Marin Roots Farm brought baby radishes and radish flowers to the market this week.  They were exceptionally fresh and flavorful.  So flavorful, in fact, that I didn’t want to waste one single bite of the roots or of the greens.   Making pesto from the leaves is one of my favorite ways to showcase the spicy green tops.  This pesto is delicious when served as a topping for bread or with pasta. 

Ingredients
2 handsful of radish greens, washed and patted dry
1/4 cup radish flowers (optional)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup chopped roasted almonds
1/3 cup freshly-grated parmigiano regianno cheese
1/4 cup rehydrated sundried tomatoes, diced (optional)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly-cracked black pepper

You will also need:
Food processor with bottom blade attached

Instructions
Drop the radish leaves and flowers into the food processor and process for a few seconds until finely chopped. 

Add the minced garlic, the almonds, the cheese and the diced sundried tomatoes, if using them.  Process for a few seconds until everything is well-combined.  Drizzle in enough olive oil to make a nice paste.  Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.  Serve as an appetizer with sliced bread or with pasta.

I like to serve the baby radishes themselves with a dish of fleur-de-sel (sea salt) for dipping.

Blueberries are in season right now in our local Bay Area farmers markets.  In addition to tasting great, I’ve read that blueberries may actually reduce the effects of age-related conditions such as alzheimers and dementia. Also, according to blueberrycouncil.org, blueberries contain high levels of antioxidants that help fight cancer and heart disease.

Some of the best blueberries that I’ve found in the local markets are grown in the San Joaquin Valley at Sorensen’s Triple Delight Blueberry Farm. You can find Triple Delight Blueberries in a number of Bay Area farmers markets, including San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and Marin Farmers market. 

Blueberries have a very short season – about six weeks here – so I go a little overboard with them. Luckily, blueberries can be stored for a few days in a covered container in the refrigerator. But don’t wash them before storing them, as this can cause them to mold more quickly. Blueberries freeze pretty well, too.  The frozen ones are a real treat when the fresh ones are gone for the season. 

Oh, and I forgot to mention that one cup of blueberries has only 80 calories. So eat them without any guilt.

One of my favorite ways to enjoy blueberries is to mix them with Greek-style yogurt and homemade granola, then drizzle them with a little local honey.  This treat is great for breakfast, a mid-afternoon snack, or for dessert. 

As I mentioned, the season for blueberries is short, though – get plenty of them while you can!

This week I found the most flavorful snap peas at Everything Under the Sun’s farm stand at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza farmers market.   These peas are so delicious when just eaten as as snack, but I wanted to do something different with them.  I decided to make a salad out of ingredients that I had in my kitchen.  It was a hit.

Ingredients
2 cups raw snap peas, washed and dried
2 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup Marcona almonds, coarsely ground
1/4 cup Piave or parmigiano reggiano cheese, finely grated
2 Tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
2 Tablespoons great-quality extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt (I use fleur de sel) and cracked pepper, to taste

You will also need:
chopping board & chef’s knife
mixing bowl
small bowl for dressing
whisk

Instructions
Remove and discard the stems and the strings from the peas.  Coarsely chop the peas. 

Place the chopped peas, the crumbled bacon, the ground marcona almonds and the grated cheese into a mixing bowl. 

In a smaller bowl, combine the Meyer lemon juice and the olive oil.  Whisk together until well-combined. 

Pour enough dressing over the salad to coat the ingredients (you may not need all of the dressing).  Season to taste with sea salt and pepper.  Serve immediately.

Serves 2-3 people.

This week I found mizuna at the Star Route Farms stand at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza farmers market.  Mizuna has tender dark green leaves and a pleasant peppery flavor.  Mizuna is also referred to as Japanese greens.  Some think that it tastes like arugula, but I find the flavor to be much more akin to mustard greens in flavor.  The leaves look more similar to wild arugula than mustard, though, with their somewhat feathery shape.  Mizuna is a great source of beta carotene, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. As well, it is low in calories.

Mizuna can be used in salads or sautéed in a little olive oil.  

I also add it to bacon, tomato and avocado sandwiches and to scrambled eggs for a hint of spice. 

Star Route Farms is certified organic and has 40 acres in Bolinas and another 10 acres in Thermal, California.  They grow a variety of vegetables including Asian vegetables, beets, broccoli, chards, herbs, lettuces, onions, salad greens, spinach, and more.   For more information on the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, visit the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA).

Finding Bordeaux spinach at Everything Under the Sun’s farmstand at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market was a nice surprise this morning .  Bordeaux spinach has beautiful red stems and veins and dark green leaves that are shaped like tattered arrowheads.  I find it to be sweeter than traditional spinach.  You can use it in salads to provide a burst of color and flavor.  You can also use it the way you would use traditional spinach – in soups, sautéed or wilted, but the stems do tend to lose their red color when cooked. As in traditional spinach, the Bordeaux spinach is it is rich in Vitamins A and C, beta-carotene and dietary fiber.  The growing season for this spinach is short, so snap it up whenever you find it.  One of my favorite ways to use it is in a simple salad with winter fruits, nuts and goat cheese.

Ingredients
4 cups Bordeaux spinach leaves, washed and dried
2 large blood oranges, peeled and sliced crosswise
2 kiwis, peeled and sliced crosswise
1 round of your favorite fresh goat cheese, quartered
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

For the dressing:
3 Tablespoons walnut oil (such as the one from Glashoff Farms.)
1 Tablespoon great-quality red wine vinegar (such as the one from Round Pond)
1 Tablespoon honey (such as that sold by Marshall’s Farm)
Sea salt and pepper

You will also need:
Individual salad plates
Small mixing bowl for dressing
Whisk

Instructions
Divide the Bordeaux spinach among the 4 salad plates.  Top each one with the sliced blood oranges and the kiwis.  Add a wedge of goat cheese to each plate.  Sprinkle the toasted walnuts on top. 

To make the dressing, combine the walnut oil, vinegar and honey and whisk to combine.  Add a large pinch of sea salt and some freshly-ground pepper.  Stir well.   Drizzle the salad dressing over the salads just before serving. 

Serves 4.

Last week at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, I spotted the most beautiful Japanese turnips at Eatwell Farm’s stand.   These turnips are favorites of mine for adding to salads.  I believe the variety is Hakurei.  These turnips are sweet, spicy and can be used without peeling.   Not only do I use the roots, but I adore the green tops as well.   I add both to my salads, but they are equally as delicious when sauteed, roasted or added to soups.  Here is one of my favorite ways to use Japanese turnips in a salad.

Ingredients
4 cups mixed winter greens, washed and dried
4 small Japanese turnips (roots and greens), washed and dried
2 medium-sized apples, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 cup almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped
4 small radishes, washed and thinly-sliced

For the dressing:
3 Tablespoons great quality extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon high quality red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
Sea salt and pepper

You will also need:
Salad plates for serving
Bowl for mixing dressing

Instructions
Place one cup of greens onto each salad plate.

Remove the green tops from the turnips.  Slice the greens coarsely and add them to the salad plates.  Snip off the long root from each turnip.  Cut each turnip in half and then slice each half thinly.  Add to the salad plates.

Distribute the sliced apples evenly across each salad plate.  Scatter the chopped almonds on top.  Add thin slices of radishes to each plate. 

Make the dressing at the last minute by combining the olive oil, vinegar and honey and mixing well.  Add a large pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper.    Drizzle a Tablespoon of salad dressing on the top of each salad.  Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

I was buying collard greens from Everything Under the Sun’s farm stand at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market last Saturday when owner Bill Crepps asked me if I had tried roasting kale.  I responded that I hadn’t yet tried it, but that I loved roasted vegetables.  After I left the stand, I kept thinking about it.  Before I left the market, I went back and bought two bunches of his beautiful, deep green kale for $3.  That evening, we roasted it in the oven and it was so tasty – like eating potato chips.   Kale is in season right now and this dish is so simple to make.  Only takes about 15 minutes to cook! 

Ingredients
1 bunch (handful) of kale leaves, washed and stems cut off near the base of the leaf
Enough olive oil to coat the leaves
Fleur de sel (sea salt) to finish

You will also need:
1 medium bowl
1 shallow baking pan

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Toss the leaves with olive oil and lay them out onto the baking sheet in a single layer.   Bake them for about 15 minutes until golden brown and crisp.  Remove them from the oven and sprinkle with fleur de sel.  Serve right away. 

Serves 2 as appetizer or side dish.

I am always looking for new food adventures, and I had many great ones throughout the year.  Here is a list of my top 10 food or food-related discoveries of 2009 (in no particular order):

(1) the red pepper velvet cake at Dirt Candy in NYC
(2) the skillet bacon jam from Skillet Street Food in Seattle
(3) the pechiole al tartufo (truffled wild peaches) from Conti Foods in Florence, Italy
(4) the professional cheese knife from Claudine Vigier of La Fromagerie du Comtat in Provence
(5) the amazing tasting menu and setting at La Petraia, a restored working organic farm and agriturismo in Tuscany
(6) the chilaquiles from Primavera at the Saturday morning SF Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
(7) Cibreo Restaurant in Florence, Italy
(8) The Nibble Bar from Askinosie chocolate, made in Springfield, Missouri using cacao beans from Ecuador
(9) the brussels sprout salad at Bottega Restaurant in Napa Valley
(10) three crushed dried chili peppers from Whole Spice in Oxbow Market in Napa – chili aleppo, chili marash and chili urfa

Starting on May 23rd, the SF Ferry Building Farmers Market has banned the use of plastic bags by the vendors at the market.  This is a trend that may be picked up by other farmers markets in the area.  There will be some single-use biodegradable bags available for purchase at the market.  However, the greenest and most economical solution is to take your own bags and continue to reuse them each week.

We buy at least 90% of our produce for the week in our local Bay Area farmers markets.  The San Francisco Ferry Plaza farmers market is our overall favorite in the Bay Area. The setting is spectacular, and you can find almost anything there! We have been frequenting this market for more than 15 years.  We go early on Saturday mornings and also on Tuesdays and Thursdays, if possible, to buy fresh vegetables, fruits, breads, eggs, orchids, garden plants, sausages and pastas. The sight of the vivid, fresh produce at this market is so inspiring to me! I get so many great menu ideas just from walking through the market.   On Saturday mornings, my husband and I can’t wait to see what Primavera is offering for breakfast.  And on Thursdays, my first destination is Tacolicious for their amazing tacos. 

San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market is located at:

One Ferry Building Plaza
San Francisco, CA
http://www.cuesa.org/
(Saturdays,  Tuesdays and Thursdays all year round)

Other farmers markets that I frequent and truly enjoy are:

St. Helena Farmers Market – Crane Park (Friday mornings from May-October)

Marin County Farmers Market – Marin Civic Center Parking Lot (Thursdays and Sundays year-round)

Napa Farmers Market – Napa Wine Train Station (Tuesdays and Saturdays from May-October)

In the Bay Area, there is almost always a farmers market nearby, all year round!