Chicken with Cardamom Rice and Blistered Purple Beans

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market you'll find plenty of summer produce from Camas Swale Farm as well as pastured meats and eggs from Fair Valley Farm and Fog Hollow Farm.

Fog Hollow offers chicken parts, which is convenient if you don't have the time to break down a whole bird. I was happy to pick up a pack of legs to try out a chicken and rice dish that I've long been eyeing from the cookbook Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. I had always stalled at the second ingredient of barberries, however, which seemed unattainable until I happened to run across them at Sunrise Market. The dish was well worth the wait, especially with Fog Hollow's fresh chicken legs. The rice is enhanced with plenty of caramelized onions, similar to a family favorite, mujaddara, and the barberries add tart bursts of flavor.

To accompany the chicken and rice, I'd picked up some beautiful purple beans. Because I wanted to preserve some of their deep color, with fades with cooking, I decided to blister them quickly in a hot griddle pan. And because I think beans go well with mustard, and mustard reminded me of other brassica family members, and I had a bunch of turnips with fresh leaves, I made a bright green garnish of blanched and chopped turnip greens in a mustard vinaigrette. It was another Farmers Market summer feast. 

Chicken with Caramelized Onion and Cardamom Rice

from Jerusalem A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

3  tablespoons sugar (40 grams)

2 ½  tablespoons barberries, or use currants (25 grams)
4  tablespoons olive oil
2  medium onions, thinly sliced (2 cups, or 250 grams)
2 ¼  pounds skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs (1 kilogram), or 1 whole chicken, quartered
 Salt and freshly ground black pepper
10  cardamom pods
 Rounded 1/4 teaspoon whole cloves
2  long cinnamon sticks, broken in two
1 ⅔  cups basmati rice (300 grams)
2 ¼  cups boiling water (550 milliliters)
1 ½  tablespoons flat-leaf parsley leaves (5 grams), chopped
½  cup dill leaves (5 grams), chopped
¼  cup cilantro leaves (5 grams), chopped

⅓  cup Greek yogurt (100 grams), mixed with 2 tablespoons olive oil (optional)

1. Put the sugar and scant 3 tablespoons water in a small saucepan and heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat, add the barberries, and set aside to soak. If using currants, you do not need to soak them in this way.

2. Meanwhile, heat half the olive oil in a large sauté pan for which you have a lid over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion has turned a deep golden brown. Transfer the onion to a small bowl and wipe the pan clean.

3. Place the chicken in a large mixing bowl and season with 1½ teaspoons each salt and black pepper. Add the remaining olive oil, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon and use your hands to mix everything together well. Heat the frying pan again and place the chicken and spices in it. Sear chicken for 5 minutes on each side and remove from the pan (this is important as it part-cooks the chicken). The spices can stay in the pan, but don’t worry if they stick to the chicken. Remove most of the remaining oil as well, leaving just a thin film at the bottom. Add the rice, caramelized onion, 1 teaspoon salt and plenty of black pepper. Drain the barberries and add them as well. Stir well and return the seared chicken to the pan, pushing it into the rice.

4. Pour the boiling water over the rice and chicken, cover the pan, and cook over very low heat for 30 minutes. Take the pan off the heat, remove the lid, quickly place a clean tea towel over the pan, and seal again with the lid. Leave the dish undisturbed for another 10 minutes. Finally, add the herbs and use a fork to stir them in and fluff up the rice. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Serve hot or warm with yogurt mixture if you like.

Blistered Purple Beans with Mustardy Turnip Greens

blistered purple beans

4 handfuls of purple beans

1 Tbsp olive oil

salt

Wash and trim the beans. Toss the beans in a bowl with olive oil and a generous pinch of salt. Heat a grill pan or skillet over high heat. When the pan is very hot, put on the beans. Allow them to blister, flipping occasionally, for about 4 minutes until they start to lose some of their purple color but are still quite crunch. Remove to a serving plate.

turnip greens with mustard vinaigrette

1 bunch turnip greens

1 tsp mustard

1/2 tsp honey

2 Tbsp sherry vinegar

Set a medium pot of well salted water to boil. Wash the turnip greens and trim off the bare stems. In a medium bowl, whisk together the mustard, honey, and sherry vinegar. When the water is boiling, throw in the turnip greens and blanch for 45 seconds. Drain and run under cold water to stop them from cooking. Squeeze out the water and chop the leaves into 1/2 inch slices. Toss in the vinaigrette. Taste and add more salt, honey, or vinegar as needed.  Serve along side the blistered beans.

Padron Peppers and Paella

These days Camas Swale Farm has an impressive array of summer peppers, including these spicy padron peppers. A Spanish tapas specialty, also known as shishito peppers in Asian cuisine, they are famous for having variable levels of heat, making eating them a bit of  gamble. We had ours seared whole in olive oil with a sprinkle of sea salt, and they were all very spicy but with some reaching a scorching level of spiciness.

Seared Padron Pepper

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Coat the bottom with olive oil and then add the whole patron peppers. Sear the peppers, rotating them with tongs, until they are charred and blistered. Sprinkle with sea salt and serve with a word of caution.

Seared patrons work well as an accompaniment to a fragrant pan of Spanish paella. Paella is a big, celebratory dish, but it can be quite simple if you plan ahead and make it the day after a grilled meal. Then you can grill extra tomatoes, peppers, and onions for a saucy base for the rice and extra sausage to nestle in among the shellfish. We made a big pan at the coast recently. I remembered to pack a box of Arborio rice, saffron, and a frozen pint of crab stock. We didn't have sausages or peas, but incorporated some bacon and grilled zucchini for a similar effect. If you don't have specific expectations, it can be a very forgiving dish to feed a crowd.

Paella

serves 6 to 8 

use this as a guide and tailor to your tastes and available ingredients

3 cups (500 g) Arborio or other short grain rice 
olive oil
1 large onion seared and chopped
4 large or 8 roma tomatoes, seared and chopped to make about 2 cups
4 peppers, sweet and mildly spicy, seared, seeded, and chopped
4 cups stock, preferably homemade from crab or shrimp shells, but could use chicken
4 sausages such as spicy chorizo, grilled and cut into  half-moon slices
2 pounds shellfish such as clams or mussels
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
1 large pinch saffron
red pepper to taste
salt to taste
fresh parsley for garnish

1. If you plan ahead, you could grill the tomatoes, peppers, onions, and sausages a day ahead. Or you could broil them before starting the rice, making sure they are nicely charred. Also ahead of time, desand the clams and debeard the mussels if necessary.

2. Choose a large, wide pan such as a paella pan that will hold all of the ingredients. Heat over medium heat and when the pan is hot, add a generous drizzle of olive oil to coat the bottom. Add the chopped onions and sauté to soften for a few minutes. Add the rice and sauté to coat with oil and toast a bit. When the rice kernels become more whitish, add the chopped tomatoes, peppers, stock, and saffron. Stir and then distribute the sausage slices over the rice. Bring to a simmer, lower the heat to medium low, sample some of the rice broth and add salt and red pepper to taste. Allow the rice to simmer for about 20 minutes. Refrain from stirring if want to create a bottom crust or socarrat. Keep an eye on the liquid level and add drizzles of boiling water if it looks like it is getting too dry.

3. After 20 minutes of simmering, the rice should be partially cooked but still hard in the center, and the liquid level in the pan should be a little more soupy than you want the final dish. Now add the shellfish, nestling them into the rice with their hinge sides down. Cover the pan and let steam 5 minutes. Uncover and check on the shellfish, which should be mostly opened. Sprinkle over the peas, add a little more water if needed, recover, and steam for another 3 minutes. Uncover and taste the rice. It should taste firm and just a little undercooked (it will keep cooking off the heat). Add salt and pepper and cook a few more minutes if needed. Remove from the heat, sprinkle with fresh parsley, and serve.

Leftovers Bibimbap

This year, my solution for using up Easter eggs was bibimbap. This dish also served the purpose of using up leftover Easter ham, leftover roasted asparagus, and leftover collard greens, and made a dent in my latest batch of kimchi.

I took inspiration from the bibimbap sauce here and the miso lentils here. Once we got over the pain of peeling favorite eggs, this meal was a hit with enough different toppings to please everyone, including sesame carrots for bunnies.

Bibimbap from Easter leftovers

bibimbap sauce
1/2 cup gochujang
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp sugar or honey
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Mix together all of the ingredients and thin with 1-2 tsp water if it seems too thick.

eggs
hard boiled if you have ones to use up, or cooked for 6 minutes in boiling water.

ham
1 cup diced ham, sautéd in a hot skillet in 1 Tbsp canola oil and 1/2 tsp soy sauce until brown on edges. Add 1 tsp miring, cook down, and remove from heat.

cooked greens
1 bunch greens blanched and quickly sautéed in a little sesame oil, or use pot roasted collards, sauté with a chopped onion in olive oil and then roasted in a closed Dutch oven for one hour at 325 degrees.

roasted broccoli or asparagus
1 small broccoli head cut into spears, tossed with oil and salt, and roasted on a preheated baking sheet at 475 degrees for about 12 minutes. Alternatively roast trimmed asparagus similarly but for about 7 minutes.

sesame carrots
1 carrot julienned and sautéed in a hot skillet in 1 Tbsp canola oil with 1/2 tsp sugar until soften. Add 1 tsp soy sauce and 1 tsp mirin, cook down, remove from heat and toss with 1 tsp sesame seeds.

miso lentils
3/4 cup puy lentils cooked in boiling water until soft (~18 minutes) and drained. Transfer to a bowl and mix in 2 tsp miso paste, 1 tsp sesame oil, a small pinch of sugar and black pepper.

toasted sesame rice
Coat the bottom of a large skillet with 1 Tbsp sesame oil and heat over medium low. Add 4 cups of cooked rice (I like to use a mixture of brown and white rice) and pack down. Cook for about 5-7 minutes until the bottom has developed a toasted crust (peek with a spatula).   

kimchi and sesame seeds to garnish

To serve, scoop out a serving of toasted rice, layer on all desired toppings, and drizzle with bibimbap sauce.

Rice Hot Pot

We've been eating a lot of rice hot pots lately, which are perfect for a drizzly midweek meal. Dolsot bibimbap is one of my favorite dishes to order in Korean restaurants, and I always feel so grateful to the chefs who prepare the selection of delectable toppings that are arranged so beautifully in the sizzling bowl of rice. Then I started playing around with heating up rice on the stovetop in stone bowls we'd bought for soup, and I realized that a rice hot pot can be infinitely flexible and an ingenious way to make the most of midweek leftovers and the bounty of our weekly Good Food Easy CSA share. 

The strategy is to cook up a big pot of brown rice or other grain over the weekend, or if you are really planning ahead, freeze meal-sized portions. Then search your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer and assemble a selection of topping ingredients loosely around the five elements below (realizing of course, that every formula was meant to be broken, and many ingredients fit into more than one category). The bowl above, for example, contained Sweetwater Farm kale, rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, and leftover Fair Valley Farm ham, with a side of kimchi. This is a short order chef type of meal with multiple burners going, but it can come together quickly. First rub a little sesame oil in individual stone bowls or a cast iron skillet, pack down a cup of rice for each serving, and start warming the bowls or skillet over low heat. Then prepare your toppings and pile them into the bowls or skillet as you go, ending with an egg on top.  

Some greens: quickly blanched, steamed, or sautéed, then tossed with a splash of sesame oil, and perhaps some sesame seeds.

Some protein: leftover ham, steak, chicken, quickly sautéed and finished with a splash of soy sauce and rice wine; baked or caramelized tofu; edamame beans; fried or poached egg.

Something umami: mushrooms, such as rehydrated shiitakes, quickly sautéed with a splash of soy.

Fresh and crunchy vegetables: shredded carrot, sliced cucumber, sliced radish.

Pickled vegetables: homemade kimchi, pickled chard stems, fermented green beans, refrigerator pickles. 

Rice Hot Pots

serves four

4 cups cooked brown rice
sesame oil
1 bunch kale (or chard or spinach)
1 cup cubed ham (or other meat or tofu or edamame beans)
canola oil
8 large dried shiitake mushrooms
1-2 carrots shredded (or 1 cucumber cut lengthwise into quarters and thinly sliced)
4 eggs
for garnish: kimchi, pickled vegetables, dried seaweed, sesame seeds, gochujang or sriracha sauce 

1. For 4 cups of cooked rice, use 2 cup dried rice. Rinse in a small mesh sieve, then place in a pot with 3 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and cook, covered for about 30 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork. You can cook this ahead of time.

2. Boil 1/2 cup water and pour over the dried shiitake mushrooms to rehydrate them.

3. I prepare a meal for four in two individual stone bowls (for the adults) and a cast iron skillet of toasted rice for the kids, who prefer their toppings separate, which leaves one burner for preparing the toppings. Rub about 1 tsp of sesame oil into each stone bowl or 2 tsp into the cast iron skillet. Start to warm the bowls and skillet over medium low flames. Pack one cup of rice per person into each bowl (two in the skillet). Keep them warming over low heat for about 15 minutes while you prepare the rest of the toppings, and a delicious toasted rice coating will form on the bottom. You should hear the rice sizzling and should smell it toasting. If you are nervous that it is burning, use a spatula to pry underneath and take a peak, and you can always turn it off, but not before you have a good layer of toasted rice.

4. Rinse and chop your greens. You could blanch them quickly in boiling water, steam them in the microwave with a splash of water, or quickly sauté them in another skillet. When they are tender, but not wilted, toss them with a splash of sesame oil and a pinch of salt and layer them into one quadrant of the rice bowls or two opposite quadrants of the skillet. 

5. Cube the meat or tofu. In your working skillet, sauté the cubes over medium high heat in a little canola oil , and when they are hot, add 1 tsp each of soy sauce and rice wine. Cook until these evaporate and then transfer to another quadrant of the rice bowls/skillet.

6. Slice the rehydrated mushroom. In your working skillet, sauté the mushroom slices over medium high heat, allowing the moisture to cook off, add 1 tsp soy sauce, cook down, and then transfer to another quadrant of the rice bowls/skillet.

7. Turn the heat under your working skillet to low and crack in four eggs. While these are frying, prepare the crunchy fresh vegetable toppings and gather your pickled toppings. When the egg are cooked to the desired stage, transfer them to the top of each hot pot or skillet half and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

8. Carefully transfer the hot pots or skillet onto coasters on the table. Have people add desired crunchy fresh and pickled toppings and hot sauce. Enjoy.

Fill your pantry now (and thank yourself later)

As chance would have it, I found myself entirely alone at home for the evening, for the first time in ten years, on the day after Halloween. Candy cauldrons overflowed with unguarded chocolates, but did I dine on twix and kitkats? No, because I was lucky enough to have a stash of caramelized onions in my freezer and a supply of Camas Country Mill lentils in the pantry, which I whipped up into a delicious Mujaddara for one. You too can fill you pantry with beans, grains, and storage vegetables at the Fill Your Pantry community bulk buying event on Sunday, November 17th, from 12-4 pm at Sprout Food Hub, 418 A Street, Springfield. 

Mujaddara and Grilled Eggplant with Tomato Topping

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market you can look forward to the following offerings from Sweetwater Farm, Fair Valley Farm, and Tiger Lily Art Company:

Blackberries and cantaloupes (make some fresh fruit crepes) 

Shiro plums from SLO Farm

eggplants (make the grilled eggplant with tomatoes below)

tomatoes, including romas, and 10 lb flats for $20 (starting preserving)

red sweet peppers, Italian frying peppers, Ho Chi Minh and Cherry Bomb hot peppers 

Costata Romanesco zucchini and cucumbers (make tsukemono)

green, yellow wax, and romano beans (make green and yellow salmon salad)

new potatoes, beets, celery, carrots, and kohlrabi (try kohlrabi and capers)

assorted herbs including Italian parsley and 1 lb bags of basil 

fresh spring garlic and onions (make the mujaddara below)

kale, chard, and a variety of lettuces, including Romaine (try kale pesto with beet pasta)

dried beans and grains from Camus Country Mill (pick up some lentils for mujaddara)

jams, salsa, and pickles from Sweet Creek Foods

pastured chickens from Fair Valley Farm (try slow cooker Pueblan Chicken Tinga)

floral arrangements from Tiger Lily Art Company

At the height of summer, jewel purple eggplants like the beauties above demand our attention. I took inspiration from a recipe by smitten kitchen and piled grilled eggplant slices with diced tomato, feta cheese, and mint, with a splash of pomegranate molasses. 

I also picked up a package of Camas Country Mill red chief lentils and a hefty spring onion to try my hand at the lentil and rice dish, mujaddara. I mostly followed a recipe from Rivka of food52, which starts with a big pot of browned onions that are mixed into separately cooked rice and lentils. But feeling a little lazy about pot washing, I followed Melissa Clark's method for making this a one pot dish by presoaking the lentils and then cooking them together with the rice. Choose your method, depending on your level of risk aversion, but definitely make the spiced yogurt sauce to accompany it.

Grilled Eggplant with Tomatoes and Mint

1 large eggplant, sliced

olive oil for brushing

1 large tomato, diced

2 ounces feta cheese, diced

10 mint leaves, minced

1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses

1 tablespoon olive oil

Brush the eggplant slices with a little olive oil. Cook over a hot grill or on a grill pan, flipping once, until soft and partly charred. Meanwhile, mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Mound onto the grilled eggplant slices.

Mujaddara and Spiced Yogurt

Adapted from Rivka of food52

for the Mujaddara
1 cups small lentils such as Camas Country Mill red chief or French puy
1 cup jasmine rice
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 cups onions (about 3 medium onions), halved and thinly sliced
3 1/2 cups water
about 1 teaspoon salt

For the yogurt
1/2 cup full fat or Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cumin (freshly ground, if possible)
1/2 teaspoon coriander (freshly ground)
1/2 teaspoon spicy paprika or aleppo pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
juice and zest of half a lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Sort through the lentils to remove any pebbles, rinse, and set to soak in a fresh water while you prepare the onions.

2. Set a wide, deep saute pan or Dutch oven over medium-low heat and add butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil. When butter has mostly melted, add onions and toss to incorporate with butter and oil. After 5 minutes, onions will have softened slightly and started to release their liquid. Raise heat to medium and cook 10 to 12 minutes more, until onions are very soft and browned. Add water by the tablespoon if pan gets too dry or if onions start to stick. When onions are well browned, add last tablespoon of olive oil and raise heat to high. Cook another 3 to 4 minutes, until bottom layer of onions has charred and crisped; try not to stir too much, or onions won't crisp up. Remove the onions to a bowl and lower the heat to medium-low.

3. Toss the rice into the pot and stir to coat with the remaining oil for about one minute. Drain the lentils and add to the pot. Add 3 1/2 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt, bring to a simmer, lower the heat, cover, and let cook for 15 minutes. Uncover and check the rice and lentils. Add more water and salt if needed and cook for another five minutes if needed. Otherwise, stir in the cooked onions and any accumulated juices, and let sit for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Note: you can also cook the lentils and rice separately and mix them together with the cooked onions.

4. Meanwhile, make the yogurt: mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Serve alongside the mujaddara.

Chicken and Saffron Rice

Summer is finally here! This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market you can look forward to the following offerings from Sweetwater Farm and Fair Valley Farm:

squash blossoms, baby squash, zucchini, and a few tomatoes (try ladybugs on a log)
nappa cabbage (makes some Pad Thai)
lemon drop hot peppers and Italian parsley (try in a mixed grain salad)

fava beans and sugar snap peas

cucumbers and carrots (make some fresh spring rolls)

spring onions, garlic scapes, and fresh spring garlic (delicious roasted with pesto)

kohlrabi, beets, and broccoli (try roasted in a salad) 

kale, chard, collards, braising greens mix, lettuce, and salad mix

dried beans and grains from Camus Country Mill

jams, salsa, and pickles from Sweet Creek Foods

pastured chickens (try this chicken and saffron rice)

One of my all time favorite dishes is paella, fragrant saffron rice packed with seafood, sausage, and poultry, which I'll only make for special occasions. But this chicken and rice recipe from Mark Bittman inspired me to make a simple weeknight version with ingredients from the Fairmount Farmers Market. Now that we've been purchasing Fair Valley Farm chickens for a while, I've gotten better at breaking down a whole chicken, which opens up all sorts of weeknight recipes (especially if you do your butchering the night before). I simply embellished Bittman's recipe with a couple of slices of bacon for a hint of smokey pork and used rehydrated sun dried tomatoes in the broth. Sweetwater Farm's fresh spring onions were the start of the rice dish, and their plump sugar snap peas finished it off. 

Chicken and Saffron Rice

adapted from Mark Bittman

1 whole chicken (about 3 lbs) cut up into pieces
2 slices of bacon
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 small onions
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 cups rice such as arborio or jasmine
1/2 cup white wine or white vermouth
3 cups boiling water
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes (not in oil)
1 pinch saffron threads
1 cup sugar snap peas (or use 1 cup frozen peas) 
salt and pepper to taste
lemon wedges for serving


1. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator to start to warm to room temperature. Cut up the onion into a fine dice and mince the garlic. Prepare a simple stock by chopping the sun dried tomatoes into small pieces and covering them with 3 cups of boiling water.

2. Place a large skillet that has a well-fitting lid over medium heat and lay the bacon slices in it. Cook the bacon on each side, and then transfer to a plate. Cut the strips into 1/4 inch pieces (I like to use kitchen shears for this) and reserve. 

3. Return the pan to a medium-high heat and if necessary add a little olive oil to the rendered bacon fat so that the bottom of the pan is generously covered. Add the chicken, skin side down. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, undisturbed but adjusting the heat so the chicken sizzles but doesn't burn, until the pieces release easily from the pan, 5 to 10 minutes. Then turn and rotate them every few minutes to brown them evenly. As the chicken pieces brown, after another 5 to 10 minutes, remove them from the pan. 

4. Reduce the heat under the skillet to medium and pour or spoon off most of the fat so that only 1 Tbsp remains. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil add the onions to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, until they soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook one more minute until fragrant. Now add the rice and cook, stirring, until it is glossy and coated with oil. Add the 1/2 cup of wine or vermouth and scrape the bottom of the pan to dislodge any chicken bits. Crumble in the saffron threads, pour over the sun dried tomato mixture, and season with salt and pepper. 

5. Return the bacon bits and chicken pieces to the pan, bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat so it bubbles gently but steadily. Cover the skillet and cook, undisturbed, for 15 to 20 minutes, then check the rice and chicken. The goal is to have the liquid absorbed, the rice tender, and the chicken cooked through. If the rice is dry but nothing is ready, add another ¼ cup water and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes. The meat is done when a quick‐read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 155–165°F. When the meat is done, scatter the snap peas over the rice, replace the lid, cook for two more minutes, and then turn off the heat and let sit for an additional 5 minutes. Taste the rice and adjust the seasoning. Serve warm with lemon wedges.

Market Start and Collard Leaf Presents

Time to celebrate: the fourth season of the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market starts up this Sunday June 9 from 10 AM - 2 PM on the corner of Agate St. and 19th Ave. You can look forward to fresh produce from Sweetwater Farm and pasture-raised meat and poultry from Fair Valley Farm including:

strawberries!

zucchini and pattypan squash (delicious grilled)

sugar snap peas and fava beans (serve with fresh pasta)

spring onions, spring garlic, and fennel bulbs (try pickled)

kale, chard, collards (try these collard leaf presents)

braising greens mix, lettuce, and salad mix 

Italian green cauliflower and broccoli

potatoes and beets (try this quinoa and beet salad)

and a few early cukes - they won't last long!

also new: salsa and pickles from Sweet Creek Foods

and pastured chicken (try spatchcocked)

A celebration isn't complete without presents, so for the Farmers Market start, I encourage you to wrap up these delicious collard green packets, inspired by a recipe from Deborah Madison's Vegetable Literacy. Hers is a delicately balanced mix of coconut-flavored black rice in collard leaves simmered in ginger-flavored coconut broth, but I employed her approach as an appealing way to repackage leftovers. For the filling, I mixed up black rice with leftover grilled peppers, scallions, and cherry tomatoes, and served them nestled in some leftover Thai sweet meat winter squash curry from the freezer. Unwrapping a side of rice from a brilliant green package made the whole meal feel very festive. In that festive spirit, please come out and celebrate a new season of the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market June 9th!

Collard Leaf Presents

adapted from Deborah Madison

for the stuffed collard packets
2 cups cooked black rice
1 cup chopped grilled vegetables, such as spring onions, summer squash, peppers, and tomatoes
1 handful cilantro leaves, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
8 collard leaves 

for the broth
3 cups water
1 large carrot, scrubbed and chopped
1 celery stalk, rinsed and chopped
2 star anise
3 slices of fresh ginger
salt to taste
1/2 cup or more coconut milk

1. To make the filling, combine the rice, grilled vegetables, cilantro leaves, and salt and pepper.

2. Prepare the collard leaves by cutting away the tough base portion of each stem. Bring a large, shallow pan of water to a simmer, add the collards, and cook until tender, about five minutes. Lift them out and set them on the counter with the base of the leaves facing you. 

3. Place about 1/3 cup of the filling on the center of each leaf. Fold the bottom portion of the leaf over the rice, bring the sides tightly over the rice, then tuck the farthest end of the leaf over snuggly to make a package.

4. Prepare the follow broth (or use your favorite coconut curry) for simmering you collard packets. For the broth, combine the water, carrot, celery, star anise, ginger, and salt and simmer, partly covered, for about 30 to 40 minutes until reduced to 1 cup. Strain the broth through a sieve, transfer to a wide pan, and add coconut milk to taste. Set the collard packets, seam sides down, in the pan, cover, and simmer for about five minutes. Serve the collard packets in shallow bowls with the broth.