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Farmers Market Update: Is It Spring Already?

by | Jan 16, 2011
Pomelo

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

Spring Onions

Good Food Awards

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

Satsumas

Orange Slices

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

Baby Beets

Carrot Bouquet

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

Scarlet Turnips

Large 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

Winter Herbs

Cabbage

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.

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Farmers Market Update: Halloween

by | Oct 31, 2010
Hanging Pomegranates

Hanging Pomegranates

It’s Halloween weekend, always one of my favorite times to visit the beautiful San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market.

Baby Pumpkins

Baby Pumpkins

Crazy Farmer

Crazy Farmer

I can’t tell you how anxious I was to get to the market this weekend. I’ve been traveling a lot and haven’t been around on a weekend in what feels like forever.

At this point I’ve come to terms with the fact that summer is over and I’m completely ready to embrace autumn. Today I stocked up on some of my favorite autumn veggies like Delicata squash and Brussels sprouts.

Brussels Sprouts Stalk

Brussels Sprouts Stalk

Delicata Squash

Delicata Squash

I was also excited to get my hands on some apples today. The Arkansas black apple I tried may have been the best apple I’ve ever had in my life. It was crisp, slightly sweet and had distinctive notes of cinnamon. Mind blowing. But the star fruits right now are the pomegranates. It’s also a great time for grapes and Fuyu persimmons.

Cut Pomegranate

Cut Pomegranate

This is a particularly interesting time of year for California produce. Some of the unusual items I found today include heirloom tobacco leaves and dried sunflower seeds. The tobacco wasn’t cured, so is not yet smokable.

Dried Sunflower Seeds

Dried Sunflower Seeds

Dried Heirloom Tobacco

Dried Heirloom Tobacco

You can also find an assortment of root vegetables. Carrots and scarlet turnips were particularly beautiful this week. Carrots have been turning up on a lot of menus around the city lately.

Scarlet Turnips

Scarlet Turnips

Carrots

Carrots.

The onions and sunchokes are also remarkable.

Sunchokes

Sunchokes

Spanish Onions

Spanish Onions

But despite the new arrivals, we still have a terrific selection of late summer vegetables like peppers, eggplant and tomatoes.

Assorted Eggplant

Assorted Eggplant

Shishito Peppers

Shishito Peppers

Some final notes: Dates are on their way out (get them while you can) and Meyer lemons are on their way in.

First Meyer Lemons

First Meyer Lemons

Dates

Dates

Today’s purchases:

What did you find at the market this week?

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Farmers Market Update: Salad Time

by | Jul 18, 2010
Tokyo Turnips

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

Purslane

Salad Mix

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

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

Zephyr Squash

Lemon Cucumbers

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

Rainbow Carrots

French Breakfast Radishes

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

Sweet Peppers

Summer Tomatoes

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

Pluots

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

Organic Cauliflower

Organic Cauliflower

Frog Hollow Ruby Grand Nectarines

Frog Hollow Ruby Grand Nectarines

Today’s purchases:

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Farmers Market Update: First Asparagus!

by | Feb 21, 2010
First Asparagus

First Asparagus

I guess spring is here for real. Behold: asparagus!

And it didn’t come alone.

Every week I’m seeing more spring produce popping up as if it were, um, springtime.

Cardoons

Cardoons

Fiddleheads

Fiddleheads

Fiddleheads are baby fern shoots that show up at Far West Fungi for a few weeks or so every spring. Cardoons–a unique and unwieldy vegetable–are also a rare seasonal find. Neither of these make my top 5 vegetables list, but they are fun to play around with if you are feeling adventurous.

I admit I’m a little more excited about the artichokes that are appearing everywhere. The past few years I’ve fallen in love with the baby ones, but I enjoy artichokes of all sizes. And it looks like I’m not the only one.

Artichoke Slug

Artichoke Slug

Cauliflower is peaking in season right now and trust me, you don’t want to miss it. Try roasting cauliflower florets at about 450 degrees with a little olive oil, sea salt, curry powder and coriander. Cover it with foil for the first 15 minutes, then remove the foil and let it brown until tender. Stir every 10 minutes or so. So easy and ridiculously tasty.

You can also find cauliflower’s prettier and more delicate cousin, romanesco.

Romanesco

Romanesco

Cauliflowers

Cauliflowers

Eggs are also easier to find at the farmers market this time of year. Right now I am smitten with the ones at Marin Sun Farms. They aren’t cheap, but they will blow you away. And you won’t get Salmonella.

Blood Oranges

Blood Oranges

Marin Sun Farms Eggs

Marin Sun Farms Eggs

The citrus season is also booming. Blood oranges and navels are wonderful right now, while the cute little clementines are almost gone. Also be sure to grab some Meyer lemons to squeeze on your asparagus and artichokes.

And root vegetables are still awesome.

Beautiful Turnips

Beautiful Turnips

Is it becoming springtime at your market?

Today’s purchases:

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Farmers Market Update: Alemany

by | Jan 24, 2010
Murals at Alemany

Murals at Alemany

Instead of my usual trip to the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, this week I visited the Alemany farmers market in San Francisco near Bernal Heights.

People love this market, and it is kind of amazing that I have never been to it before. My main excuse is that it isn’t easy to get to via public transportation.

Lemon Slices

Lemon Slices

Blood Orange

Blood Orange

The Alemany farmers market was founded in 1943 and is the oldest in California. The stalls are painted with beautiful and sometimes humorous murals, and the market has a fantastic community of local farmers and vendors. It is the only city-run farmers market in San Francisco, and some of the vendors I spoke to had been members for generations.

Giant Turnips

Giant Turnips

Lemongrass

Lemongrass

The produce was notably more affordable than what I normally find at the Ferry Plaza market, though the selection was not quite as broad. There is also a fantastic selection of prepared foods, including the best dulce de leche cookies in the entire universe.

Pumpkin Bolani

Pumpkin Bolani

Dulce de Leche Cookies

Dulce de Leche Cookies

I also enjoyed fava dips from Fava, and vegan Afghani stuffed breads from Bolani.

The Alemany farmers market is a special community and worth a trip for all San Francisco residents.

Flowers

Flowers

Jumbo Lemons

Jumbo Lemons

Have you been to the Alemany farmers market?

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Farmers Market Update

by | Dec 6, 2008

turnips

It was 40 degrees when I woke up this morning. I am sure some of you consider that warm, but to me it may as well have been below zero. Cold, any cold, makes me extremely uncomfortable. The last thing I wanted to do was get out of my warm comfy bed, but the farmers market was calling. chocolate persimmons

For two weeks now I have been longing for a refrigerator full of vegetables and today I finally got one.

Despite the frigid temperature it was a beautiful day in San Francisco. The sun was shining and the Ferry Building was bustling. One nice thing about the winter time is that the crowds are not as cumbersome as they are in the summer, so it is easier to linger and savor the quaint beauty of locals seeking fresh market goods.

As expected, citrus fruits are starting to reach their peak. Grapefruits, oranges, pomelos and lemons have traded in their sour acidity for tangy sweetness, and today I bought my first Mandarin oranges.stinging nettles

The most exciting find though was the elusive chocolate persimmon. Orange on the outside and brown on the inside, these sweet pulpy treats are nothing short of wonderful. I was told there are only a couple weeks left in the season, so get them while you can!

As for vegetables, someone at Star Route (Marin Organics) finally talked me into buying those stinging nettles we discussed a few months ago. I will let you know how it goes.

Still on a mission to perfect the roasted root vegetable lunch, I also stocked up on rhizoid goodies.

Today’s purchases:

  • Chocolate persimmons
  • Hachiya persimmons
  • Pomegranate
  • Mandarin oranges
  • Meyer lemon
  • Pink lady apple
  • Fuji apple
  • Leeks
  • Romanesco broccoli
  • Golden beets
  • Rutabaga
  • 1 giant carrot
  • 1 giant parsnip
  • Stinging nettles
  • Yellow eye beans
  • Dinosaur kale
  • Soul Food eggs
  • Acme epi loaf
  • Nossa Senhora de Fatima (Blue Bottle) coffee
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