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)

Tags: beets, broccoli, chard, corn, eggplant, Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, figs, garlic, kohlrabi, nectarines, onions, pluots, San Francisco, summer squash, tomatoes

Apricots

The San Francisco farmers market was a very different place this week compared to how I last saw it. Cherries, the first pitted stone fruit of the season, first appeared two weeks ago. But today fruit took over the market completely.

I must have tasted cherries from at least a dozen different growers this week, and they were all delicious. But the fruit explosion didn’t stop there. Apricots, peaches and nectarines were all available, and they tasted much better than I expected them to this early in the season. This week also marked the first appearance of local blueberries, which is very exciting.

First Blueberries

White Nectarines

The strawberries that had been somewhat elusive the past few weeks are now plentiful. And they are breathtaking.

Dirty Girl Strawberries

If all this talk of berries and stone fruits is starting to sound like summer to you, I have some more good news. Summer squash is now available at the farmers market and looking delectable. I even found nopales (cactus petals), something that reminds me of the hot summers in Southern California.

Nopales

First Summer Squash

I know all this is exciting, but let’s try to remember not to get too far ahead of ourselves. Spring is still dishing up delightful carrots, greens, peas, artichokes and delicacies such as green almonds. Enjoy them while you have the chance.

Fresh Almonds

Little Carrots

Today’s purchases:

• Strawberries (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Carrots (Dirty Girl Produce)
• English shelling peas (Iacopi Farm)
• Salad (Star Route Farms)
• Thyme (Star Route Farms)
• Padrones (Happy Quail Farms)
• Cucumbers (Happy Quail Farms)
• Farro (Boulette’s Larder)
• Yirg coffee (Blue Bottle Coffee)

Tags: almonds, apricots, blueberries, carrots, Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, nectarines, nopales, San Francisco, strawberries, summer squash

For The Love of Food

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

Thanks to everyone who voted for me for A Really Goode Job! I ended up with over 100 votes in just a couple days, which is very flattering. The top 50 were announced this morning and I was not among them. I guess my other two jobs will have to suffice for now.

This week around the internet I found several reminders of why heart disease is not the only reason to worry about excess body weight and how industrial food is a threat to your health. I also discovered a fantastic article about how psychological barriers prevent us from being healthy.

B.S. of the week, once again, goes to Diets in Review for promoting a new “tomato pill.” Because eating real tomatoes for health is SO 1909!

If you would like to see more of my favorite articles each week or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. I am also experimenting with the social bookmarking sites StumbleUpon and Delicious, and would love to share articles with you there.

Submissions of your own best food and health articles are also welcome, just drop me an email using the contact form. I am currently accepting guest posts at Summer Tomato for any healthy eating and exercise tips.

For The Love of Food

• Obesity Greatly Raises Endometrial Cancer Risk <<In case you thought heart disease was the only problem with excess weight, don’t forget about cancer and all the other fun diseases out there. (HealthDay)
• Pancreatic cancer and obesity linked <<Got that? Most cancers are related to diet and body weight. (Los Angeles Times)
• Excess Pounds, but Not Too Many, May Lead to Longer Life <<In light of the last two articles, I’m a bit frustrated with the New York Times for spreading misleading information about the dangers of excess body weight. Correlations do not prove cause and effect, and this is a dangerous message.
• Tomato Pill for Heart Health <<This horrific article by Diets in Review beat out the New York Times for B.S. of the week. As you probably know, this defies all the logic of the Summer Tomato philosophy, especially the role of supplements in health.
• Fast Food: Would You Like 1,000 Calories with That? <<Interesting discussion of the value of food labels at restaurants. Would more information stop you from over-indulging? (Time)
• What makes the Mediterranean diet work? <<According to this study, alcohol is the only significant contributor to increased health from the Mediterranean diet. Not sure I believe this one quite yet, but it is an interesting study. (Los Angeles Times)
• A Food Safety Update: 41,000 Lbs of Ground Beef Recalled <<Have you had your E. coli today? Another reason to go see Food, Inc. (La Vida Locavore)
• How could E. coli O157:H7 get into cookie dough? <<Fascinating look at the flaws in industrial food. These outbreaks are particularly baffling to me because packaged foods don’t even taste good compared to real foods. Are we really that lazy? (Food Politics via @marionnestle)
• The Psychology of Passive Barriers: Why Your Friends Don’t Save Money, Eat Healthier, or Clean Their Garages <<This is an older article, but it completely fascinated me. What psychological barriers are preventing you from having good habits? (Get Rich Slowly)
• Summer Squash Gratin Recipe <<The perfect solution for my abundance of summer squash from the farmers market. (101 Cookbooks)

What great articles did you read or write this week? Leave your links in the comments.

Tags: alcohol, B.S. of the week, barriers, Body Weight, cancer, E. coli, industrial food, Ramit Sethi, restaurants, summer squash

Pluots

I’m starting to remember how much self-control is necessary this time of year. Not only is the market exploding with a zillion varieties of perfect stone fruits (the kind with pits), but the vegetable options are still somewhat limited.

Stone fruits are wonderful, and I know that cherries and apricots will be gone in a few weeks. The problem is they are not cheap ($3.50 – $7/lb) and are not something you can base a meal around. Dessert, obviously, is another story.

Late spring is filled with gorgeous herbs and lettuces, and I am loving it. But I noticed last week that I was getting a little tired of eating salad for every meal. My limit is about 10 salads per week.

Baby Savoy Cabbages

Summer Tomatoes

As a result I have been relying primarily on summer squash for my warm meals. Last week I bought some baby eggplant and made a delicious ratatouille. The baby savoy cabbages I got were wonderful pan-fried with spring onion and served on rice and lentils.

Artichokes are awesome right now, as are the fava beans, but both are a bit labor intensive.

I make an effort each week to buy some kale or chard so I have some nice hearty greens to eat.  Today I splurged on some squash blossoms, which are wonderful with eggs or stuffed with cheese and rosemary and fried tempura style.

Fresh Lavender

Squash Blossoms

I’m very much looking forward to the arrival of sweet bell peppers (a few did actually pop up this week at Happy Quail Farms), which I have no trouble eating every single day in the summertime. Mmmm….roasted peppers.

If you’re a flower person, now is the time to buy fresh lavender.

What vegetables are you finding at your farmers market these days? What do you do with them?

Today’s purchases:

• Bing and rainier cherries (Paoletti Farms)
• Tomatoes (Madison Growers)
• Mediterranean cucumbers (Madison Growers)
• Boysenberries (Glashoff Farms)
• Summer squash (Lucero Organic Farms)
• Squash blossoms (The Peach Farm)
• Plums (Paradez Farms)
• Padrones (Happy Quail Farms)
• Green shallots (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Live basil (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Treviso (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Gem lettuces (Marin Roots Farm)
• Kale (Green Gulch Farm)
• Baby artichokes (Iacopi Farms)
• Garlic (Chue’s Farm)
• Fresh lavender (Eatwell Farm)
• Soul Food eggs (Prather Ranch)

Tags: Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, lavender, plutots, squash blossoms, summer squash, tomatoes