Fennel

Fencing is a serious sport and Fennel is a serious Foeniculum vulgare. In addition to his lethal defensive stance, Fennel is known for pestering the competition with his frond-covered foil. We anticipate that the Olympic Fencing Finals will be no different.

When asked what victory tastes like, Fennel responded, "It tastes like licorice." Personally, we think that victory also tastes like roasted fennel garlic white bean crostini, fennel orange salad, and fennel soup with fennel pesto.

Golden Melon

You train for years.  You wake up every day before the sun rises and fight through the pain just to have a chance to participate.  You try, fail, and fail again.  Every once in a while you have a good day.  Finally, you kick off the 2012 Summer Olympics!  The Kale Crusaders are inspired by the talent, the athleticism, and the potential to generate 2.5 weeks of Olympics-themed puns.

And that's why we hope every athlete goes for the Golden Melon.

Mr. Melon, through his many fans, has picked up monickers like Golden Honey Melon, Yellow Melon, Korean Melon, and Cham Way.  He is kind of an all-star athlete. Refreshing and thirst-quenching in popsicles and fruit salads, and simply delicious au naturale, Golden Melon is ready to take on the world.  Good luck to all of our athletes!

Stone Fruits

The Rolling Stone Fruits band members Peach, Nectarine, Plum, Apricot, and Cherry team up for yet another reunion tour this summer. Brace yourself for sex, drugs, rock'n'roll, stone fruit popsicles, stone fruit antipasto, and stone fruit empanadas with stone fruit salsa!

Apricot

Apricot is not as much underrepresented as he is misunderstood. Small in stature and often found in dried form, Apricot has a tendency to get lost in a sea of stone fruits. Frequently, you will find him having to share the limelight with Peach, Nectarine, and Plum.

But who are we kidding, really? Obviously we are suckers for rosemary apricot tahini bites, apricot snack bars, raspberry apricot crumble, and apricot jam.

P.S. Hattip to our biggest Google+ fan, Joe, for nominating Hot Shot Apricot.

P.P.S. In his nomination, Joe also mentioned "I think he could wear an ascot." Not ones to pass up an opportunity to feature our favorite piece of neck apparel, today we have included a special bonus cartoon!

Gooseberry

Even without the goose bill, Gooseberry looks like an alien from another planet. But she's nice, trust us!  Fortunately, Ms. Goose is in season in the United States right now, and throughout the year she can be seen travelling around the world.

When it comes to snacking, you can go the more traditional berry route with gooseberry pie, or the slightly less traveled route with gooseberry fool. If you'd like to spice things up a bit, try some gooseberry chutney, or, for the feign of heart, consider cooling things down with gooseberry juice.

P.S. Thanks to Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes and her Chocolate Decadence Cake for the inspiration!

Basil

Like Snap, Crackle, and Pop before them, the notions of Liberté, Égalité, and Fraternité remind Basils to unite in celebration of Basil Day on July 14th. Basils around the world commemorate the beginning of the Basil Revolution with fireworks, parades, concerts, and massive feasts.

It is said that the French Bastille Day was inspired by the success of the Basil proletariat in overthrowing their own corrupt rulers.

For those of you scrambling to plan your Basil Day menu for tomorrow, here are some ideas for a (horti)cultural Basil feast:
Salad course: Vegan Green Papaya Salad with Thai Basil
Pasta Course: Thai Pesto Pasta
Palate Cleanser: Cucumber Basil Sorbet
Entrée: Thai Green Curry / Kaeng Khiao Wan
Dessert: Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Basil

P.S. Are you aware of the mind-boggling number of Basil varieties in existence around the world? Holy Basil, Lemon Basil, Cinnamon Basil, Anise Basil...the list (and classification confusion) goes on and on.

Bitter Melon

Some days, Bitter Melon finds adversity at every turn.  When this happens, you will generally find him rolling around muttering "Oh Gourd" under his breath.  It turns out his street name is Bitter Gourd.

Then there are the good days, when he realizes that kitchens around the world love him and have welcomed him into their dishes with open arms.  Bitter Melon is quite the globetrotter, finding himself in Phinakbet in the Philippines, Pavakka Thoran in South India, and Kho Qua in Vietnam.

P.S. Hattip to Kale Crusader Arvind for nominating Bitter Melon!

P.P.S. Bitter Melon soda has an amazing mascot!

P.P.P.S. Did you know that there is a National Bitter Melon Council?  Kudos to the council for being so self-aware.

Pepitas

Who knew that Pepitas, also known as hulled Pumpkin Seeds, pack such a powerful punch?

Mole!  Roasted pepita pesto!  Pepita brittle!?  Pepitas are fun friends to cook and eat.  Try them today!

Stawberry & Blueberry

Happy (early) 4th of July!  In addition to acknowledging America's mid-summer yumfest holiday, we would like to take this opportunity to introduce you the U.S. Synchronized Swimming Berry Olympic team.  

Beloved individually, Team Strawberry and Team Blueberry will join forces in the Summer Olympic Games.  Show your support by making red, white, and blue fruit kebabs, fruit salads, and sweet pizza pies. (And while we're at it, the berry design inspires an easy-to-make flag cake!)

P.S. Given that this flag only has 48 stars (the whitespace between the blueberries), it would only be a valid cake between July 4, 1912 and July 3, 1959.  Thanks, Wikipedia!