White Nectarines

Dear Readers,

I know that many of you enjoy the farmers market and visit it regularly, and if this describes you I’m sure you already know what I’m about to write.

For those of you who like the farmers market but find yourself cooking up excuses each week not to go, it is time to talk yourself out of that habit. At least this once. If you’re ever going to make visiting your farmers market a priority, now is the time. This is the season when a taste of a simple plum can change your life (I got mine from Paradez Farms).

Heirloom Tomatoes

Pluot Slices

There are only a few weeks of the year when berries and stone fruits haunt the market simultaneously, when you can get sweet cherries and perfect peaches. Even the tomatoes now would never be mistaken for anything other than a fruit. At this time of year it is possible to win friends with salad (I’ve done it many times already).

Summer Squash

Green Chard

Today I saw children begging their parents to buy foods that most of us grew up hating (beets!). And I even bought a bag of broccoli simply because it was so cute. That’s right, even vegetables are getting their moment in the sun.

Adorable Broccoli

Summer Beets

(the garlic and onions are photogenic??)

Summer Onions

Purple Garlic

An added bonus is the late summer produce is just beginning to arrive as well. Today I bought my first corn, and saw eggplants available at a few different stands.

Bodacious Yellow Corn

Mission and adriatic figs are also available, and surprisingly sweet for this early in the season. I even spied a few melons hanging out today, though I was too busy cradling peaches and nectarines to get one home safely.

Mission Figs

First Eggplants

And for today’s Moment of Zen, I present: kohlrabi.

Kohlrabi

Enjoy the summer! And if you discover or learn to love anything new this year, please come tell us about it.

xoxox
Darya

Today’s purchases:

• Heirloom tomatoes (The Peach Farm)
• Yellow corn (The Peach Farm)
• White nectarine (Paradez Farms)
• Yellow nectarine (Paradez Farms)
• Pluot (Paradez Farms)
• Basil (Chue’s Farm)
• Baby broccoli (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Green shallots (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Zephyr squash (Lucero Organic Farms)
• Mission figs (Knoll Farms)
• Red peppers (Happy Quail Farms)
• Mediterranean cucumbers (Happy Quail Farms)
• Salad greens (Green Gulch Farm)
• Red kale Green Gulch Farm)
• Purple garlic (Tierra Vegetables)
• Eggs (Marin Sun Farms)
• Yellow eye beans (Rancho Gordo)

Assorted Sweet Peppers

I want to start today by saying there is no one on earth I love more than my dad. Walking around the farmers market this weekend I wished more than anything that he could be with me to see and taste all the amazing produce we have right now here in San Francisco. He’s such a sucker for good food made or grown by people and families who truly care about what they’re doing. I know he’d love it here and I can’t wait until he visits next.

This is a particularly special time of year for fruit lovers. Last week the best cherries were the deep red bing and brooks varieties, but this week the yellow-red rainier cherries finally came into their own, rivaling the sweetness of even the best of the red cherries.

Rainier & Bing Cherries

White Peaches

We are also in the middle of the fleeting dark berry season. Most of the dark berries are hybrids of blackberries and raspberries. Boysenberries are the most well known hybrid, but today I also found fresh logan and olallie berries. Olallies are my dad’s favorite (I bought 3 boxes in his honor).

Peaches & Nectarines

Mature Fava Beans

But of course, fruit is not all that is special about this time of year. The fava beans are peaking and now’s your chance to get in on this springtime delicacy. I’ll be featuring a spectacular recipe for a Persian fava bean stew next week.

Rainbow Chard

Squash Blossoms

Also in the early summer you can find beautiful squash blossoms. These are a wonderful treat that pair particularly well with eggs or on pizza. They are also delicious stuffed with goat cheese and herbs, and fried in tempura batter. Decadent, but certainly worth it.

Spanish Red Garlic

Sweet Red Onions

Garlic and onions, while generally consistent, are at their best this time of year. It is nearly impossible for Photoshop to do justice to the neon fuchsia color of the sweet red onions in this photo, but in person they seemed to almost glow with radiance in the morning sun.

Lavendar and Sweet Peas

Violet Sweet Peppers

Looking ahead, peppers are what I am most excited about in the coming months, but they are already starting to impress me with their smell and color. This is, however, a fantastic time to start buying pimientos de padrón (another of Dad’s favorites), as they will continue to get spicier as the season progresses.

Happy Father’s Day Dad!

xoxo

Today’s purchases:

• Organic tomatoes (Bruin Farms)
• Salad greens (Green Gulch Farm)
• Arugula (Green Gulch Farm)
• Spinach (Green Gulch Farm)
• Curly kale (Green Gulch Farm)
• Red kale (Green Gulch Farm)
• Purslane (Green Gulch Farm)
• Mediterranean cucumbers (Happy Quail Farms)
• Pimientos de Padrón peppers (Happy Quail Farms)
• Violet sweet pepper (Happy Quail Farms)
• Sweet red onions (Balakian Farms)
• Eureka lemon (Brokaw Nursery)
• Garlic (Knoll Farms)
• Olallie berries (Yerena Farms)
• Eye of the goat heirloom beans (Rancho Gordo)
• Green shallots (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Tokyo turnips (Dirty Girl Produce)

What’s your dad’s favorite fresh produce?

Last Call On Peppers!

It’s getting really cold in the Bay Area, especially at night. That means the last of the late summer produce will be disappearing completely in a week or two: this is your last chance for peppers, tomatoes and eggplants until next summer.

To capitalize on this situation I got myself a big bag of tomatillos, the green tomato-like fruit in a husk. If you aren’t familiar with tomatillos think of green Mexican salsa, which is made with them. They are kind of like a tomato but a bit more tangy and acidic. Tomatillos are wonderful in sauces and with meats. I bought some poblano peppers and cilantro to pair with them, but haven’t decided yet exactly what I’m going to make. Suggestions?

Grapes

Organic Tomatillos

In addition to the poblanos I was also sure to pick up a final bag of padron peppers, since I love them so dearly. I got 3 other pepper varieties as well. I can’t help it, I adore peppers. I will miss them a little every day until they appear again next year. Luckily I dried a bunch of different Thai chilies this summer to tide me over.

Grapes are another thing to stock up on while you can. They are sweet and abundant right now, but will start disappearing in the coming weeks.

But don’t worry, not everything is on it’s way out. Lots of new stuff is turning up as well.

I spotted some black walnuts at Glashoff Farms today, which I’m told is a special treat. Has anyone tried them?

Black Walnuts

Interesting varieties of garlic and onions are also popping up. I found 2 varieties of shallots today–French and Dutch–as well as sweet cippolini onions at Dirty Girl Produce. Leeks are awesome now too.

Baby Leeks

Red Garlic

At Frog Hollow there was a new variety of pear today, the seckel pear, which is tiny and bursting with flavor. After a sample I couldn’t help but buy as many as I could carry. And of course I got a Warren pear for the road.

Hachiya Persimmons

Seckel Pears

It’s definitely time to start buying persimmons too. Just be sure you eat them when they are ripe, since unripe persimmons can be dangerous. The kiwi are looking good, though I haven’t tried them yet. Apples are still mind-bogglingly amazing.

And did I mention that citrus is starting to appear? Mandrins, grapefruits and lemons are all available now, although they are still a bit tart for me.

Star Ruby Grapefruit

Early Mandarins

Last but not least, it’s truffle season. If you have piles of money laying around that you don’t know what to do with, these Italian white truffles could be yours!

per OUNCE!

Today’s Purchases:

• Fuyu persimmons (Paredez Farms)
• Tomatillos (Paredez Farm)
• Poblano peppers (Happy Quail Farms)
• Padron peppers (Happy Quail Farms)
• Pimento pepper (Happy Quail Farms)
• Piquillo pepper (Happy Quail Farms)
• Other random hot pepper (Happy Quail Farms)
• Seckel pears (Frog Hollow Farm)
• Warren pear (Frog Hollow Farm)
• Black twig apple (The Apple Farm)
• Philo apple (The Apple Farm)
• White winter permain apple (The Apple Farm)
• Dutch shallots (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Cippolini onion (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Tuscan (dinosaur) kale (Capay Organics)
• Dry-farmed Red kuri squash (Little Organic Farm)

Is your farmers market still open? What does it have?

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

The LA Times has a nice review this week about the benefits (or lack of) of different kinds of milk that is worth reviewing. I’m also a bit surprised to see that there is some real science backing the claim that garlic wards of colds (the vampire claim is still pending). You should also check out Dr. Steve Parker’s self-experiment on the ketogenic Mediterranean diet.

I’m happy to announce that I’ve been nominated for a People’s HealthBlogger Award by Wellsphere! Wellsphere is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in healthy living. To vote for me I think you have to create an account with them, but you can delete it when you’re done (and I have yet to get any spam). I’d really appreciate your support. The guy in 1st right now only has like 50 something votes. We can beat that, right?

for Darya http://summertomato.com/

For The Love of Food

• Poring over facts about milk: cow’s, goat’s, soy, almond, rice and hemp <<Very informative article about the pros and cons of various milk products. I get asked about milk a lot, and my usual answer is that the type you choose is mostly about preference. But I would still recommend limiting all milks in general, since too much of any of these comes with associated health problems. Watch the sugar in the vegetarian milks. You should also be aware that calcium probably causes prostate cancer in men. (Los Angeles Times)
• The Claim: Garlic Can Be Helpful in Warding Off a Cold <<Apparently there is some truth to this claim. I cook with garlic regularly, so maybe I should add this to my reasons that I never get sick. (New York Times)
• 60 Delicious Detox Dishes <<Beautiful photos and wonderful recipes for post-football detox. You know who (me) is featured (Macheesmo)
• 10 Simple Freezer Tricks to Save You Time and Money <<Gotta love kitchen tips. Making good use of your freezer is a great way to save time and money. (Lifehacker)
• A Few Cookies a Day to Keep the Pounds Away? <<B.S. of the week I’ve mentioned the cookie diet in passing before. Are these people serious? Unfortunately, they are. (New York Times)
• Web Surf to Save Your Aging Brain <<When pressed I always say that my computer habit is probably the least healthy thing I do (I sit here a lot, in case you haven’t noticed). So it’s good to see there’s a chance it may at least be good for my brain. (HealthDay)
• My Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet <<Dr. Steve Parker is doing an interesting experiment on himself over at the Diabetic Mediterranean Diet Blog. He put on a few pounds intentionally and is now trying to lose weight and improve his health by following a very low-carb ketogenic diet. His daily trials and tribulations are fascinating to me. He seems to be struggling quite a bit, including leg cramps, potential vitamin deficiencies and food cravings. Major props to Steve for doing this to himself for our benefit. As someone who has been through virtually every diet, I can feel his pain. For me cutting out processed carbs (not all carbs) is the perfect balance.
• Lard Lesson: Why Fat Lubricates Your Appetite <<Some people say saturated fat isn’t bad for you, but I’m not convinced. This is not the first time it has been linked to insulin resistance. (Scientific American)
• Salsa de Chile de Arbol Recipe <<Looking for something to do with all those extra chilies this season? Look no further than this delicious salsa recipe. (Over The Hill And On A Roll)
• Nerdy food photos <<These are some of the most awesome nerdy food photos I’ve seen. Can’t decide what I like best, the mitosis cookies or the chromosome gummy worms. (Kevin Van Aelst)

What are you reading?

Cherry Tomatoes

Despite the San Francisco weather–more gloomy than sunny–it is actually summer. That means pluots, peaches, nectarines, figs, melons, eggplant, corn, peppers and, of course, tomatoes.

Could anything be more perfect?

Sugar Snap Peas

Pluots

The tomatoes are especially amazing right now (don’t miss the early girls!), and I’m finally ready to make my favorite summer tomato recipe, bruschetta! Tune in tomorrow for my easy recipe.

Something else I’ve noticed lately at the market are the over-sized carrots, which look perfect for turning into soup or other mashed concoction. Likewise, big heads of cauliflower are starting to reappear, which are fantastic for vegetable stews. Last week I turned mine into Moroccan soup.

Cauliflower and Cucumber

Carrots

I’ve also noticed apples, grapes, mature onions, mature garlic, and other foods that are decidedly post-summer fare. Take this as a sign that you should eat as many plums, peaches and melons while you can. Fall is right around the corner.

Organic Shallots

Organic Garlic

Speaking of plums, the very short 3-4 week season of French plums (fresh “prunes”) is peaking and they are spectacular. I bought a full bag to have with breakfast this week.

Early McIntosh Apples

French Prunes

What did you find at the farmers market this weekend?

Today’s Purchases:

• Early girl tomatoes (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Cipollini onions (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Fresh basil (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Corn (G&S Farms)
• Assorted peppers (Happy Quail Farms)
• Mediterranean cucumbers (Happy Quail Farms)
• Israeli melon (The Peach Farm)
• Cherry/sungold tomatoes (The Peach Farm)
• Heirloom tomato (The Peach Farm)
• Purslane (Marin Roots Farm)
• Arugula (Marin Roots Farm)
• Sugar snap peas (Iacopi Farm)
• Kale (Green Gulch Farm)
• French prunes (Glashoff Farm)
• Chicharrones (Fatted Calf)
• Beef jerky (Fatted Calf)
• Three Africans (Blue Bottle Coffee)
• 2 baguettes (Acme Bread)

Fresh Herbs

Having the necessary pantry items is critical to getting started eating healthy, but obviously you need a lot more than that if you actually want to cook fresh, delicious food. Today I have prepared a list of groceries that should always be in your refrigerator. Many of these items are fresh, which means you need to buy them regularly.

(This post is part of the series How To Get Started Eating Healthy. Part one is Stock Your Pantry. Get future posts by signing up for email or RSS updates–subscribing is always free of cost and spam.)

As I have explained before you must set aside a small amount of time once a week to do your grocery shopping or else healthy eating will be nearly impossible. This time needs to be non-negotiable; you must find a way to make it happen.

So why not start to upgrade your healthstyle this weekend?

Put these groceries on your weekly shopping list and never take them off:

• Shallots or leeks These are members of the onion family, but milder and sweeter than you might be used to. Even if you think you do not like onions, I recommend starting most vegetable dishes with one of these ingredients. Shallots are like small, mild red onions. Leeks are like large green onions, but tender and delicate in flavor. Here you can see pictures of leeks and shallots.
• Garlic People feel very strongly about garlic, some can’t get enough while others avoid it. I have found myself in both camps at some point, but now I am somewhere in the middle. I go through a small bulb every week, but rarely use more than one clove per dish. With subtle amounts of garlic you can add depth and dimension to your meal. Too much can overpower all the other flavors.
• Lemon As I explained when discussing vinegar, acidic foods are extremely important in cooking. Lemon has the added bonus of possessing an amazing zest that adds both sweetness and brightness to your food. I panic a little if I don’t have lemon in the house.
• Parsley Flat leaf or “Italian” parsley is the perfect herb for everything. I always buy it, even if I do not know what I am going to use it for. It is also rather robust and keeps longer in the fridge than more delicate herbs, like cilantro. If you do not normally cook with parsley, definitely buy some and try it in your next vegetable dish. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
• Fresh herbs Of all the other fresh herbs, I usually only pick one or two to have in my kitchen at once. Which ones I choose depends on the other foods I am buying. Mexican food thrives with cilantro and oregano. French style vegetables are beautiful with thyme. I cannot live without rosemary on my roasted potatoes. Mint is perfect with Moroccan food. Experiment! Fresh herbs can change the way you approach cooking. If you don’t know how to use something, Ask Me! or ask Google
• Eggs I do not buy eggs every week, but I buy them regularly (always a half dozen farm fresh eggs). They are incredibly versatile and a great, quick meal any time of day. Check out my favorite scrambled eggs recipe.
• Tofu or tempeh However you think you feel about tofu should probably be reexamined. It can be very delicious when prepared correctly. Regardless of the claims of Dr. Atkins, science tells us it is actually much healthier to get your protein from vegetable sources. I love meat in all its forms, but during the week I usually stick to vegetable protein and fish. And sometimes eggs.
• (Soy) milk I use soy milk for my cereal and in my coffee. I know many people prefer different kinds of milk, and whatever you choose is fine. If you currently drink dairy milk, my only warning is to use it very sparingly. Consuming cow’s milk is strongly linked to increased risk of prostate cancer, breast cancer, osteoporosis (I know!), acne, type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis. If you were raised in America and do not follow nutrition science, I’m sure this sounds insane (it did to me). Unfortunately it is true. Easy on the milk.
• Condiments I mentioned last time I keep my soy sauce and almond butter in the refrigerator. The other condiments I keep handy are tahini, mustard, tomato paste, capers and olives. None of these are absolutely necessary, but they are nice to have around to mix up your flavors. They do not need to be purchased very often.

These groceries are always in my refrigerator and it is fair to say that I consider them essential. However, this list is by no means exhaustive.

Please share with us your favorite essential groceries so we can all benefit.

Read more How To Get Started Eating Healthy:

Garlic

People often say that garlic has medicinal properties. Some claim it lowers blood pressure, others swear it lowers cholesterol or reduces clotting, and some even suggest it protects against cancer. I have also heard that garlic is “healthier” 10-15 minutes after it has been crushed or minced. Is any of this true?

The Science of Single Foods

As someone who regularly reads the scientific literature on the health benefits of food I can assure you that this is not an easy question to answer. The problem is that the effect of any single food on human health is likely to be small at best, and small effects are very difficult to detect with reliability. Studies must be incredibly well-designed in order to contribute anything of value to our understanding of how a food works in the human body. Also, many studies must be taken together in context for the data to be evaluated properly.

I have been researching this garlic question on and off for months and feel only slightly more confident today than I did when I started. To summarize, there are a good number of studies addressing the health value of garlic, but very very few of them are well-designed and published in reputable journals. The problem with having a large number of poor-quality studies is that results are often conflicting and difficult to interpret. Thus, when another scientist comes in to do a meta-analysis (pooling data from many studies and re-analyzing it for stronger statistics) the findings are usually inconclusive.

However, inconclusive findings do not enable me (or anyone) to say there is no benefit. What I can say is that more research is needed and if there is a benefit it is likely to be small. (How unsatisfying is that?!). But personally I would still recommend eating garlic for health. Why?

Small Benefits Are Important

Although we cannot say exactly why garlic is good for you, it is almost certainly not bad for you. Moreover, although it is difficult to attribute a particular health benefit to a single food, we do know that people who eat the most vegetables live longer and have lower rates of pretty much every disease.

Many nutrition scientists are beginning to suspect that the benefit of foods like garlic are primarily relevant in the context of a whole diet and cannot be evaluated independently. This means that it is less important that the individual studies I mentioned earlier are inconclusive, because they are likely not sensitive enough to evaluate the complex interactions of whole foods and food combinations on human physiology.

The Best Reason To Eat Garlic

As I mentioned above, the most important thing you can do for your health is eat a diverse diet based on vegetables and other plants. Garlic is an amazing ingredient that imparts a unique and wonderful taste to foods. If you like garlic and it encourages you to eat your vegetables, then it’s good for you!

If it makes you feel slightly better knowing that it may help your heart or reduce inflammation, that’s awesome but less important.

What About The Crush?

If you do hope garlic can add to your health, is there any benefit in crushing it early? Probably.

Scientists have long suspected that the active ingredient in garlic is a substance called allicin. A recent study from Queen’s University showed that it is actually a decomposition product of allicin that has the most potent antioxidant activity.

Interestingly, allicin is created from an enzyme called alliinase that is not released from plant cells until they are damaged. Alliinase is what gives garlic (and onions) their strong odor and is thought to be a self-defense mechanism for these plants. When garlic is crushed, alliinase becomes active and begins creating allicin. As allicin is created and breaks down, the antioxidant potential of garlic is dramatically increased. Optimal antioxidant levels are created about 10 minutes after garlic is crushed.

It has not yet been shown that this increased antioxidant activity is a benefit to humans, but the principle is compelling enough to try to remember to crush your garlic a little early. If you are anything like me though, this feat is almost impossible. Apparently garlic hasn’t done that much for my memory!

What are your favorite reasons to eat garlic?

Sure the flavor is strong, but almost all cooks consider garlic indispensable. If peeling it is your problem, don’t fret! This one little trick makes garlic a cinch to peel.

First, remove single cloves from a very fresh garlic bulb (garlic is cheap, you should buy it every week). I rarely use more than one or two when cooking for two people.

Next, place the garlic clove on a cutting board oriented so that its curve is pointed upward, or at least sideways. There may be space beneath the clove, which is good. Grab a wide blade knife, such as a chef’s knife or santoku knife. Rest the flat end of the blade on the top of the garlic (as shown) and hit the top with the palm of your hand once or twice, quickly and firmly.

The impact will slightly crush the garlic clove while the outer skin retains its shape and becomes dislodged. Examine the clove and remove as much of the skin as you can (usually all of it). If some skin remains stuck to the clove hit it a few more times, using a bit more force. It does not matter if you damage the garlic.

Use the knife to cut off the hard end that attached the clove to the bulb. This may help to remove any remaining skin as well. If you still have some skin stuck to the clove, it should be easy to pick off at this point. If not, smash it a couple more times.

Recipes often called for minced garlic, so after I peel my clove I often crush it completely then make thin slices along the length, then width. Scrape off any pieces of garlic sticking to the side of the knife then quickly mince the remaining chunks. This entire process takes less than 1 minute.

It is a great idea to prepare your garlic at least 10-15 minutes before you plan to cook with it, something that makes it substantially healthier.

I can’t imagine this being any easier, but I am always happy to hear your suggestions and comments!