Fresh Fare from the Farmer's Market (with a recipe!)

Posted on Aug 25, 2011

Posted by Ellen, Category Innovation Brand Manager

In my role at Tom’s of Maine I spend a lot of time thinking about natural ingredients, and the different ways we can use them to serve our customers. But one of my favorite places to find natural ingredients is my local farmer's market - and I wanted to share a recipe that highlights one of the ways I use the ingredients I find there.

The first word that comes to mind when I step onto the winding path of the Farmer’s Market in the middle of Deering Oaks Park is “Abundance”.  It is August in Portland, Maine and all the farmers who have come to market today are standing behind tables brimming with color and bursting with all manner of vegetable. 

The Maine blueberries are at peak, and there are quite a few pints to be purchased and frozen or made into pies.  But the chill in the morning air also spells the very beginning of apple season and the first few apples are making their appearance in barrels at some stands.  My favorite sight is the stacks of red, yellow, orange, and white beets, complete with their beet greens.  I love to boil them and stain my fingers peeling their thick skins away to make a perfect beet salad with some goat cheese and sugared walnuts. 

This year at Deering Oaks also saw the arrival of several meat and dairy farmers, as well as a new farmer offering organic tempeh and all the recipes you need to cook it correctly.  You can find honey in all its forms, and the flowers are breathtaking.  It must have been a banner summer for sunflowers as they stand tall and proud at nearly every stand.  Of course I take some home for my table!

The Farmer’s Market here is a place where everyone seems to be in a good mood. I always arrive with a plan, and end up totally off budget and with myriad choices in my bag that I often have little idea what to do with.  With everything so fresh and so well-tended, it’s hard not to go overboard! 

We Mainers are lucky that between May and October, it’s easy and affordable to eat locally and often, organically. I am including the recipe for the beet salad I will make for dinner after my Farmer’s Market visit. Which ingredients are popular at your local Farmer’s Market right now? What are your favorite Farmer’s Market inspired recipes?

Farmer’s Market Beet Salad

Ingredients

Bunch of  beets of all size and color
Lettuce mix of choice
Crumbled feta or goat cheese
Red onion, thinly sliced
Sugared walnuts or almonds or pecans
Olive oil
White balsamic vinegar

Trim beets of their greens and cook in boiling water til tender, about 25 minutes.  Peel skins off beets (these should come off very easily now) and trim top and bottom ends off beets.  Cool.  Toss lettuce  mix with crumbled feta or goat cheese and sprinkle with sugared nuts and thinly sliced red onion.  Slice beets and arrange on top.  Drizzle with olive oil and a little bit of white balsamic vinegar.  Enjoy!