Nothing makes me happier than a ripe peach.  There isn’t another flavor I enjoy more than this tree-ripened, fuzzy fruit.  I like the way peach juice drips down your hand and funnels off your elbow.  Kids make great slurping noises with a peach.  You just don’t get that with a banana. 

My local farm market has an abundance of peaches hauled up from a farming friend in South Carolina.  I love that this market uses other farms for produce that isn’t ready here.  This way I can get tree-ripened peaches from June to August.  Weekly I haul home a basket and use peaches at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Peaches are full of phytochemicals, the compounds that give fruits and vegetables color, texture and taste.  The two most important in peaches are lycopene and lutein.  These contribute to heart and eye healthy and can be beneficial in fighting cancer cells.

Last week the fruit fly population started to build around my basket of peaches.  I knew it was time to use some up quick.  I didn’t want anything sweet because honestly my husband has no self-control when it comes to peach desserts.  I’ve seen him polish off half a peach crisp in one evening!  Instead my mind went to a salsa and the following recipe is what resulted:

Black Bean Peach Salsa 

2 green onions

2 tomatoes

1 red pepper

3 peaches, peeled with pit removed

Big fist full of cilantro

1 can organic black beans

½ tsp. cumin

½ tsp. chili powder

2 Tbs. olive oil

2 Tbs. lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste

 Put first 5 ingredients in a food processor.  Pulse until chunky but not too small a chunk.  Add black beans and pulse just until broken in rough pieces.  Pour salsa into a bowl and add spices, olive oil and lime juice.  Stir to combine.  This is a bit more flavorful if you let it chill for a couple hours before serving. If you prefer a smoother salsa, you can puree longer. 

This post also appears at Real Food Wednesday.