Showing posts with label Farmer's Markets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Farmer's Markets. Show all posts

Scallops & Zucchini Ribbon Pasta 

Friday, August 5, 2011 -
Hubs and I had ordered some scallops from a groupon we had purchased a while back.  These work perfectly for a planned out recipe or a thrown together dish (like the bok choy stir fry I had guest blogged on with Messy Aprons).  I guess I normally lean towards thrown together dishes, so hubs and I started doing our thing.

While he warmed up the grill and prepped the scallops with some salt and pepper, I put on a pot of water for some angel hair pasta and prepped some zucchini we had from the farmers market.  I simply used a vegetable peeler to make long pieces of zucchini into beautiful ribbons to mesh with the pasta.

For a sauce, I added some extra virgin olive oil to a pan and added some garlic and red pepper flakes.  At the market I had also picked up some cherry tomatoes, so I cut those in half and added them to the mix to get some more juice to be part of the sauce.  I added the zucchini so that it would slightly cook, but only for a minute.  A bit of pasta water with the pasta, and there was a good dish happening.

Hubs had grilled up the scallops and they turned out perfectly.  Adding them on top of the pasta with some fresh basil from our herb garden, we had a delicious and healthy dinner.

Frozen meets fresh - sounds like an easy dinner option to me.

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Rhubarb Streusel Pie 

Wednesday, July 6, 2011 -
Did you know corn and rhubarb can have a relationship? 

I didn't either.

But, the corn stand at the Farmer's Market was selling rhubarb as the corn isn't quite ready yet.  You know, have to reserve a spot at the Market to ensure you have it and all.  So, put up the corn sign but sell rhubarb.  Sounds like a plan, so people like me can reminisce about rhubarb.

It reminds me of home.  My mom used to grow it behind the shed in the backyard and would make rhubarb cakes, pies and all the jazz.  When I was younger, I wasn't a huge fan of it, but it has definitely grown on me throughout the years.

Corn = rhubarb = memories.


I grabbed a frozen crust I had in the freezer (leftover from the anticipation onion tart) and got to work by prepping the rhubarb.  I had about 7 stalks I chopped up.  I then added around 3/4 a cup of sugar, about a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a few tablespoons of butter.  I filled the pie dish with the filling and got to work on the streusel topping.


A cup of flour, 1/4 cup of brown sugar and too much cinnamon were thrown together.  Two finely chopped tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts were then added.  I mixed this up until it was crumbly before sprinkling around the edge of the pie.

About 20 minutes later in a 350 degree oven, we had a pie.  And it was delicious.  I may have let it bake just a little too long (when you are making a green tomato blt, you can get distracted) but it made for a great dessert throughout the week.

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Fried Green Tomato BLT 

Tuesday, July 5, 2011 -
After a morning at the Carmel Farmer's Market, I always come home with a few veggies for the week.  At the beginning of summer, green tomatoes are abundant and make it into the bag frequently.

I know, a tomato is a fruit.

You say tomato...

It started to ripen awfully fast (you can see this in the photos), but alas, it was almost all green.

Either way, I knew exactly what I wanted when I saw that big fat tomato - a BLT.  And nothing celebrates the beginning of summer like a fried (almost) green tomato.  Hubs began by frying up some bacon while I prepped the tomato.

A quick dredge in some flour (seasoned with black pepper and salt), egg and sriracha mixture, then some corn meal and we were ready to go.  Rather than just frying it up in oil, I had hubs reserve the bacon drippings and crisped them up in that.  Insert your "oh gosh, so unhealthy" lines here, but it was delicious.
While I (unsuccessfully) searched the pantry for mayo, hubs toasted up the french bread we had.  As we discovered no mayo, we opted to use ranch dressing instead.  Best. Decision. Ever.

The sandwiches were filling and perfect for the summer night.  They were even delicious the next day for lunch, assembly required. Sometimes, improvising can be just plain delicious!

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Supporting Local Food & Farmers 

Friday, April 15, 2011 -
A few weeks ago, the IndySpectator published an article about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).  Ever since our friends Mallory & Ryan had signed up for a CSA last year, I've been bugging hubs to get in on it so we could have a veggie box of our own.  And after the article came out, it reminded me that I still wanted one.  Thus, the Ahrens' purchased their very own CSA for the spring.

You may ask, what is a CSA? I'm a huge fan of farmer's markets, and this is another way that you can support your local farmer's and the community of food producers.  Essentially, you purchase a "share" of a local farmer's produce and for that price, receive a bounty of fruit, veggies, herbs and other local items.  Programs can vary by weeks (ours is 7 for the Spring) and by price points, as well as items offered.  These bountiful boxes can be delivered directly to your door or you can pick them up at the farm or a local shop.

After some research, I settled on a local farm in Zionville, IN called Valentine Hill Farm.  This particular CSA worked for us because of the price point (around $17 a week) and because of the pick-up location, which is at the delicious Trader's Point Creamery (go there for brunch if you haven't - delish).  Another reason we picked it was because of the options.  They had four:
  • Small share (for two people)
  • Small share (for two people) including bread
  • Large share (for four people)
  • Large share (for four people) including bread
I was extremely interested in the bread, because you could get freshly made loaves of bread, English muffins, homemade pasta or pies.  Delicious, but not necessary for us.  Since we enjoy making our own pasta and hubs is one fantastic baker, we decided to stick to the small share sans carbs.  I signed us up, and our first weekend pickup was this past Saturday.  I was in Chicago for work and a friend's bridal shower, and hubs was working, so bestie Mel came to the rescue and picked up the veg box for us.  Plus, she sent me this photo to get me all excited for Sunday menu planning (a ritual in the Ahrens' household).  And can I just note it came in a Charles Shaw wine box?  Veggies in a wine box?  My kind of veggies!

What was in the lovely veg box?  Spinach, mache, baby Little Gem romaine lettuce, kale, wild chives, and cilantro.  I love not knowing what we'll get - it is all fresh and in season which makes the pending weekend menu planning that much more fun to me.  And Valentine Farm sends a newsletter with 3-4 recipes that you can try with your new produce.  Honestly, what is there not to love?

We are still in debate if we'll continue through the summer.  You may wonder, "Why Angie, you love your CSA veg box!?" but it is because we also love to frequent the farmer's markets.  Taking a quick bike ride down the Monon to the Carmel Farmers Market is one of our favorite summer activities.  And we are still getting fresh and local ingredients, all while supporting the local community. So, I guess we'll see...

Stay tuned for all the great cooking we get from this new adventure.  Not to mention, future photos of veggie box excitement.  Can you tell I'm excited? I hope you are too!

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