Hy-Vee Recipes and Ideas

If you like knowing your food is locally grown, look for the Hy-Vee Homegrown logo and signs throughout the produce department. It means the produce was grown within 200 miles of your store. Late summer is generally the best time to find our Homegrown picks. 

Most melons will have a sweet aroma when ripe. Look for ones that feel heavy for their size. While cantaloupe, watermelon, and honeydew are classics, don't let summer slip away without trying specialty melon varieties. 

Uses: Skewer with feta cheese, wrap in prosciutto, or garnish cocktails.

Nectarines are a subspecies of peaches and have a similar sweetness and intoxicating fragrance. The biggest difference is that nectarines lack the fuzzy skin. Both are either "clingstone," meaning the pit sticks to the flesh, or "freestone," meaning the pit separates easily. White peaches and white nectarines are known for being less acidic, but still just as tasty.

Uses: Grill, make overnight oats, or bake in a galette or pancakes.

Pineapples are the only fruit that contain a special enzyme called bromelain, which works as a meat tenderizer and also has anti-inflammatory properties. For the most straight-forward way to cut a pineapple, watch this. 

Uses: Use pineapple as a marinade and topping in these fajitas, or grill to make a smoky pineapple margarita or BBQ kabobs.

Pro Tip: Skip the cutting altogether and get the Hy-Vee Short Cuts pineapple chunks.

Tomatoes come in all shapes, sizes, and colors and contain a good amount of vitamins C and A. Heirloom tomatoes are ones that have been in existence for at least 3 generations. Remember to store tomatoes at room temperature, not in the fridge.

Uses: Try them skewered and grilled, roasted and blended in soup, as a topping on a ricotta tart, or tossed in salad, but not a boring salad, a Watermelon and Heirloom Tomato Chicken Salad. 

Summer squash, such as gold bar and zucchini pictured here, have thin, tender, edible skins. They can be eaten raw or cooked, and are now commonly spiralized to make "noodles."

Uses: Peel into long ribbons for salad, bake into pizza crust or chocolate muffins, or roast to make veggie fries.

Sometimes called string beans, green beans (and yellow wax beans) have a tender-crisp texture and mildly sweet flavor. 

Uses: Gently cook to retain texture. Pair them with blue cheese and walnuts, pickle them, or there's the holiday staple, green bean casserole. 

Basil is a member of the mint family and has a peppery-sweet taste that reminds most people of summer. The best way to keep basil fresh is to buy the whole plant from the produce department. Keep it in a sunny spot and water regularly. 

Uses: It's famous for pesto, but also try it in salad dressing, cocktails, and in orzo. 

If you thought basil was versatile, you haven't met oregano. Fresh oregano has an assertive, woodsy flavor, but somehow works magic in everything from pizza sauce to taco meat to dipping sauces, and more. 

Uses: Make frozen herb cubes for fast and flavorful cooking, drop fresh oregano into soups, or use to top scrambled eggs.

If you've ever made a stew and thought it was missing something, it was thyme. It has a flavor that's earthy but almost citrusy. To remove the leaves, hold a sprig at the top and slide your fingers down to strip off the leaves.

Uses: Add to dinner rolls or garlic bread, spaghetti or spaghetti squash, and cocktails or spritzers.

With its pinelike, woodsy flavor, rosemary is more potent than most herbs, and its flavor is not subdued by cooking. Since it can be on the overpowering side, a little goes a long way.

Uses: While it's great for seasoning roasted vegetables in the fall, we especially like it in tea and bourbon.

Pro tip: Add rosemary stems and sprigs to coals just before grilling.