Monday, May 19, 2008

Catching up on market reports, and One Local Summer

Boy, am I behind on market reports!

Two weekends ago I had a marvelous score at the Worthington Farmer's market: dried beans! We have a dearth of shelling beans at the markets around here, so finding that Pop and Judy had a whole slew of varieties was pretty darn thrilling! I bought soybeans, black turtle, calypso (black and white), soldier, stuben, and light (pink floyd) and dark (red ryder) kidneys. I used some of the dark red beans in a Jamaican rice-and-beans dish, and they came out perfectly!

The last few market days have seen me with asparagus (will I ever buy enough to freeze?) and morels (this was probably the last week); spinach (my own is floundering) and lettuce (mine is almost ready to harvest!); baby leeks (most wonderful thing EVER) and scallions (mine are tiny, and I only planted a few.)

I saw some leeks and scallion plants for sale at a local garden center. I didn't buy any, but I may go back and pick some up. I may have to dig a new plot for them, but I would love to have them in my garden (though my partner did point out that there is NO way that I could plant enough leeks. I do love them!) I picked up some yellow pear (closest I could come to sungold) and grape tomato plants, so it looks like I am giving tomato gardening another shot.

What have I been doing with my market finds? I have finally conquered risotto, and I will post my method (it's a method rather than a recipe) soon. I really like the onion-green veggie-mushroom combination (it's best with ramps, asparagus and morels.) I've both roasted and steamed asparagus and made a lovely salad with some local grilling cheese (only I fried it, because fried cheese is awesome.)

In other news, I have joined the One Local Summer challenge, hosted by Farm to Philly this year. I must produce at least one local meal a week, with the only exceptions being oil, salt and pepper, and spices. I am quite looking forward to it!

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