Two pints of blueberries for $5. Just a few weeks ago, they were even cheaper. Sigh. How quickly summer passes. Hoarding sounds so greedy. Nicer to say stocking up or putting by. Call it what you will -- stockpile blueberries while they're in season.

Their flavor alone would be reason enough. Blueberries are sweet, but with delicate floral notes, perhaps a function of their family relationship to azaleas and rhododendrons.

These juicy gems are not only delectable, they're nutritional rock stars. With just 80 calories, one cup delivers about 20 percent of your daily vitamin C allowance, a goodly amount of digestion-enhancing fiber and a mother lode of phytonutrients.

Blueberries get their deep bluish-purple hue from anthocyanins, a flavonoid that gives them more antioxidant power than grapes or cranberries. And U.S. Department of Agriculture research suggests that consuming produce at the top of the antioxidant scale may slow down the aging process.

Blueberries may keep us young, but they don't hang around forever themselves. That's where freezing comes in: Rinse, blot dry and store your berries in freezer bags. Lay them flat so the berries can freeze without clumping. They can last up to a year.

Though they freeze beautifully, blueberries morph into mush upon thawing, so use them straight from the freezer in smoothies and muffin or pancake batter and enjoy the sweet taste of summer all year long.

Ellen Kanner writes about vegetarian concerns. She blogs at www.edgyveggie1.blogspot.com.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@