Playing with Your Food – Week 9

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Aug 142014
 

Cucumber Blossoms

“Playing With Your Food” is a weekly post highlighting a few of the many great uses for the wide range of produce and artisan food at the Salem Farmers’ Market, a Salem Main Streets project.  While we can never predict exactly what our farms will be able to bring each week, we do our best to reflect some of the fun items we’ve found recently and what’s likely to be available for the upcoming week.  Hopefully this will give you a few new ideas to play with, and inspire you to try some new things at the market.

The true summer market season is most definitely here!  The trucks arriving at the market each week are chock full of goodies, the tables are almost sagging under the weight of all this beautiful produce, and if you have a vegetable garden of your own, chances are you have one culprit that’s producing faster than you can handle.  Chances are it’s a vine-based plant, like squash.

Clark Farm - Week 5

Cucumbers and Squash at the Clark Farm stand

Me, I’m drowning in cucumbers.  Everything I purchase at the market and every meal I plan must somehow incorporate cucumbers.  At the market, they’re incredibly affordable and can be found in several different varieties – check out the “Tasty Jade” cukes at Maitland Mountain Farm! Here are just a few of my favorite uses for cukes:

  • Tzatziki – easy and healthy, we have used this on practically EVERYTHING – salads, sandwiches, burgers, you name it!
  • Cucumber Avocado Soup – light and decadent at the same time.
  • Cold Rice Noodles with Peanut-Lime Chicken – or other similar cold noodle salads.
  • Quick Pickles – this slightly fancy take is very easy and extremely adjustable – use basil instead of shiso, rice wine vinegar in place of mirin or omit entirely, and use any cucumbers you like so long as you slice thinly.  And honestly, they’re still delicious if you can’t stand to wait 4 hours.
  • Gazpacho – ok, so I use canned tomatoes rather than fresh.  You can use fresh if you feel offended by that.
  • In cocktails, especially with gin, like the Eastside.
  • Tip – if you grow at home, try using cucumber blossoms as a garnish!  They’re absolutely edible and have an interesting cucumber-y taste.  Aim for the male blossoms, or just use the female blossoms if you’re concerned about having too big a crop.

But what about jar pickles?!  Don’t worry, we’ll discuss pickling at a later date.  For now, just enjoy the fact that the cukes are green and fresh and everywhere.

Cucumbers

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Playing With Your Food – Week 8

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Aug 062014
 

Wallys 2 - Week 5

“Playing With Your Food” is a weekly post highlighting a few of the many great uses for the wide range of produce and artisan food at the Salem Farmers’ Market, a Salem Main Streets project.  While we can never predict exactly what our farms will be able to bring each week, we do our best to reflect some of the fun items we’ve found recently and what’s likely to be available for the upcoming week.  Hopefully this will give you a few new ideas to play with, and inspire you to try some new things at the market.

The true workhorses of the summer are finally hitting their stride – tomatoes, corn, and eggplant.  This is arguable (cucumber is definitely on the fence), but tomatoes, corn, and eggplant work hard during their relatively short time frame.  This is the first of two posts we’ll be doing on this solid trio of produce.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are the summer superstars of any farmers’ market.  The difference between a local, seasonal tomato from your garden/local market and a watery, mealy tomato from the supermarket in January is immense.  There are SO many things that can be done with tomatoes, simple or otherwise, that it seems silly to talk about what to do with them, but here are a few specific ideas:

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Eggplant at Wally’s Vegetables

Eggplant

You’re either an eggplant fan or you’re not; I haven’t met people who are ambivalent to eggplant.  Whether it’s a side or the main dish, eggplant is one of the most versatile vegetables at the market:

Corn

Everyone knows what to do with corn, right?  Actually, no, because everyone seems to have their own favorite way to use corn, the correct shucking method, best cooking technique, etc.  Here are a few different approaches:

And even better…

2013-07-24 21.19.22

Base for Eggplant and Ricotta Spaghetti

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Playing With Your Food – Week 7

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Jul 302014
 
Clark Farm - Week 6

Cherry and grape tomatoes at Clark Farm’s stand

“Playing With Your Food” is a weekly post highlighting a few of the many great uses for the wide range of produce and artisan food at the Salem Farmers’ Market, a Salem Main Streets project.  While we can never predict exactly what our farms will be able to bring each week, we do our best to reflect some of the fun items we’ve found recently and what’s likely to be available for the upcoming week.  Hopefully this will give you a few new ideas to play with, and inspire you to try some new things at the market.

It’s so interesting to see how the colors of the market change from week to week.  A few weeks ago, we were looking at a sea of pink and green – now the true summer rainbow is starting to emerge.   Tomato season is not yet 100% here, but the tide is certainly starting.  The corn is here to stay, the blueberries have been out in force, and looking at my garden, eggplant is on its way.  This week, we’re playing with a few colorful ingredients that are, oddly enough, all members of the nightshade family – starting with the familiar and moving to the downright unusual.

2014-07-18 20.05.48

Potatoes from Heavens Harvest

Cherry Tomatoes

While the full-size tomatoes are still ripening, cherry tomatoes of all shapes and sizes are definitely here.  Do you really need me to tell you what to do with them?  Chances are you’re so happy popping them in your mouth that they won’t even make it home!  That said, here are a few fun ideas:

  • Sun Gold Tomato Pasta – easiest pasta ever, but only worth making during the summer.  Use any small tomatoes you like, don’t worry about holding out for sun golds.
  • Rosy Chicken – it’s rose season, too (the wine, not the flower – our website doesn’t like the accent)!  Put it to work.
  • Just slice a few up along with some chunks of Wolf Meadow Farm‘s mozzarella and splash with a little red wine vinegar for an instant summer salad – perfect for picnics!

Potatoes

The small, multicolor potatoes that start showing up at the market this time of year help make standard sides a little sassier.  Use them for any recipe that calls for small potatoes, but make sure that their colors get a chance to shine!

Clark Farm Husk Cherries - Week 6

Husk cherries…or whatever you call them… still in their wrappers.

 

Husk Cherries / Ground Cherries / Cape Gooseberries / whatever

Usually when I see something really rare and special at the market, I hold back a little while and make sure that our market customers get first dibs.  Sorry, guys; I threw that rule right out the window when I saw that Clark Farm had husk cherries last week.  I had to have them.  No one seems to agree on what to call them (made more complicated because there are apparently two species that are practically identical), or even what they taste like, but what you can expect is a unique, small bite of sweet, sour, and savory packed together.

  • Corn, Basil, and Ground Cherry Salad – the flavors in this summer salad are a great way to balance the complex flavors of the husk cherries, as well as highlighting other market goodies like corn, basil, and cucumbers.
  • Combine them with cherry tomatoes for any summer pasta dish (like the sun gold tomato pasta mentioned above).
  • Eat them raw on their own – I dare you to have just one.

 

Husk Cherries 1

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Playing With Your Food – Week 6

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Jul 232014
 
Sweet Lydia's Smores 1 - Week 6

S’mores experimentation with Sweet Lydia’s marshmallows

“Playing With Your Food” is a weekly post highlighting a few of the many great uses for the wide range of produce and artisan food at the Salem Farmers’ Market, a Salem Main Streets project.  While we can never predict exactly what our farms will be able to bring each week, we do our best to reflect some of the fun items we’ve found recently and what’s likely to be available for the upcoming week.  Hopefully this will give you a few new ideas to play with, and inspire you to try some new things at the market.

Edible Flower Bruschetta - Week 6

Bruschetta with edible flowers from Maitland

I try to be practical at the Farmers’ Market.  I look for ingredients that will help me cover the basics, or that I can use in a few different meals, or that are specific to the season.   But summer is also a time for parties and get-togethers, and sometimes you need something a little more special to spice things up (or to cover up the fact that it is WAY too hot to spend more than 5 minutes in the kitchen).  Thankfully, the market has a lot of options that will cover you for special occasions, or regular days that just need to feel special.  Here are a just a few things we’ve been playing with recently:

Edible Flowers

Did you ever notice those beautiful little plastic boxes full of flowers at the Maitland Mountain Farm stand?  Did you realize they were full of EDIBLE FLOWERS?  Well, they are, and the folks at Maitland can tell you all about the different types. You can sprinkle them on top of pretty much anything – pasta, soup, salad, or bruschetta.  Almost too pretty to eat!  Almost.

Fancy CheesesMilk and Honey Fromage Blanc - Week 6

In addition to the delicious artisan cheeses of Wolf Meadow Farm, everyone’s favorite green grocer Milk and Honey always has an array of interesting cheeses at their market stand.  I always love to see what new products they’ve brought!  This week, we tried this amazing honey lavender fromage blanc made with unsalted goat’s milk cheese.  It was absolutely delicious and surprisingly light, perfect for a summer snack on crackers or toast, or used to substitute ricotta in one of our favorite summer appetizers.  Why don’t you sprinkle a few edible flowers on there while you’re at it?

Marshmallows

Seriously, a farmers’ market that has marshmallows?  If you’ve ever had a marshmallow from Sweet Lydia’s, you wouldn’t question it. They are absolutely out-of-this-world and they CAN be roasted – though they melt a little faster than store-bought marshmallows, so keep your eye on them.  Roasting them under a broiler actually does very nicely, especially if you live in Salem and don’t have access to a fire pit.  Our household was split between whether the raspberry or the coconut was better roasted (psst, it was the raspberry).

This is only a small sliver of what’s available – we didn’t even touch on the chocolate bread at When Pigs Fly Bread, or Jodi Bee Bakes’ ridiculously good gluten-free and vegan cupcakes, or the infamous “turducken cookie” at The Cookie Monstah! What are your favorite “special occasion” treats from the Farmers’ Market?

Sweet Lydia's Smores 2 - Week 6

Squiiish…

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Playing With Your Food 2014 – Weeks 1 through 3

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Jun 252014
 
Wally's - Week 2

Produce at Wally’s Vegetables – Week 2

We started a little tradition with the 2013 Winter Market of posting ideas for recipes and uses for the many products you could find at the market, called “Playing With Your Food”.   Now that the 2014 Salem Farmers’ Market is in full swing, we thought it would be fun to start a similar tradition highlighting a few of the many great options for the range of produce and artisan food at the market each week.  While we can never predict exactly what our farms will be able to bring each week, we will do our best to reflect some of the fun items we’ve found recently and what’s likely to be available for the upcoming week.  Hopefully this will give you all a few new ideas to play with, and inspire you to try some new things at the market.

We’ll start with a round up from the first two weeks and the upcoming third week.

Strawberry and Rhubarb

Nothing says early summer like the combination of strawberry and rhubarb, but the season is always far too short.  Celebrate them now, or find a way to hang on them for winter when you’re desperately missing summer.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

Asparagus

The season for asparagus is almost already over.  Snatch some up while you still can!

Week 2 Greens and Alliums

Assorted Greens and Allium Options

Spring Allium Family

Spring onions, leeks, and scallions are popping up left and right, and they are ridiculously beautiful.  Grill them, fry them, saute them, whatever you please!

  • Grilled Spring Onions – the purple and green scallions we found at the Clark Farm stand last week are beautifully suited to this easy side dish
  • Leek Fritters – note that leeks this time of year may be a bit smaller than you’re used to seeing, so you’ll need to tweak recipes accordingly
Week 2 - Leek Fritters and Sauteed Pea Tendrils

Leek Fritters and Sauteed Pea Tendrils with Pork Chops

Odds and Ends

  • Pea Tendrils – we found these at the Long Hill Orchard stand last week and had no idea what to do with them.  Turns out a simple saute with garlic, lemon, and salt is all you need!
Prep for Winter - Freezing Berries

Berries in syrup, ready for the freezer

 

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