begins with "p.") Vive le seasonality!

I'm not having a difficult time holding on to it either because we've had a return to (or rather no respite from) the hot, humid, dog days of summer here in Kentucky. Lots of 90-degree days, which makes me continue to crave cold salads, tomato sandwiches and summer fruit.

Ah, summer fruit. Ripe berries, juicy stone fruits -- I can't get enough. I picked up a bag of peaches from my local farmers last week and they told me they were the very last ones of the season. Gah! The last ones! I turned a good number of them into a gorgeous peach puree (it's dynamite as a substitute for applesauce in my homemade granola) but still had a couple left for these peach cake muffins.

CSA Share Ninja Rescue 2013: basil, peaches and peppers

Happy Monday -- the day we share the CSA Share Ninja Rescue, a weekly feature in which you tell me on Fridays what veg you got in your CSA share box (or found at the farmers' market) that you don't know what to do with and I'll give you a whole bunch of recipe ideas on the following Monday.


This week we're pleasing both coasts: west coast readers want help with an overabundance of peppers and peaches (we're jealous here in Vermont!) and east coasters have a glut of gorgeous green basil.

Basil

• Lemon-lime basil shortbread cookies: Tangy and crisp, these cookies taste like summer
• Classic pesto: Tried-and-true James Beard recipe -- try jazzing it up by subbing half the basil for arugula, too
• Basil jelly: Gorgeous color and delicate flavor -- so unique!
• Strawberry-basil gimlet: You know The Ninj had to sneak one booze recipe into the veggie mix

Peaches

• Peach and bean pasta: It may sound a little strange but it is an oh-so-yummy combination
• Peach cobbler: Described by one of The Ninj's followers as being "like angels are feeding you clouds of peach-flavoured unicorn tears." With an endorsement like that, how could you not try it?
• Blueberry-peach muffins: A lovely breakfast muffin that's perfect for this awesome summer fruit combination

Peppers

• Roasted red pepper cheese spread: Classier,  yummier pimento cheese -- awesome on paninis
• Washabinaros chili: Billed as "wasabi chili" with three kinds of hot peppers -- you've gotta try this
• Cilantro-serrano cream sauce: Cool and spicy, great as a dip or a topping for fish tacos

What's going on in your garden? Do you have tomatoes yet? Leave a comment: The Ninj wants to know.

Blueberry-peach cobbler with sugar cookie crust

Blueberry-peach cobbler with sugar cookie crust

So this is kinda fun: this post represents my first time participating in the Secret Recipe Club.

Here's how it works: each month I am assigned another member's blog (a different one each month). I then pick any recipe from that blogger's site, make it and write about it here. There's also a link hop at the end of the post so that I (and you) can check out all the other participating blogs.

Neat idea, right? I'm excited to see who got the Ninj and what s/he decided to make!

This month I got to check out the offerings from Jenn at A Cook's Quest. She has lots of great recipes, especially if you are cooking on a budget. But of course I knew which recipe I'd choose when I came across her sugar cookie crust for fruit cobbler.

Or cobblah, if you're a New Englandah.

Tomato-peach chutney

Tomato-peach chutney

Just a quick recipe today that you might want to try this weekend, given that it is high season for both tomatoes and peaches.
Hurry, though -- peaches are ending and tomatoes are kicking into high gear, so it's like we're in that little egg-shaped intersection of a Venn diagram, or what we all now seem to refer to as a "perfect storm." But I think that's a little dark and negative when we're talking amazing summer fruit and veg.

Or maybe "Perfect Storm Chutney" is just the right name for it!

I made this chutney (remember, it's not a compote if there are veggies and vinegar in it) to go with some lovely little pork patties -- a bit like a miniburger but bunless. It was a perfect combination. But I can also see this pairing really nicely with grilled chicken.

Or how about spreading it like a jam on summer harvest zucchini bread?

Peach and bean pasta: a recipe

Peach and bean pasta with grilled chicken

It's peach season -- and I couldn't be happier.

I've been eating and cooking with them almost as fast as I've been slicing them up and freezing them using my new handheld vacuum sealer. (If you freeze much, you need one of these things. NEED.)

As everyone else does, I love all the sweet and desserty possibilities of peaches: crumbles, tarts, muffins, jams, galettes, smoothies ... the list is seemingly endless.

But I also learned a few years ago that peaches are amazing when grilled and paired with cheese at dinnertime.

They get all warm and practically melty, just perfect in a nice salad or next to a gorgeous grilled piece of beef.

Or chicken, in this case. With blue cheese.