Farmers’ Market Finds
comment : 0
A farmers’ market near you?
There’s something satisfying about strolling through a farmers’ market, whether a market far away or one close by home. It’s inspiring to see a variety of beautiful produce. A farmers’ market is a great place to be curious and ask questions. Vendors are happy to talk about their wares. Shopping at a local farmers market provides a produce that is fresh and tasty. Supporting local growers gives them a fighting chance in today’s globalized economy (CUESA, “Cultivating a Healthy Food System”). Buyers and sellers both benefit, so farmers’ markets are a key factor in the local food movement.
What’s in season?
At the farmers’ market in downtown Austin, we recently found striped heirloom tomatoes, flats of herbs, multi-colored sweet peppers, shelled pecans, local honey, stone ground chocolate, cantaloupes, and summer squash. At another neighborhood farmers’ market this week, we found carrots, radishes, homemade dog biscuits, speckled confetti squash, locally roasted coffee, and sweet, juicy Fredericksburg peaches.
Community matters
Wood-fired ovens and farmers’ markets are a great pair. Both foster a sense of community. Check out a local farners’ market, invite some friends over and host a fresh dinner party. With the Texas heat, July markets will still offer green beans, okra, squash, tomatoes, melons, peppers and a variety of home made jams, pickles, artisan breads, and pastas.
This week we brought home the summer bounty and fired up the oven to make a fresh farmers’ market dinner, grill chicken and veggies for a future meal, and bring life to leftovers.
Bon appetite
Fire-roasted confetti squash revives leftovers
Check out our blogs on spaghetti squash and pumpkins for detailed instructions on roasting squash. We roasted these with olive oil, salt and pepper. Then we spooned out the cook squashed and mixed it with our leftover meatballs and pesto, then topped them with fresh mozzarella and put them back in the oven to finish.
Simple summer squash two ways
There’s always plenty of summer squash and it’s a great veggie to roast in a wood-fire oven.
Cut zucchini and crookneck squash into chunky bite-sized pieces. Roast with high heat to brown the exterior and still retain a little bit of crunch.
As a second option, take squash spirals or peeled ribbons and pan-fry in the wood-fired oven to get colorful crispy toppings to decorate a summer entree.
Roasted Peaches Return
Roasted peaches are spectacular for a light desert, to make salsa or ice cream. We dedicated an entire blog to them last summer.
We also roasted chiles, tomatoes and onions for roasted salsa, stay tuned for our tomato blog later this summer!
Buying locally gives us a chance to talk with the folks who bring the produce, who make cold-pressed coffee, who raise grass-fed beef, who sell goat cheese, who make organic cleaning products. It’s fun to shop at a farmers’ market; it’s a little community hub–a place to make a difference by supporting family farmers.
