Arugula Blossoms

Somewhere I heard a rumor that SF was supposed to have its first snow in 35 years this weekend. This struck me as odd for a few reasons. First, I’ve lived here 14 years and it has snowed at least twice. Second, though it is very cold, it’s amazingly beautiful outside.

Spring Leeks

Not surprisingly, instead of snow today it was one of the most beautiful farmers market days of the year. +1 global warming.

Spring Radishes

In fact, the sun was so bright I could barely capture any decent photos. The long shadows and high contrasts that come with sunshine are usually buffered by the sky in foggy SF. Not today!

Arugula

But the good news is that spring is everywhere. I think what I’m most excited about is all the delicate salad greens. As much as I enjoy the kale and cabbage we’ve had the past couple months, it hurts my soul to go too long without fresh spinach, arugula and treviso.

Treviso

If you aren’t familiar with treviso, it is a bitter green (sometimes purple) similar to radicchio. And today at Capay Organics it happened to look like a bunch of roses.

Artichokes

And speaking of vegetables that look like flowers, the artichokes are also looking fantastic. I didn’t get any this time, but will have my eyes out for them next week.

Kale and Chard

Of course I also stocked up on my obligatory kale and cabbages. They were just too beautiful to ignore, and I know this is the best time of year (especially for the cabbages).

Pretty Cabbages

The best part of all? Winter and spring vegetables are some of the most affordable of the year. Since a few people have asked about cost I’ve started keeping better track of the money I spend at the market. For the second time in a row, I came in under $20.

Today’s purchases:

• Lacinato kale (Capay Organics)
• Cabbage (Capay Organics)
• Treviso (Capay Organics)
• Arugula (Star Route Farms)
• Collards (Eatwell Farm)
• Baby broccoli (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Baby leeks (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Parlsey (Catalan Family Farm)
• Meyer lemons (Bernard Ranches)
• Navel oranges (Bernard Ranches)
• Limes (Bernard Ranches)

Market quote of the day: “Yep, every house needs limes. Especially on weekends.”

Blood Orange Slices

I’ve been feeling under the weather so I’m going to let the farmers market speak for itself this week. Here are some of the best shots I got at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market on Saturday.

Bay Bridge

Beautiful Turnips

Satsuma Mandarins

Watercress

Fuji Apples

Dandelion Greens

Tokyo Turnips

What did you find at the farmers market this week?

Pomelo

Residents of San Francisco woke up Saturday morning to a veritable spring day. The the sun was shining, the sky was clear and maybe, just for a moment, you could walk outside without a jacket.

It was great to see the farmers market bustling for the first time since the holidays. Crowds were not only drawn by the weather, but also by the Good Food Awards that were being held this weekend at the Ferry Building. The GFA “grant awards to outstanding American food producers and the farmers who provide their ingredients.” Here are the winners.

Spring Onions

Good Food Awards

Spring wasn’t only in the air, it was also peeking out from some of the farm stands. I caught my first glimpse this week of spring onions. It isn’t much, but is a sign of what’s to come.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Winter citrus is just now ramping up. Blood oranges and satsumas are my favorite now, but I’ll be hitting the pomelo scene next week for sure.

Satsumas

Orange Slices

I’ve also been really impressed with the carrots lately, I’m really starting to appreciate how many varietals there are. Little ones, big ones, purple ones, white ones, orange ones. All very tasty.

Baby Beets

Carrot Bouquet

Of course, root vegetables in general are excellent now, very colorful and sweeter than they are most of the year. Like carrots, the variety of turnips is impressive.

Scarlet Turnips

Large Turnips

Lastly, don’t forget your winter greens and herbs. Kale, chard and especially cabbage are as good now as they will be all year.

Winter Herbs

Cabbage

I didn’t buy much today since I left straight from the farmers market to Lake Tahoe. I just stopped by for the beautiful pictures.

What did you find at the market this week?

If you’d like to share your farmers market experience at Summer Tomato, please read this.

Blood Oranges

This week was my first farmers market trip of 2011, and it’s great to be back. I’m happy to see that in the few weeks I was away the full array of winter citrus fruits has now become available, from brilliantly colored blood oranges to giant pomelos.

Blood oranges with their deep red flesh have a much richer juice than their navel counterparts, and are a fantastic addition to winter cocktails and elixers.

Pomelo

Navel Oranges

Here in San Francisco you can also find several varietals of mandarins, the satsuma being the most prevalent. These are great easy snacks because they are small in size and their skin is particularly easy to peel. You can also find grapefruit, lemon, lime and citron, and we’ll be exploring these more in the coming weeks.

Besides citrus, you can also find pears, persimmons, pomegranates and kiwi this time of year. The persimmon I tasted this week might have been the best I’ve ever tried (at Kashiwase Farm), and I recommend getting them while you can since they will only be around a few more weeks. Same for the pears and pomegranates.

Persimmon

Shun Li Asian Pears

I also really love winter vegetables. This season my attention usually turns to hearty greens like kale and chard, as well as winter squash (delicata are my favorite, followed by kambocha–neither of which require peeling).

Delicata Squash

Swiss Chard

I’ve also really been enjoying cabbage lately, playing around with recipes for coleslaw, sauerkraut and kimchi.

Organic Cilantro

Winter Produce

And though I tend to forget about them (but totally shouldn’t), now is the time for root vegetables like radishes, potatoes, sunchokes and fennel. I made an effort this week to bring some home with me.

Fennel

Sunchokes

I can’t get over how pretty these watermelon radishes are.

Watermelon Radish Slice

This time of year I also cook a lot of beans and lentils. The heirloom beans at Rancho Gordo have received national attention for their amazing flavors and textures. I have an impressive collection of them in my pantry.

Scream Sorbet

Rancho Gordo Beans

Finally, though I’m not a sweets person these days (I have completely given up sugar in January) I was happy to see Scream Sorbet has now set up a booth at the Saturday farmers market (previously they only sold on Thursdays). Scream is amazing because they create local, seasonal sorbet flavors that will blow you away. It’s pretty common when inquiring about an ingredient in one of their sorbets to have them point at a nearby produce stand and say, “we’re using those grapes right there.” How awesome is that?

As always I had a wonderful time and it was totally worth dragging myself out of bed, even on a Saturday.

If you’d like to share your farmers market experience at Summer Tomato, please read this.

Today’s purchases*:

• Sunchokes (Chue’s Farm)
• Sweet yams (Chue’s Farm)
• Fennel (Chue’s Farm)
• Persimmons (Kashiwase Farm)
• Mandarins (Olsen Organic Farm)
• Pomegranate juice (Twin Girls Farm)

*I overslept a bit and the market was pretty picked over. My bad.

Spicy Carrot Ginger Soup With Lemon

Last weekend I bought some amazing, gnarly looking chantenay carrots from the San Francisco Ferry Plaza farmers market. When I found them at Tierra Vegetables they were just begging me to turn them into soup. I rose to the challenge, but first I had a few problems to solve.

Usually when I eat or make carrot soup it is in one of two styles. It can come either curried, warm and spicy, or gingered with hints of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. While I love these soups, they feel a little too much like fall and winter for me to get excited about them when summer in SF is just starting.

I didn’t want a soup that is warm and wintery, I wanted a carrot soup that is bright and summery.

To achieve this I started with carrot and ginger, but add a twist. Rather than spicing the soup with cinnamon and other fall flavors I added tumeric and a few Thai chili peppers to give it color, flavor and some heat. Then I brightened it up with lemon juice and preserved lemons. The soup is finished with crème fraîche, scallions, ginger flowers and lemon-scented olive oil.

To my delight this soup turned out amazing and unlike anything I had ever tasted. And it was exactly what I wanted. If you don’t have preserved lemons, I’m sure zest would produce a similar effect. Likewise, you can swap a serrano pepper for the Thai peppers and sour cream for crème fraîche. Ginger flowers and lemon oil are just bonus.

To blend the soup I used my new Cuisinart immersion blender (aka hand or stick blender), and I was very pleased with the result. I’m really happy about this because the Cuisinart is half the price of the Braun blender I used to use.

You can make the soup in a regular blender if you do not have an immersion blender.

Spicy Carrot Ginger Soup With Lemon

Ingredients:

• 3 chantenay carrots or 5-6 regular carrots, peeled and cut into half inch slices
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 inch fresh ginger root, grated
• 2-3 Thai chilies or 1 serrano chili, chopped and seeded (optional)
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 1 qt vegetable or chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 lemon juiced (and zest if desired)
• 1/2 tbsp preserved lemon strips
• Crème fraîche
• Scallions
• 1 tbsp butter or olive oil
• salt to taste

Heat butter or oil in a heavy bottomed soup pot and add onions. Saute until they become translucent then add the carrots, half the ginger, peppers and tumeric and cook until carrots are tender, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. If the vegetables start to brown, lower the heat.

When the carrots are soft add broth and bring to a boil. Simmer until the carrots are very tender and can easily be cut with a fork, about 10 minutes. Remove soup from heat, add the rest of the ginger and preserved lemons and blend until smooth, about 5 minutes. Add water as needed to thin the soup. I ended up adding 2 full cups.

If you are using a regular blender, be very very careful when blending hot liquids. Only fill the blender half full and blend in batches, holding the lid down with a kitchen towel. I’ve had many steaming soups explode and burn me, and it is not fun. That’s why I love my hand blender.

At this point you can filter the soup through a fine mesh strainer if you like, but I prefer to keep all the fiber in the soup and simply blend it very well. The texture is rich and silky this way, but will be thinner if you filter it.

Whisk in lemon juice and adjust salt to taste. Ladle hot soup into a bowl and garnish with crème fraîche, scallions and lemon oil.

This makes a fairly large batch of soup. However, carrot soup freezes extraordinarily well so feel free to freeze a couple pints for later. The soup will keep 3-4 days in the refrigerator.

What is your favorite way to make carrot soup?

Originally published Sept 7, 2009.

Summer Squash

It was a beautiful day today in San Francisco. I’m feeling much better and was super excited to hit up the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and snap some photos.

Apparently though, I’m still not quite in top form. When I tried to take a picture of these beautiful grapes, my camera smugly informed me that it did not contain its memory card. PhotoFAIL. Luckily, I had my trusty iPhone 4.

Lovely Grapes

I was curious how the new iPhone would perform at the farmers market, and today it had it’s chance to prove itself. I still think I prefer my regular Canon SD900, but overall I was pretty impressed with my pocket phone. What do you think?

Not too much has changed at the market from last week. The late summer produce is beautiful, especially the eggplants, peppers, peaches and plums.

French Prunes

Rosa Bianca Eggplants

The beets have been marvelous (and impressive!), as are the summer squash.

Magda Cousa Squash

Impressive Beetroot

I’m happy to see green bean season is starting to take off. We are experimenting with pickling some beans this weekend. Recipe on its way.

Pickled Blue Lake Beans

Don’t forget the greens and onions either, they are all amazing this time of year.

Spanish Onions

Escarole

Fresh chamomile was nice to find today as well.

Seedless Grapes

Chamomile

Today’s purchases:

• Flavor king pluots (Frog Hollow Farm)
• Peaches (Frog Hollow Farm)
• Watermelon (Capay Organics)
• Blue lake beans (Iacopi Farm)
• Blackberries (Glashoff Farms)
• French prunes (Glashoff Farms)
• Piquillo peppers (Happy Quail Farms)
• Thyme (Star Route Farms)
• Chamomile plant (Orangewood Farm)
• Ham (Marin Sun Farms)
• Eggs (Marin Sun Farms)
• Whole wheat bread (Acme)

Bicolor Corn

You’re probably sick of hearing about how sick I am. Trust me, so am I.

On Tuesday I was diagnosed with pneumonia. Fortunately antibiotics are a miracle and I’m definitely getting better. But I still would have stayed home from the farmers market this weekend to rest up if the wonderful lady that was scheduled to cover the Farmers Market Update this week hadn’t come down with strep throat. Seriously, what’s up with all the summer illness?!

Flavor Grenade Pluots

Flavor King Pluots

Though my energy was low, a couple things were notable from the market this week. We are definitely seeing the transition into late summer. The flavor king pluots at Frog Hollow Farm have arrived. These are magical fruits. If you’re in SF you absolutely must find a way to try one in the next few weeks. I promise you won’t regret it.

We are also in the midst of melon season. I’ve only tried a few, but so far they are sweet and flavorful. Next weekend I’m getting a watermelon for sure.

White & Yellow Nectarines

Summer Melons

I was also surprised to see grapes appearing already. Though I love grapes, this makes me kind of sad. Grapes remind me of fall, and it has been so cold this summer in SF the idea of skipping the rest of the season is heartbreaking. Fingers crossed for a warm September.

Gravenstein Apples

First Grapes

Seeing these apples would have made me sad as well, but I recently learned (thanks Pim!) that Gravenstein apples are summer apples. I don’t bake pies, but apparently they work nicely for baking.

I hope the rest of you are healthy and happy, and having a wonderful weekend.

Today’s purchases:

• Passport melon (The Peach Farm)
• Cherry and sungold tomatoes (The Peach Farm)
• Heirloom tomatoes (The Peach Farm)
• Armenian cucumber (Payne Farm)
• Flavor king pluot (Frog Hollow Farm)
• Summer lady peach (Frog Hollow Farm)
• Rainbow chard (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Baby leeks (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Cilantro (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Zephyr squash (Lucero Organic Farms)
• Bicolor corn (G&S Farm)
• Sweet pepper (Happy Quail Farms)
• Poblano pepper (Happy Quail Farms)
• Mediterranean cucumbers (Happy Quail Farms)
• Collard greens (Green Gulch Farm)
• Tea bouquet (Green Gulch Farm)

Star Squash

“And, most dear actors, eat no onions or garlic, for we are to utter sweet breath; and I do not doubt but to hear them say, it is a sweet comedy.”

– A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Act 4, Scene 2), William Shakespeare

It is hard to imagine having anything but sweet breath after leaving the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market this weekend. I must have tried at least a dozen different varieties of pluots, and at least as many peaches and nectarines (my favorite this week).

Organic Yellow Peaches

Nectarines

There were strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. Apricots and figs. Melons and tomatoes. All sweet as can be.

Organic Raspberries

Even the greens looked tender and sweet. I couldn’t help but get some of this red kale from Green Gulch Farm. There is something amazing about fresh picked greens grown with care. They look so soft, yet crisp and nutritious.

Beautiful Collards

Red Kale

I would have bought some of the beautiful collards as well if I had been able to resist the beautiful chioggia beets, whose greens came attached for free (here’s my favorite beet recipe). I also grabbed one of their tea bouquets. Yes, we have some seriously sweet breath up in here.

Fresh Tea Bouquet

Chioggia Beets

I’m very excited to see that midsummer is in full swing and the eggplants are finally worth noticing. And being the chiliphile that I am, I was delighted to find that the peppers are starting to heat up.

Green Hot Chili Peppers

Rosa Bianca Eggplants

I noticed fresh green beans have appeared too (no wax beans yet).

And lastly, does anyone know what glacier lettuce is??

Glacier Lettuce

Fresh Green Beans

Today’s purchases:

• Rooted basil (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Romanesco (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Poblano pepper (Happy Quail Farms)
• Pimientos de Padrón (Happy Quail Farms)
• Charentais melon (The Peach Farm)
• Assorted heirloom tomatoes (The Peach Farm)
• Arctic jay nectarine (Kashiwase Farm)
• Honey crisp nectarine (Kashiwase Farm
• Cioggia beets (Green Gulch Farm)
• Tea bouquet (Green Gulch Farm)
• Red kale (Green Gulch Farm)
• Eggs (Marin Sun Farms)
• Yirgacheffe Oromia (Blue Bottle Coffee)

What did summer bring you this week?

Tokyo Turnips

At this time of year, salad might be my favorite food. I know, salad sounds boring. It sounds cold, tasteless and painfully healthy. The kind of healthy that no one really wants to be.

But in early summer health is the last thing on my mind when I choose to make salad. Truth is I just can’t wait to eat all the beautiful greens and fixings I find each week at the farmers market. Food like this is a treat, and probably not at all what you think of when you think of salad.

Any good salad starts with greens. The little gem lettuces, arugula, spinach, mizuna and even more untraditional greens like purslane.

Purslane

Salad Mix

Purslane is a succulent green that is supposedly high in omega-3 fatty acids. Personally I eat it for its lemony flavor and unique texture. It’s a great addition to any salad mix.

After greens I like to layer flavors and textures into my salads. Cucumbers from the farmers market are completely different from the flavorless, waxy beasts I remember from childhood salads.

Armenian Cucumbers

I love the long, curly Armenian cucumbers, but you can also find Mediterranean cucumbers, lemon cucumbers and several other varieties I’ve never tried. Most don’t require peeling. If you don’t have cucumbers, raw sweet summer squash are delicious in salads too.

Zephyr Squash

Lemon Cucumbers

Turnips, radishes and carrots are particularly good salad additions in early summer, contributing a distinctive crunch and deeper flavor than the delicate lettuces and cucumber. If you choose good quality turnips and radishes, their greens can be added to your salad mix as well.

Rainbow Carrots

French Breakfast Radishes

Summer tomatoes add both sweetness and brightness to salads, because of their relatively high sugar and acid content. For salads I prefer the deeply flavored heirloom varieties such as cherokee purple and brandywine varieties. Roasted peppers can serve a similar function.

Sweet Peppers

Summer Tomatoes

To add substance I turn to foods that are higher in fat and protein, like avocados, nuts, eggs, grain or meats. Today I picked up some avocados and eggs from the farmers market. My favorite salad green of late is the chewy and rustic farro grain. If you haven’t tried it yet I highly recommend it.

I like to finish my salad with summer fruits and herbs. Any stone fruit is fantastic and pairs nicely with balsamic vinaigrettes. Figs are also delicious if you can find them.

Pluots

Other things I loved this week include the Ruby grand nectarines from Frog Hollow and organic cauliflower.

Organic Cauliflower

Frog Hollow Ruby Grand Nectarines

Today’s purchases:

• Yummy rosa pluots (Paradez Farms)
• Ruby grand nectarine (Frog Hollow Farm)
• Early girl tomatos (The Peach Farm)
• Purslane (Madison Growers)
• Zephyr squash (Lucero Organic Farm)
• Rooted basil (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Green shallots (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Cauliflower (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Armenian cucumbers (Payne Farm – I think)
• Tokyo turnips (Green Gulch Farm)
• Italian parsley (Green Gulch Farm)
• Salad greens (Green Gulch Farm)
• Mediterranean cucumber (Happy Quail Farms)
• Avocados (Brokaw Nursery)
• Eggs (Marin Sun Farms)

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)