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Now's
the time to enjoy early summer produce
May 12, 2005
Suzanne Havala Hobbs
Our
state’s farmers markets are in full swing.
So are the community supported agriculture, or CSA, farms.
At my house, we’ve been getting our half-bushel of fresh,
organic produce delivered to our doorstep each Thursday for
a few weeks now.
As a result, our refrigerator is filled to capacity with greens.
There’s kale, arugula, spinach and mixed salad greens.
And it’s almost time for Swiss chard.
What else is ready? Carrots, radishes, beets, snow peas, sugar
snap peas, green onions and broccoli, for starters.
This is the point in the year to start buying – and
eating – lots of locally grown produce. If ever there
was a time to jump start all of your good dietary intentions,
this is it – even better than January’s resolution
time.
That’s because it’s so easy to do from now through
the early fall.
Summer vegetables – and any fruits you can find, too
– are low in calories, so they dilute the total calorie
count of most meals. Since they’re devoid of saturated
fat and cholesterol and are naturally low in sodium, the more
you eat, the less room there is for the not-so-good foods.
On top of that, these foods are loaded with vitamins, minerals
and fiber.
As the season continues, there will be bell peppers, cucumbers,
tomatoes, corn, zucchini, fresh basil, bok choy, parsley,
turnips, eggplant – and more, depending upon where you
shop. Some farmers grow heirloom tomatoes and varieties of
other vegetables not typically seen in supermarkets.
What can you do with these foods? Eat some raw, some cooked.
Mix more than one in some dishes, and fix others by themselves.
The point is: There are lots of ways to use them.
Here are some ways I’m using produce available locally
right now:
* Chopped salads. I’ve craved these ever since trying
an “Italian chopped salad” last year. It’s
similar to Middle Eastern fatoush, a version of chopped salad
with little bits of pita bread mixed in. The key – and
what’s so good about it – is that every ingredient
in the salad is chopped finely. Use a food processor if you’d
like, though I chop by hand with a French knife. No big chunks
of broccoli or unwieldy lettuce leaves to flick salad dressing
onto your shirt. Use mixed greens or Romaine or whatever you
have on hand plus carrots, bell peppers, celery, black olives,
green onions, radishes – you name it, whatever you like.
I toss mine with raspberry walnut vinaigrette dressing.
* Cooked greens. Sauté chopped onions and garlic in
olive oil and add washed greens cut into strips. My secret
ingredient is Rikki’s Gourmet Soy Ginger Dressing and
Marinade from Costco. Also good: steamed spinach tossed with
olive oil and white pepper.
* One-dish pasta meals. Toss whole wheat fettuccine with olive
oil, garlic, wilted spinach leaves and toasted pine nuts.
Add cherry tomato halves and black olives and sprinkle with
grated Parmesan cheese. Vary the pasta shape, use other vegetables,
and toss with a small amount of grated skim mozzarella cheese
and fresh basil for other variations.
* Other salads. Toss strawberry halves with baby spinach leaves
and poppy seed dressing. Add walnut pieces. I also like to
start with a basic mixed green salad and top it with a big
scoop of three-bean salad or vinaigrette cole slaw, cooked,
sliced beets and sunflower seeds.
For those of you looking for a couple of good cookbooks with
an emphasis on using fresh produce, you may like:
* Vegetable Heaven by Mollie Katzen (Hyperion, 1997). The
recipes are great and so are Mollie’s whimsical illustrations.
This is a happy book.
* Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons (The Harvard Common Press,
1997). This chunky paperback was a James Beard Foundation
Award nominee and contains 350 recipes.
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