A Lovely Day for Local Food

Saturday was a beautiful day in Boston. There was a slight fall chill to the air, but the sun was shining and the sky was bright blue. The perfect weather for the Boston Local Food Festival (BLFF) at the Fort Point Channel. The festival spanned the area between the Congress Street and Northern Avenue bridges. The Harborwalk was a great space for the event - self contained yet spacious (at least before the crowds arrived!)

The festival celebrated all things related to local food. Farms, entrepreneurs, established businesses, restaurants, markets, services, local food resources and more. The festival was free and open to all, and I joined in the fun representing Local In Season. I met up with Jonathan Ross-Wiley (co-founder) and Lizzy Butler (fellow writer) to set up our booth and get ready to talk local food all day.

I've been having a blast getting involved in the local food scene over the last year. I was always interested in local foods and locally owned businesses, but have significantly changed the way we shop and eat. We shop at the farmer's markets first and use the grocery store as our second stop. It really kicked off after I started tweeting and launched my blog. I started following local food folks and one day got a tweet from @localinseason saying, "Hi there...We are wondering whether you would have interest in being a contributing writer for us."

I was so flattered and had just made a Thanksgiving feast with most of the ingredients from the farmer's market. My first 'published' article was an original recipe and celebrated a locally grown ingredients (red kuri pie). Since then I've been visiting markets, meeting farmers and vendors, and having a fantastic time! Thanks to Jon and Patrick for inviting me to be a part of the team!

Now back to the festival. There was delicious local food every where you looked. From the metch at Seta's Mediterranean Foods to salted caramel ice cream at Batch Ice Cream to fresh pasta from Nella's Pasta to Pumpkin Pie soda from Maine Root Sodas.  Here are a few culinary treats I sampled during the festival. There wasn't time (or stomach capacity) to try everything! But now I have a list of places to visit on my food adventures.

Besides the local food, the best part of the BLFF was getting to see all of these wonderful food people in one place. From fellow food bloggers to many of the local food producers and even some of my new classmates!  The crowd estimates for the day are anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000. We had a lot of those people stop by to learn about Local In Season, enter a fall recipe into our recipe contest, and sign up for the new monthly LIS newsletter.

Our booth was right next to the butchering demos - which were fascinating to watch. Although one woman was not so thrilled - and decided since I was the first person she saw that she would let me know that I should be disgusted with myself for allowing such behavior to take place at the festival (guess she thought it was the Local In Season festival?).  I had a good laugh and got a few pics of the Saveneur's team butchering the goat, which they auctioned off for charity.

It was a truly a lovely day for local food. As Mayor Menino said at the festival, this new local food wave in Boston is great to see and its great to see the little entrepreneurs and little food businesses out there.

Mayor Menino checking out the festival.

It was great to see many of my local food friends in person. If you are looking for other great reads, be sure to visit them!

Kimmy of Lighter and Local
Michelle of Fun Fearless in Beantown 
Megan of Delicious Dishings
Meghan of Travel, Wine and Dine
Robin of Doves and Figs
Amy of Poor Girl Gourmet
Brian of A Thought for Food
Katie of Once Upon a Small Boston Kitchen
Fiona of A Boston Food Diary
Kathy of Kathy can Cook

I look forward to events celebrating the local food scene in all its glory. So get out there and visit your farmers market, support locally-minded restaurants and businesses, and most importantly enjoy some delicious foods!

Will Drive for Food - A Saturday Adventure

Last month at the Food Truck Festival the hubby and I were chatting with Michelle of Fun and Fearless in Beantown. She asked us about our weekend and about how far we drove in to enjoy the barbecue brisket at the market.  My immediate reply was, "On Sundays we usually drive for food".  I laughed at how it sounded, but it's really true.  Many of our weekend adventures involve heading to a farmers market, a festival, or an interesting restaurant. We don't eat out during the week (well, maybe we sneak a lunch or two out) and weekends are when we let someone else do some of the cooking.

This weekend I was on my own for my adventure. I knew my starting destination and headed out with no particular agenda or return time. I love to wander, one thing leads to another, and it becomes an adventure!

I fueled up for my adventure with a slice of homemade whole wheat bread topped with homemade fig spread (recipe at the end). With an iced coffee from Red Barn Coffee Roasters in hand I hit the road and in about 30 minutes I arrived at the Harvard, MA Farmers Market.  I'd heard great things about the market and they have an informative and interesting website. There were a lot of new-to-me vendors and I spent some time chatting with all of them and picking up some great things.  I also spent a lot of time taking photos during the day. I'll highlight some of my favorites throughout the post. I hope you check out the slide show included in the post for all of my photos.

A bright yellow booth caught my attention and I stopped by to see what they were selling. I met the lovely Joanna and tasted her delicious biscotti. We started chatting and it turns out that Joanna just started her baking business and this was her second weekend at the market. After careers in marketing and kitchen design, she decided to take her well-tested biscotti recipe to the commercial kitchen and bring it to the public. She has more than 10 flavors. I picked out the orange walnut (with a full pound of walnuts in the 6 oz. of biscotti!). I look forward to trying out  more flavors! Hopefully she'll bring her treats to one of the winter markets in the area. She doesn't have a website yet, but she is in the process of setting it up.

Another fantastic surprise was Bagel Alley. There are bagel places out here in MetroWest, but none that satisfy my craving for chewy, dense, bagels. I picked up a half-dozen of my favorite flavors and asked if I could take a few pictures of the bagels. They seemed a little shocked that anyone would want to photograph their bagels, but they obliged. Here is my ode to my favorite stinky bagel, the everything bagel:

I also picked up a delicious whole wheat plum cherry scone from The Biscuit (from Somerville, MA). I munched on that while I gathered some other goodies like pea tendrils, a whole chicken (no giblets), parsley, spinach fettuccine, and parsnips.  Another new-to-me product was lupine beans. I had never heard of them before - turns out they blend into a flavorful and healthy hummus. After sampling a few flavors, I took home a cilantro flavored hummus. You can read about the lupine beans here.

I packed up my purchases and decided to wander through Harvard toward my absolute favorite fall stop - Bolton Spring Farm. Every fall since I first came to Boston for college, I've made a trip to Bolton Spring Farm. Three things I always buy there: hot apple dumplings, hot apple cider, and a Yankee Candle (apple, pumpkin, or cinnamon scented). They have apple picking too, but it's up a hill, so I usually pick up a pre-picked bag. This trip I got a half peck of Paula Reds, a cider donut, and a 'Be Thankful' candle.

Since I was on Route 117 with no agenda, I headed east toward Verrill Farm. At this point I really didn't need any more veggies or fruits, or so I thought...On my way to Verrill Farm I made a quick detour to Applefield Farm. They were at the farmers market and I decided to stop and see their real farm. I added three hot peppers and a cute green eggplant to my loot and got back on the road.

At Verrill Farm I added fresh figs, a beeswax candle, and an orange to my collection. I know the orange doesn't scream "Hey, it's fall", but my favorite apple cake calls for orange juice. Sometimes you just have to go with it.  When I got home, I laid out my purchases to see how crazy I went. Not too bad! I really love the magnet that I got at the market.

It was a fabulous day! Beautiful weather, friendly farmers and vendors, and of course delicious food. I cooked up a quick dinner from my finds, and ended up making it three more times over the weekend (it was that fresh and good!).

I had a great time taking photos - instead of a post with all of them, I hope you have a minute to watch the slide show below to see what food fun awaits you here in the suburbs.  Recipes from the posts follow the pictures.

Fig Cinnamon Jam

Recipe adapted from a recipe posted by Bob Dunn on Local in Season

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 pound fresh figs, stems removed and quartered 

1 1.5 inch strip of lemon zest

Juice from 1/4 of a lemon

1 tablespoon ground Vietnamese Cinnamon

Add water and sugar to a small saucepan, heat over medium heat and cook until you have a simple syrup (just a few minutes)

Add the quartered figs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and cinnamon to the simple syrup and mix

Simmer over low heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally

Let the mixture cool and then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator

Farmers Market Late Summer Pasta

Serves 1 (multiply by the number of hungry people you have to feed)

1/4  lb. Fior D'Italia Spinach Fettuccine, cooked to al dente

1/4 cup Wards Berry Farm red & yellow cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 Applefield Farm green eggplant, diced

1 handful of pea tendrils/pea greens, coarsely chopped

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat

Add chopped garlic and cook until just fragrant

Add in halved tomatoes and diced eggplant, cook for about 5-8 minutes until softened but not mushy

Turn off heat and add pea tendrils and greens

Toss ingredients

Top a large bowl of pasta with the veggies and an extra drizzle of olive oil

Enjoy!

Yell at yourself for only making one serving

Make again for lunch and dinner the next day and add Parmesan cheese to the top

Where do your food adventures take you? What do you like to do when you have no agenda?

So Simple, So Good

Here's an easy way to make use of your farmers market finds.  Don't forget, it's still Massachusetts Farmers Market Week and you can help support the market with a donation of any size at http://www.massfarmersmarkets.org, just click on donate. To check out some other great blog posts celebrating the markets visit In Our Grandmothers’ Kitchens.


Now, onto tonight's recipe. I wasn't planning on posting this while I was cooking - I just took a couple pictures with the plan of tweeting them. But my plan changed as soon as I took the first bite.  Tonight's dinner was quick to prepare (thanks to some cooking earlier in the week) and full of great flavor. Even better - it was almost all local!


Last week I picked up some yellow cherry tomatoes from Ward's Berry Farm at the Boston University Farmers Market. On Sunday I roasted them with some olive oil and kosher salt. They made a great topping for pizza bagels and then I put them in the refrigerator and forgot about them until tonight.


After reading about hard neck garlic over at Local in Season today, I picked up two heads from Atlas Farm during my after work trip to the Copley Farmers Market.  Not related to tonight's dinner I also picked up a leek and some local potatoes to turn into soup tomorrow. 

And the BEST part of my visit to the market today - ground cherries are back! These look like baby tomatillos - but have a personality all of their own. A little tart, a little sweet, and so addictive. I can polish off an entire container in one sitting. Even peeling off the little husks doesn't slow me down. Next year I'll have to try growing these in my expanded garden. Until then, I will buy as many as I can before they go out of season.

Now, back to dinner. My basil plants really enjoyed these rainy days and I had a lot to use. This was the finishing touch for dinner. The sauce was spicy from the garlic, but sweet from the tomatoes. The basil was bright and summery. I'm sitting here licking my lips just thinking about it. I might have to go heat up the leftovers for dessert.


Whole Wheat Linguine with Roasted Yellow Tomato Sauce
Serves 2


Roasted Tomatoes
About 20 yellow cherry tomatoes
Olive oil 
Kosher Salt


Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cover a baking sheet with foil
Spread the tomatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet
Drizzle enough olive oil on top to cover the tomatoes and use your hands to toss them in the oil
Sprinkle with kosher salt
Roast for about 15 minutes, until tomatoes split open
I chilled mine in the fridge all week

Sauce
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Roasted tomatoes
1 clove, hard neck garlic
Pinch of kosher salt
1 Tablespoon-ish of fresh basil


When you're ready to make the sauce, heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat
When oil is hot, add garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes until fragrant
Add in tomatoes and salt and mix well
Simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes (while the noodles cook)
When the sauce has thickened a little, remove from heat and put into a serving bowl

Add cooked pasta to the sauce and toss
Top with fresh basil and Parmesan cheese


Devour!

Local ingredients: Tomatoes, garlic, basil

Pantry items: Salt, olive oil, pasta, Parmesan cheese

Summary:

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10-12 minutes

Pasta pot, colander, cutting board, knife, baking sheet, small skillet, spatula, serving bowl and utensils

Farmer's Market Round-Up: Massachusetts Farmers Market Week

I don't have to tell you that I love farmers' markets.  This year I've been lucky enough to have access to a local market almost all year round.  In honor of Massachusetts Farmers Market week happening now (Sunday, August 22, through Saturday, August 28), here's a round-up of some of my favorite farmers market recipes and dishes.  Enjoy!

And, if you are inspired by the farmers market finds below, take a minute to visit the Mass Farmers Market website to find a market near you. You can also donate to Mass Farmers Markets. The organization’s donation link is http://www.massfarmersmarkets.org/FMFM_Main.aspx.

Thanks to In Our Grandmothers’ Kitchens for hosting this locally fabulous blogathon!

Now for the farmers market goodness!  But first, a question. Which is correct:

Farmers' Market
Farmer's Market
or Farmers Market

I'll share my preference in my next post.  Now on to the food!

Summer Salad: Farmers' Market Bounty
This salad features a wealth of ingredients from my go-to market vendors, Atlas Farms, Siena Farm, and the Herb Lyceum.  A perfect way to show off the local bounty!

Summery Pasta Salad
A perfect salad for a potluck. Fresh golden beets, purple scallions, and fresh herbs. Your guests are sure to enjoy this healthy (and mayo-free) salad.  They might even lick the bowl clean...

Market Review: Copley Square Farmers Market
This is my regular weekday market.  I visit them either Tuesday or Friday every week from June - November.  Since they stay open all the way until Thanksgiving I can stock up for all of the holidays. This is a recap of my first visit this season.  You can also read about some of the fabulous vendors in my article on Local In Season.  Don't miss Seta's Mediterranean Foods - her food is delicious and she is delightful.

Local Squash - Delicious Pies
Here's an example of why I love being able to get produce year-round from local farmers.  This is my first attempt at a homemade pumpkin/squash pie. After I tried this out, I stocked up on more squash for a Thanksgiving pie that I'm still drooling over and my relatives keep asking about. Read about that pie over at Local in Season.

Potato Leek Soup
I challenge myself to buy a new-to-me item at the farmers market during each visit. It can be something I've never eaten, never cooked, or a new variety of an old favorite. Before this visit I had never cooked leeks.  Inspired by the awful leek cooking on Top Chef, I decided I could definitely do better.


Watermelon Radishes and Bonus Corn
On the train home on a regular commute, I found a bag of fresh local corn that someone had forgotten to take home. Sad for them, great for me!  It was a great grilled side dish to burgers and a watermelon radish salad.

Favorite Fall Muffins: Local Apples
These are my favorite muffins. And its also my favorite cake. Any shape you make it, these apple kugel muffins deliver great flavor. What puts them up in the flavor hall-of-fame is the combination of fresh local apples, almond extract, and cinnamon.

Farmers Market Lunch...and Snack...and More
Here's a delicious look at some of my regular purchases from the Copley Market. Sadly, the Nantucket Wild smoked fish vendor isn't there this year, but you can find them at the South End Open Market (SoWa) on Sundays.  I am ahead a few Goat Cheese Picnic coupons if anyone wants to meet for lunch!

Local in Season at the Roslindale Farmers Market

Local in Season
If you are local for information on all foods local - visit Local in Season. The site is a great resource for where to find local food, what to do with when you get it, or where to eat out and have someone else cook it for you!  Here are a few of my farmer's market posts over on LIS:

Vic Torrito: The Pasta Man at the Russell's Garden Center Winter Market; Wayland, MA
Winter Local: A trip to the Natick Winter Market
Local Veal and other Winter Market Finds
The Market: Not Just for Produce
Brisket: Just Add Smoke; Russell's Garden Center Summer Market

I could recap almost my entire blog in this post - there is a local food in almost everything.  I hope this inspires you to get out and explore the wonderful resources in your area. Get to know your neighborhood and your farmers. I guarantee the food will taste better when you know where it comes from.

Summer Salad: Farmers Market Bounty

I love the farmers market! I know, I say it a lot but it is so fun to see what's fresh, meet the vendors, and just be outside in the summer.  When I saw that Olivia's Organics was calling for creative summer salad recipes, I knew exactly what I wanted to create. A Farmer's Market Bounty Salad.  The ingredients would be whatever looked interesting at the market.  For a base I used the Olivia's 50/50 blend.  It's half spinach and half spring mix.

I headed out for a lunchtime trip to the Copley Square Farmers Market.  Atlas Farms was my first stop, since I have my pre-paid share with them.  I picked up most of the ingredients, then wandered over to Siena Farm to see if they had any new-to-me produce.  These ingredients, combined with a few on hand from my weekend market visits, made for a good mix for the salad.

Atlas Farm
Rainbow Carrots
Yellow and Orange Tomato
Golden Beets
Flat leaf parsley

Siena Farm
Lemon Ball Cukes

Potager Farm/Herb Lyceum (SoWa Market)
Black Radishes

Also from the SoWa trip (can't remember the farm)
New England sweet corn

Whole Foods (not the market, but still seasonal!)
Fresh garbanzo beans

I had all the ingredients waiting in the refrigerator, but had no free nights for dinner!  So I did what any normal person would do (right?) and made my salad after coming home around 9:30 p.m.  I did a photo shoot with the completed salad and then packed it up for lunch the next day!

When I started thinking about a dressing for the salad, I kept coming back to something creamy.  It needed to be light that wouldn't hide the flavor of all of the vegetables.  I scoured the refrigerator and come up with Greek yogurt and lemon.  I added in some of the parsley and extra virgin olive oil for a quick and healthy dressing.

This was delicious, the Olivia's greens were a hearty base, and it was perfect for lunch and dinner for a few days!

Vegetable Prep


Slicing and dicing:
Carrots - peeled and cut into coins
Cucumbers
Tomatoes - cored first (I don't like all the seeds)

Peeled and Shredded:
Black radish
Golden beets (I also blanched these to help keep the color)

Blanched:
Fresh garbanzo beans
Shredded beets

Grilled:
We had grilled the corn earlier in the week and I used some leftovers

Salad Assembly
Place salad greens on a serving plate, top with veggies as neatly or sloppily as you'd like and serve!

Salad Dressing
1 container Chobani plain Greek yogurt
Juice from half a lemon
1 teaspoon (or so) extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk all ingredients together and serve with salad

Summary:
Cutting board, knife, y-peeler, slotted spoon, sauce pot, serving plates and utensils


Lunch the next day:

My Favorite Foods: Pickles!

I love pickles! My favorite foods are probably bread, cheese, pickles & olives, and guacamole. I could never leave any of those unfinished on the table.

Lately there has been a lot of pickling going on in the food blogger world. I sent a few recipes over to my friend Renee and we decided to join in the fun. She went first – trying out the bread and butter pickle recipe from She’s Becoming Doughmesstic. Renee put her own twist in – adding in some garlic and a few extra spices. We tasted and decided that they needed more vinegar and less sugar for our taste. I tried next – swapping the quantities of vinegar and sugar and differing the amounts of scallions and cilantro. I also used ground mustard instead of mustard seeds. We tasted again and agreed that the less sweet pickles were more to our liking.

Next up, Renee tried a more traditional dill pickle recipe with a recipe from Rachel at Loco Diner. These were good – but needed more time to cure. We couldn’t put our finger on what was missing, but they needed a little something else. Maybe salt? Maybe more vinegar and less water? More spice? She’s working on that for the next batch.

Now that we had basic pickling down, we decided that pickled onions were next. But instead of red onions I picked up 2 pounds of shallots. Aren’t mini-sized foods always cuter? (I know Meghan at Delicious Dishings would agree!). I adapted a recipe from Ad Hoc at Home and pickled a lot of shallots.

Once I had a selection of each of the pickled items, I set up a pickle tasting for the hubby. I felt like we needed an official tasting for research purposes.

In the pickle line-up:
First on the left: Renee’s traditional dill pickles
To the right: Renee’s crinkle cut spicy bread and butter pickles
Next: My chip and sandwich slice bread and butter pickles
On the right: Pickled shallots

For my pickles I used pickling cukes that I picked up at Charlton Orchards Farm and Winery at the Russell’s summer market. I decided to make a mix of chips and sandwich slices. I think that all the pickles were a success! The bread and butters were tangy and crunchy. The shallots were great as additions to brisket and chicken sandwiches.

Now every day at work Renee and I talk about what else we can go home to pickle. Next on my pickle to do list is half sours. Half sours are my absolute favorite pickle. Do you have a recipe? Send it my way! Next on Renee’s pickle to do list is beet pickled onions. They are in the refrigerator pickling while I write this!

What’s your favorite type of pickle? Dill, half sour, gherkin, bread and butter?

Quick Bread and Butter Pickles
Adapted from recipe on She’s Becoming Doughmesstic

6-7 Pickling cucumbers, washed and sliced into 1/4 inch chips and slices
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped scallions, whites and greens
2 cups white vinegar
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon celery seeds
1 tablespoon ground mustard
1 tablespoon ground turmeric

I didn’t have any canning jars, so I used a large glass batter bowl (oven/heat safe) with a lid
Mix the cucumbers, cilantro and scallions together in the bowl (or jar if you have one)
Set aside on a trivet (you’ll be adding in hot liquid)

Assemble the vinegar, sugar, salt, celery seeds, ground mustard, and turmeric into a medium sauce pan and whisk together
Bring the mixture to a boil and let boil for 2 minutes to dissolve sugar
Remove from heat and carefully pour/ladle the liquid into the bowl with the cucumbers, cilantro, and scallions
Make sure to use black or stainless steel – this is a very yellow and staining mixture!

Let the mixture cool for about a half an hour and then put on the lid
Put in the refrigerator and let cure for 24 hours
After 24 hours I strained the liquid to remove the solids (cilantro, onions, etc)
I stored the pickles in the strained liquid
These lasted only a few days in our house – so I can’t tell you how long they will stay in the fridge

Pickled Shallots
Adapted from recipe for pickled red onions in Ad Hoc at Home

2 lbs of shallots
1.5 cups Red wine vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Wide mouth quart jar with lid (I used Ball brand)

Peel shallots
Slice a few of the shallots into smaller pieces (this will help to pack the jar tightly)
Fill a clean, warm canning jar with the shallots

In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar and red wine vinegar
Bring to a boil and let boil until sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes
Carefully ladle or pour the hot liquid into the jar with the shallots
Let cool for 20 minutes and then put on the lid
Put the shallots in the refrigerator and let them cure for about 24 hours
Serve with everything (well, maybe not breakfast….)

Summary:
Prep time: About 15-20 minutes of chopping
Cook time: 3-5 minutes boiling
Inactive Cook time: 6-24 hours (depending on how long you can resist trying the pickles)
Glass bowl or jars, sauce pans, ladles, cutting board and knife


Serving Suggestion: 
Smoked brisket sandwich with pickles & shallots on a homemade biscuit! 
(Keep an eye out for my brisket recipe on www.LocalinSeason.com!)

Good Cookin' in Montana

Just over a year ago, we were in Montana to celebrate the wedding of my cousin Kyle and his wife Tasha.  The whole family headed west (and north) for a really great trip.  We celebrated, laughed, and of course ate our way through Billings and the surrounding area.

One of my favorite things to do is visit farmers' markets and food markets when we're travelling.  Our trip to Montana coincided with the first Billings Farmers' Market of the season last year.  There were fruits, veggies, baked goods, roasted nuts, jams, meats, eggrolls and more.  We had a wonderful time!

To read more about our Montana trip, check out my post from last year. I guarantee you'll want to head to Montana after reading.

My uncle in Billings sent me an email over the weekend about his farmers' market find at the Billings market.  Since he helped design my fun Good Cook Doris header, I'm happy to include his find as today's post.

From Uncle Rick:

This lovely tidbit is from the Farmers Market here in Billings. It is a turkey sausage breakfast sandwich with a fried egg, sausage of course, cheddar cheese, tomato and onion, all on a cheese and onion bun. Yummy!  I’ll go out and get a cookie or pastry for desert in a little bit.

Thanks Uncle Rick for sending the delicious photo and post!  Readers, where have you found great food markets or farmers' markets in your travels?

Summery Pasta Salad

Summer makes me think about light, fresh, and simple dishes. Nothing says summer more than a simple pasta salad with fresh vegetables from the farmers market. We had an impromptu birthday lunch for the hubby with the family a few weeks ago and I wanted an easy, healthy, make-ahead meal to serve. The menu:

Turkey and roast beef sandwiches
Pickles and condiments
Chips and salsa
Summery pasta salad
Birthday cake
Blueberries and strawberries

I put together a summer pasta salad with golden beets, English peas, parsley, purple scallions, and a lemony vinaigrette. Served cold, it was the perfect addition to a summer lunch. Sometimes simple really is better!

This pasta salad is perfect for customizing - throw in any veggies that you find at your local market. The ingredients will change along with the new crops all summer. I made the vinaigrette with lemon, you could easily use orange, lime, or your favorite vinegar.

Summery Pasta Salad
lb. bowtie pasta (or other short shape)
2 golden beets
English shelling peas (About 1 cup, after shelling)
1/4 cup purple scallions, chopped
About a handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Start by roasting the beets
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
Wash and dry beats and then wrap tightly in foil
Roast for one hour and then let cool before cutting into 1/2 inch cubes

Prepare pasta according to the package
Drain and briefly rinse with cold water
Pour pasta into a large serving bowl
Add peas and scallions into the hot pasta and toss

Lemony Vinaigrette
1 lemon, juiced
Extra virgin olive oil

Juice lemon into a small measuring cup
Whisk in 3 parts olive oil (relative to how much lemon juice)
Add a little salt and pepper, to taste
Pour onto the warm pasta and toss well

Chill pasta salad in the refrigerator until ready to serve
Stir in the chopped parsley just before serving

Summary:
Prep time: 15 minutes (or faster if you speed chop)
Cook time: Beets - 1 hour; Pasta - 10-15 minutes
Pasta pot, cutting board, knife, foil and baking sheet, serving bowl, measuring cup, utensils

Spring has Sprung!

One of my favorite things about the coming of spring is the start of farmers market season! Everything is in bloom and us New England local produce lovers can say hello to a new selection (no more carrots!). It also means that twice a week my friend Renee and I head down to the Copley Square Farmers Market for lunch.

Head over to Local in Season to read my full recap of our first visit this season. There was so much to cover, that I decided to add a post and share some photos here too.

We could hardly contain our excitement! For lunch we picked up buffet of goodies: a goat cheese picnic from Crystal Brook Farm, a cilantro falafel wrap from the Herb Lyceum, breadsticks from Iggy's, metch from Seta's Mediterranean Foods, and an almond macaroon from the Danish pastry house!

Last year I realized that I did a lot of shopping at Atlas Farms. Almost every week I picked up some green zebra tomatoes, cucumbers, and greens. This year I signed up for a share - put down money at the beginning of the season and charge to your 'tab' throughout the year. It's a great option if you can't commit to a full CSA because you just shop like you would normally (and don't have to remember to bring cash with you). I also picked up two green zebra tomato plants to bring the farmers market home with me. I'm happy to report that my plants are growing big and strong in their suburban location.

I planted a few pots with lime basil, genovese basil, and chives. Hopefully they will grow just as beautifully as these herbs at the Herb Lyceum booth.

I hope to see you at the market on Tuesdays and Fridays from now through Thanksgiving. We'll be there around 12:15 p.m. picking up lunch and new ingredients to take home to the kitchen.

Grass-Fed Beef Chili

One of the benefits of going to the farmers' market is being able to purchase locally raised meats. Not only do you support your local farmers, you also know how the meat was raised. I haven't seen Food Inc. yet, but a friend recently did and gave me his take on how he is changing his meat consumption patterns as a result. In addition to reducing the amount of red meat in his diet, he decided to stop eating beef unless it is grass-fed and hopes that everyone else follows suit (in time). The challenge in doing that is the availability of products to meet the demand. Hopefully we'll move toward a change in the beef industry to increase the supply and availability.

Have you seen Food Inc.? Have you changed your eating habits as a result of the movie or to be more environmentally concious? I'd love to hear about it - please leave a comment!

During our last trip to the market, we picked up some grass-fed ground beef from Springdell Farms. Visit their website to read about how they treat their Black Angus cattle. It comes through in the texture and taste of the meat. A good tip that they gave us for cooking was to make sure not to overcook the beef. The beef we bought that day was extra lean (and grass-fed beef can be overcooked easily).

Veggie chili is a frequent menu item at our house. With the meat in the fridge, I decided to make a beef chili for a hearty meal for the New England February climate. We had this for Super Bowl Sunday topped with guacamole and fresh grated Colby-jack cheese. I chopped up the usual suspects - jalapeno, red bell pepper, and yellow onion and then got to work!

For the liquid, I used some leftover chunky veggie tomato sauce we had in the refrigerator. I also used the spices in my spice rack - dried cilantro, ground cumin, and chili powder. You can use any color beans you have in the pantry and throw in any other veggies you might have on hand. It's a great meal to use up any ingredients leftover from other meals.

Instead of the quick 20-minute chili that I usually make, this is a slow-cooking chili that simmered for 2-3 hours before the big game. The addition of cornmeal creates a rich (a little 'creamy'), flavorful, and satisfying result! The leftovers made tasty lunches throughout the next week.

Game Day Grass-Fed Beef Chili
Makes about 6 servings
1 pound ground beef
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1-2 medium yellow onions, diced
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can pinto beans, drained
1/2 a jar tomato sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon dried cilantro
Salt and Pepper
2 tablespoons cornmeal
Olive oil
Shredded Colby-jack cheese and guacamole to top it off

Heat a medium stock-pot over medium-high heat (a 6 on my range)
Add a small amount of oil to the pan
Add beef, garlic, onions, jalapeno, and pepper and cook until just browned, stirring the beef and breaking it up as it cooks
Drain and excess fat from the pan and return to the heat
Add in beans, sauce, spices, and salt and pepper, stir
Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 2+ hours, stirring occasionally
Top with cheese and guacamole and serve with cornbread or tortilla chips

Haiku from the Hubby:
Grass fed and so lean
Chili with spice and on top
Mmmmm Guacamole