Beaverton Farmer's Market Part 5

It was good to get back to the farmer's market yesterday after missing last week. My wife and I were out house hunting, one of the many reasons for us to get a house is to be able to start growing our own food. I'll still hit the farmer's market, but it'll be great to grow my own. Also found out that garlic is planted in September, hopefully we'll have a place by then and I can try growing that first.

From my last post, I did use the basil to make a pesto sauce but found out that you really need two bunches of basil to make it work for about a pound of pasta. I'll try again later in the summer and get a good recipe together. Cooked the last of the potatoes as well, they taste great just roasted in the oven.

Yesterday walked through and found even more fruits and vegetables being sold. Picked up some large sweet onions, very large. Probably will only need a half for most of what I'll cook. Got more potatoes, one booth has a mix and match for the same price, grabbed reds, fingerlings, purples and yukons to roast.

Broccoli is now showing up. Usually when I get it in the supermarket they cut off most of the stem, I got three stalks to use. I cut the florets off and will use them for another meal and cook the stems. The florets of the broccoli can be steamed or sauteed or even eaten raw. Here is a basic recipe to use for broccoli stems.

Sauteed Broccoli Stems
2 to 3 stems
3 to 4 cloves of garlic
Olive oil
Italian seasoning
Balsamic vinegar
Lemon juice

1)Slice the garlic thinly and saute in olive oil for about a minute.
2)Cut the stems thinly, on an angle if possible for more even cooking, add to garlic.
3)Fry until garlic and stems are tender, about 5 to 6 minutes and add Italian seasoning, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice (about a tablespoon each), stir until well mixed and serve.

Artichokes are now in season, got two of them, medium sized. Be careful of the thorns on the leaves, I cut my index finger handing them over. Artichokes are easy to cook, simply cut the bottom stem off so that the artichoke can sit evenly. Also cut the top quarter of the artichoke. I boil them in a pot of water for about twenty to thirty minutes until the artichoke is tender, you can put a knife through the center easily.

Turn the artichoke upside down to drain out any water and peel the leaves off to eat. The outer leaves have less "meat" the ones closer to the heart have more. The bottom part of the leaf is edible, it's the most tender part. Also when buying artichokes look for a head that is very tightly closed.

Grabbed some more strawberries, their my wife's favorite as well as yellow plum tomatoes for snacking. New item to try this week, radishes. The greens on top are edible, try those in a salad and see how fresh radishes taste. I'm not much of a fan, but it's worth a shot.

Beaverton Farmer's Market Part 4

Another week, another opportunity to cook with local fresh food. First stop was off to get more rhubarb to make another pie, picked up three stalks to cook with. Over to the place where I got the butter ball potatoes last week. Only used about half of them, just roasted them with olive oil and some seasoning in the oven, the small ones whole, larger ones cut in half. They came out delicious. Decided to pick up a few purple viking and French fingerling's (small ones) to mix with what I had left.

Then over to the booth where I got my onions last time and picked up four for the week. I told the guy how good they were last week, he thanked me. They also had a lot of asparagus, but my wife and I agreed that we were "asparagused" out and should take a week off. Picked up some fresh Chinook salmon to make with dinner on Saturday, recipe to follow.

Walked around and ended up getting two zucchinis to try and make pancakes with. This batch came out better than before, but my wife is still not swayed. She says it's a texture thing, but they are tasting better. I grate the zucchini, add flour, egg, baking powder, granulated garlic and pepper. I fry them until golden brown. I'll keep working on the seasoning, when I hit upon something I'll post the recipe. Also got some strawberries, cherry tomatoes and a bunch of basil.

The first thing I cooked was the salmon. Since it was a small piece I mixed it in with rice and made a one-pot meal. I added rice, onions, garlic, mushrooms and black beans with the salmon, turned out good. Here's the recipe:

Salmon Black Bean Rice
Onion
Mushrooms
Garlic
Salmon
1 cup of rice (jasmine rice was used in the recipie but any rice will do)
14oz can of low salt black beans
Vinegar
Italian Seasonings
Salt
Pepper

First cook the rice. Put salmon in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes, put some dill and lemon pepper on the top of the salmon. Saute onion, garlic and mushrooms (and any other vegetables you like) until tender. Add drained black beans, stir and keep on a low heat, stirring occasionally. Add rice to mixture when done and then add salmon cut up when cooked. Stir in some vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.

For the rhubarb I made another pie using the same recipe from last week but this time made a cream cheese crust. It's the same recipe as the basic pie crust just substitute cream cheese for shorting. I made a rhubarb, strawberry, peach pie and had the right level of sweetness and tartness with the great crust. I'm going to a party next week so I'll try to make some to bring with me and get more opinions.

The basil will be used for a pesto sauce this week for pasta. I'm using walnuts instead of pine nuts, they work as well and are much cheaper. The trick is getting the right amount of olive oil so that it blends but doesn't become too watery. And don't forget the raw garlic.

The onions and potatoes will work great as side dishes this week. I am anxiously waiting for eggplant to come back, I'll have a bunch of recipes to post then.