All across the country, farmers markets and CSA programs are gaining popularity. This year my boyfriend and I are splitting a CSA share with a friend of ours and I try to get to at least one farmers market a week. However, I often come home with bags overflowing with food, only to be confronted with the challenge of how to best use these new fruits and veggies. While many are old friends, I've frequently found myself purchasing kohlrabi or foot long Chinese beans without any clue as to how to prepare them. Luckily, Deborah Madison has stepped up with a beautiful book called Local Flavors that often bridges my personal knowledge gap.
Madison opens up the book with a introduction that describes the journey she's been on for many years now, visiting and sampling farmers markets from all over the country. Madison presents information from farmers, market managers and others who are involved in local growing, talking about the ways in which buying food directly from the people who produced it is a huge boon to your local economy. Just before heading into the recipes, she offers ten market tips that are great for people for whom shopping at farmers markets can be a little intimidating.
The recipes included in this book are, for the most part, both deeply simple and totally delicious sounding. Madison demonstrates how if you are using fresh, seasonal food, you don't have to put energy into covering up flavors. Instead, you can add little touches to bring out the inherent goodness of what you have, making meal prep so much easier. One recipe that leaped off the page at me was the one for Spaghetti with Overgrown Arugula and Sheep's Milk Ricotta. The arugula that's been showing up in my CSA share has been getting larger and leggier with each week and this seems like an amazing way to use it up.
If you are a devoted farmers market shopper who is in need of a little inspiration, this would be an excellent cookbook to add to your collection. Same goes for those newer CSA members who keep receiving veggies that were previously unknown to them. Deborah Madison has created a beautiful cookbook that will be of use for years to come.
These late spring weeks mean lots and lots of fresh, young greens at the Farmers' Markets and in CSA shares. Wandering my local market yesterday, the tables were bursting with the vivid colors of arugula, tender spinach leaves and lots and lots of salad mixes. One of the things I love about this bounty of greens is the knowledge that they are super fresh and very close to the soil from which they came.
Recently, as I was washing a batch of soft baby lettuces, I found a tiny, curled up pill bug. A bowl of arugula yielded the blade of grass you see above (it was actually one of five long, grassy bits I found in that bag). If I had found grass in the soulless bags of spring mix I sometimes buy from the supermarket, I would have been irritated, thinking it meant that their cleanliness standards weren't up to snuff. In this situation, instead of being annoyed, I was instantly charmed, because I could imagine the earth, water and sun that had worked together to produce those greens.
When I was growing up, we ate a whole world of vegetables. Artichokes, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, onions, potatoes, cabbage, string beans, beets, spinach, squash and mushrooms regularly crossed our plates. Because of this early initiation into the world of veggies, when I moved out into the world on my own, I cooked for myself happily and with great variety.
However, as I started shopping at Farmers' Markets and local produce stands, I discovered that for as many vegetables that were old friends, there were still just as many I had yet to explore. So I made a point of trying out new veggies, trying not to be turned off simply because things were unfamiliar (my grandmother Bunny would have been so proud).
Earlier this week, I decided to take on the fava bean. Favas first entered my awareness when I was nine, because that was the year that Silence of the Lambs came out and even though I didn't see the movie until years later, it was hard to avoid the infamous line in that movie that includes a reference to fava beans. I'd seen the beans, in their huge, fuzzy pods, at my local produce market for the last couple of springs, but I'd never purchased them, mostly because I had no idea what to do with them. But on Monday, I decided to be brave and bought two pounds.
On a recent trip to the farmer's market, sunflower sprouts from Claverach Vineyard and Organic Farm were one of the only local greens we could find . My husband and I had never had sunflower sprouts before, but we were determined to use them. We asked the grower for some advice on what to do with them. She suggested a salad with the sprouts, some avocado, and some lemon.
We followed her advice, plus we added some goat cheese, garlic, and truffle oil and had an incredible salad. This worked much better than our plan before talking to the grower (to cook the sprouts with some pasta). Apparently, you should eat sprouts raw. I know, I'm a food blogger, I should be aware of these things. However, I don't know it all. I'm constantly learning.
Moral of the story: Don't shy away from items you are not familiar with at your local markets. If you see something and you're not sure what to do with it, ask the grower. They are full of great ideas!
Beth D'Addono writes about becoming a compassionate carnivore (one who makes sure to only buy and consume meat from producers who raise their animals in a humane manner). Challenges include the fact that she isn't able to buy meat at regular supermarkets, limited availability and higher prices.
Farmers' Market season kicked off early in the Philly region this year, and while prices are higher than they were last year, there are still good deals to be had.
I am eagerly awaiting the opening of my beloved Headhouse Square Farmers Market this weekend, and so this picture caught my eye since I have local and seasonal produce on the brain. I am jealous of Princess Peach, as she has had gorgeous produce at her local farmers market now for sometime. Darn Californians (Don't throw things at me CA folks, I tease because I love). Thanks Princess Peach for adding your picture to our Flickr pool.
Top chefs in Los Angeles are livid over changes in business at the famed Wednesday Santa Monica Farmer's Market. Seems they can't get to the produce they need for their own restaurants anymore. Produce companies catering to restaurants and markets elsewhere lock up the deals in advance, according to a piece in the Los Angeles Times this weekend.
"Look at all of these trucks," fumed one chef quoted in the piece. "This isn't a farmer's market anymore. It's some kind of boutique wholesale operation.
I am officially ready for spring to arrive. We've had little tastes of sunny, balmy weather out here in Philadelphia recently and it makes me long for warm days and farmers markets full of fresh, amazing produce. This picture of pints of blueberries and raspberries takes me straight to those summer days of bountiful fruits and vegetables. I want to crawl right in.
If you've taken food pictures that inspire these feels of wanting to crawl right into the scene, then you should come over and join us at the Slashfood Flickr Group.
This week's New York Times Dining and Wine section has a terrific video up of Alice Waters (the woman who changed the way Americans eat) shopping at a New York Greenmarket. She is so effusive and enthusiastic about the food and the experience. She talks about how she approaches the market, what she looks for and how she lets the food guide her purchases and menu. Her passion for fresh food is so engaging that I've now watched the video three times, simply because I want to continue to bask in the light of her joy. It doesn't hurt that they also include some footage of the meal she whips up from her purchases (as well as a few grunts of satisfaction from those who were lucky enough to eat with her).
Last week, Kim O'Donnel, the blogger over at the Washington Post's food blog A Mighty Appetite asked the question, "How far does $20 go at the farm market?" Farmers market shoppers from all over her area answered the call, and the comments on that post have gotten pretty interesting, not only including lists of what people bought but also what they planned to do with it.
I made a stop at my favorite Philly area farmers market today, and attempted to stay within a $20 budget so see what I could get (I confess, I went $2 over). The list of what I bought is after the jump. If you are a farmers market shopper, what can you get in your area for $20?
I went a little overboard with the tomatoes at the farmers' market on Tuesday morning. I already had a few nice yellow ones from a market visit over the weekend and then ended up buying several heirlooms as well as an overflowing pint of black cherry tomatoes. When I came home tonight, I noticed that the black cherry tomatoes were starting to get just slightly wrinkled and needed to be used as soon as possible.
I picked them over, tossing out the couple that were too far gone and poured the rest into a glass baking dish. I gave them a little drizzle of olive oil, along with a sprinkling of salt and pepper and popped them into the oven at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes. When I took them out, they had softened and created a gorgeous juice. I ate them over a scoop of quinoa (they'd also be great tossed with pasta), topped with a nice handful of crumbled feta cheese. These little guys started out pretty sweet, but the addition of roasting made them even sweeter. This is a great way to handle grape and cherry tomatoes in the winter when they aren't in their prime the way they are now.
Despite all my foodie tendencies, I've never made stuffed squash flowers. I grew up with zucchini plants in the backyard every summer and I don't even remember an opportunity to harvest the flowers. I guess they are one of those delicacies that are only available during a very short window of time and if you miss it, then you are out of luck.
However, I've been gazing at the pictures and recipes that other food bloggers have been posting of their own squash blossoms and my curiosity has been piqued. I'm planning on getting over to my favorite local farmers' market early next Sunday, in the hopes that I'll be able to snatch up a few of these little guys for my own experimentation. In the meantime, I will just have to satisfy myself with the digital fruits of the labors of others. Like this recipe for Squash Blossoms Stuffed with Goat Cheese that the Curdnerd posted (he got it from the Santa Barbara Independent). Looks fairly simple and (I imagine) so delicious.
For consumers who want to stick with local products, the produce section at the market will be stocked through the end of October. It only takes some imagination to know what to do with autumn's bounty, which includes things from apples to winter squash. The Tribune gives tips on how to store these fruits and vegetables, and offers a few recipes: Pumpkin Jam, Spiced Oragnic Carrot Soup, Vanilla-scented Kohlrabi with Creamed Greens, and Duck with Pear-Cardamom Puree and Caramel Almonds.
All across the country, farmers markets and CSA programs are gaining popularity. This year my boyfriend and I are splitting a CSA share with a friend of ours and I try to get to at least one farmers market a week. However, I often come home with bags overflowing with food, only to be confronted with the challenge of how to best use these new fruits and veggies. While many are old friends, I've frequently found myself purchasing kohlrabi or foot long Chinese beans without any clue as to how to prepare them. Luckily, Deborah Madison has stepped up with a beautiful book called Local Flavors that often bridges my personal knowledge gap. 
Call it: Chef's gone wild.
For consumers who want to stick with local products, the 
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