Taste Before Beauty / Beauty Before Taste
Cherry tomatoes from Don's Produce
Taste Before Beauty / Beauty Before Taste
It's a special time of year when the dinner plate starts to effortlessly look like the offering of a five-star restaurant. The vibrancy and color of the fresh farmers' market produce lends its beauty to every dish, from the simplest salad to the four course meal carefully crafted.
It's the splash of color from Ka Vang Thao's purple asparagus next to a bed of beautifully grown Blue Moon Community Farm greens. It's the causal toss of flower-on chives from Emerald Meadows Family Farm (pictured) as the last addition to a quick stir-fry. Even before we begin our meals we see that natural beauty delighting our kitchens. We see it with the colorful eggs in their carton from Pecatonica Valley Farm, the thick crust of an uncut loaf of Madison Sourdough bread and the golden amber of a jar of Bonde Bee honey. While we catch up from a slow spring, expect that beauty to keep flourishing in the coming weeks as our fingers get stained red from the slaughter of a quart of fresh strawberries and our ears perk to the snap of spring peas. It's a masterpiece we'll paint time and again as the season progresses, one that always tastes as good as it looks. See you at market! Ben Zimmerman Market Manager
Grow your own mushrooms with inoculated plugs from Herb n Oyster
Vendor Notices:
West Star Organics has finished vending for the 2019 season.
Daily Vendors: June 15th, 2019
Meadowlark Organics
We're blushing over here! A huge thank you to everyone who voted for us in Madison Magazine's Best of Madison 2019. We won gold for Best Farmers' Market (other than Dane County Farmers' Market)!
Please note not all vendors present every week. Please check newsletter for anticipated absences.
Recipe Corner
This week we're throwing out some tasty & simple kohlrabi recipes to try. This relatively obscure veggie is delicious on its own, but in these numbers you'll find yourself a new familiar friend. Enjoy!
Kohlrabi & Carrot Slaw
(From The Spruce Eats) Ingredients: - 2 bulbs kohlrabi - 4 carrots - 3 tablespoons vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons cider vinegar - 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard (or Dijon-style mustard) - 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt - Freshly ground black pepper (to taste) Directions: 1. Trim and peel the kohlrabi and the carrots. Set the peeled vegetables aside. 2. In a salad bowl or large mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, mustard, and salt until well blended. Add pepper, if you like. 3. Using the large holes on a standing box grater or a mandoline set up for fine julienne, grate the kohlrabis and the carrots into the salad bowl. 4. Toss everything together until the kohlrabi and carrot are evenly coated with the dressing. Taste and add more salt or pepper, if you'd like. 4. Serve immediately or keep covered and chilled for later serving.
Spicy Kohlrabi Noodles
(From Love & Lemons) Ingredients: - 2-3 kohlrabi - 4 oz. cooked (and cooled) rice noodles - ½ jalapeño, sliced and/or a few thai red chiles - ½ avocado, sliced - herbs: cilantro, basil, and/or mint - handful of crushed peanuts - sriracha, to taste - extra lime slices - optional: tofu or a protein of your choice dressing: - juice and zest of 1 lime - 2 tablespoons fish sauce (or soy sauce or tamari) - 2 tablespoons rice vinegar - 1 clove of garlic, minced - 1 teaspoon minced ginger Directions: 1. Mix the dressing together. 2. Peel the kohlrabi if you like, (I just try to peel off the fibrous nubby sections and I leave the more tender skin on). Use a mandoline to slice kohlrabi into planks and then slice the planks into thin matchsticks. 3. Toss the sliced kohlrabi with the dressing and chile peppers. Chill for about 30 minutes. 4. Toss the marinated kohlrabi with noodles, avocado, herbs, crushed peanuts and sriracha. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve cold or at room temp, with extra lime slices on the side.
