Price - EatingWell in season: the farmers market cookbook

By Nell Newman

BY DR. PRESTON MARING & PETER JARET

BY FOOD EDITOR JESSIE PRICE

I can remember my first farmers market. It was 1989 and as I rode my bike through Santa Cruz, California, near where I live, I came upon a display of fruits and vegetables piled high and wide on card tables and the tailgates of pickup trucksall jammed in an abandoned parking lot. There was a weathered-looking gentleman with a crumpled straw hat belting out folk songs on an old guitar and dozens of earthy-looking farmers, beaming and proud to speak of their work and their land, who encouraged me to sample a snap pea, a radish.

The farmers market in Santa Cruz hasnt changed that much in 20-plus yearsbut it has gotten bigger and it is no longer a rarity. Over the past decade the number of farmers markets across the United States has almost doubled.

These markets are flourishing because they honor the basic premise that our land, food, health and happiness are inextricably linked. As you will learn in the following pages, the simple act of shopping at local farmers markets is profound and one of the best things we can do for our own health and that of the planet. For me its my weekly (sometimes twice a week) way to get grounded, reconnect with great friends and, with the help of this book, get inspired to cook what is local and fresh that particular day.

Take one of my favorite market discoveries, tomatillos. Ive taken to roasting them on a baking sheet or firing them on a grill: split into halves then blended with jalapeo peppers, a little vinegar and a touch of salt, its a great salsa (try Tomatillo Sauce on page 115). Or, I make the tomatillo gazpacho on page 83.

Ive since started growing tomatillos in my garden; the job of picking, roasting and blending has become a seasonal ritual. The result is dozens of jars of salsa for friends and enough in the freezer to last throughout the year. Come to think of it, thats sort of how my dad, Paul Newman, started bottling and selling his salad dressing, the one that launched Newmans Own.

I also try to keep a rotation of salad greens growing in my garden as well as tomatoes, basil, peaches and more. The chickens that run around my yard keep the bugs under control and help elevate the basic omelet to godly status. Between my garden and my farmers market, upwards of 70 percent of my diet is local.

As our world has gotten more focused on quick, cheap and easy ways to feed ourselvesand weve started packaging and shipping food great distancesour connection to the land has been lost, and a certain social fragmentation has occurred. To me the farmers market is about closing the distance between people and places, away to remember traditions and crafts. Its away to put down, quite literally, good roots.

In much the way a seed is the beginning of something wonderfulof, say, a tree that will produce applesso too is this book a seed to stir your imagination and passion for cooking with the fruits of the land. Its also about connecting you to the place where you live, helping you to learn more about your neighboring farmerstheir long days working the soil, and the choices they have to make to provide for not only their families but also their communities.

EatingWell in Season: The Farmers Market Cookbook can be your guide to rebuilding your connection to food and the earth. After flipping through these pages and making these recipes, you will want to seek out the local markets wherever you are, visit the farms and perhaps even plant your own seeds.

Nell Newman, founder of Newmans Own Organics

Though I do not believe a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Charlotte Berry Farm,Vermon

Garden-fresh summer vegetables

Seven reasons why farmers markets will help you find healthier, simpler ways to shop, cook and live

BY DR. PRESTON MARING & PETER JARET

Stop by my farmers market on a Friday morning at the peak of summer and you might hear Lone Oak Ranchs Marlene Gonzalez, a fourth-generation organic farmer, describe what a pluot is (a cross between a plum and an apricot). Or Roberto Rodriguez, who grows some of the sweetest strawberries youll ever taste, reveal why he decided to switch nearly half of his 37 acres of fields to organic agriculture so his 6-year-old would not be exposed to pesticides. Nearby, at Nunez Farms stall, you might well overhear shoppers exchanging recipes for Japanese eggplant. If its late fall or winter, you might see a kid tasting a pomegranate or persimmon for the first time, looking wary at first, and then breaking into a broad grin. Everywhere you wander, youll catch the yeasty smell of fresh bread from Vital Vittles (a bakery in Berkeley, which mills its own flour) and the sweet perfume of fresh-cut flowers grown by Abel Fernandes. But whats different about this market is that youll also see doctors and nurses racing out on their breaks to grab a bag of tender salad greens or a basket of colorful squash to take home. You may also see visiting family members pick up bunches of cut flowers for a patients room and armloads of fresh fruit and vegetables for the coming week.

If I sound like a proud father when I talk about my market, thats how I feel. Six years ago, I was walking across the lobby of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland, California, where I work as a primary-care physician, when I noticed some vendors selling jewelry and purses. I remember thinking what a clever idea it was to set up shop where thousands of people come and go every day, even if hawking fashion accessories seemed a little incongruous at a major metropolitan hospital. And then I had another thought: if someone can make a go of selling purses and jewelry, why not use the space to promote something that really reflects the values of our healthcare program?

Why not a farmers market? There seemed to be no reason not to and at least seven good reasons why everyonepatients, doctors and even youshould shop, cook and eat from a farmers market.

1. Get Inspired

The truth is Ive always loved farmers markets. I love to cook, and farmers markets are the best place to find the freshest vegetables and fruits of the season. The farmers market offers all the inspiration my wife and I need to make something special for dinner, whether its a homemade pizza with leeks, tomatoes, feta and prawns or an asparagus-potato frittata like youll find on page 36. Thanks to farmers markets, weve been introduced to fruits and vegetables we didnt know much about before, such as kohlrabi (a Sputnik-looking relative of cabbage with a mild, sweet taste, perfect raw or baked into a gratin like you will find on page 159).