I like the basic idea behind this Grist article coaxing folks to incorporate the farmer's market into their daily lives, but I don't think it quite demystifies the task. "Many of my friends want to shop at the farmers market, but they complain that they end up with drawers of rotting produce. It's a common problem with an easy solution: a well-stocked pantry." Sort of. Having staples is the first step. Most people who go to farmer's markets, however, have some dry pasta at home. Even so, I know a lot of folks who walk by the produce stands and freeze: What the hell do you do with kale, anyway? Or with Swiss chard? And if you don't come to the farmer's market with a recipe in hand, won't you then have to go back out later for more ingredients?Here's the thing: Just about nothing at the farmer's market is specific to itself or its own recipes. Buy whatever. Buy anything. There are relatively few combinations of grain, vegetable, and protein that don't work, and having a couple types of grains on hand will generally ensure you never have to face one of them down. That's the point of the pantry. It lets you buy anything fresh, because you already have the basics at home.Someday, of course, we will all be converted into Apple branded products, plugged into iRecipe at all times, and this will cease being a problem. Until then, folks need base recipes they can plug all sorts of fresh things into. The one I made last weekend is a good example: Two cans of white Great Northern beans. A lot of Swiss chard I'd gotten at the Farmer's market. Four cloves of garlic, a chopped yellow onion, a can of diced tomatoes, some red pepper flakes, and some thick slices of toasted baguette. There was nothing interesting about the recipe. Most of the dish was waiting in my pantry. And it was waiting for me to run into some good looking Swiss chard at the farmer's market. Which made it delicious. But it didn't need to be Swiss chard. Kale would have worked fine, as would any thick, bitter green. Hot peppers could have gone in there. Spinach. Corn. Pine nuts, (The recipe I used is below.) WEEKEND FOOD BLOGGING: USING THE FARMER'S MARKET.
I like the basic idea behind this Grist article coaxing folks to incorporate the farmer's market into their daily lives, but I don't think it quite demystifies the task. "Many of my friends want to shop at the farmers market, but they complain that they end up with drawers of rotting produce. It's a common problem with an easy solution: a well-stocked pantry." Sort of. Having staples is the first step. Most people who go to farmer's markets, however, have some dry pasta at home. Even so, I know a lot of folks who walk by the produce stands and freeze: What the hell do you do with kale, anyway? Or with Swiss chard? And if you don't come to the farmer's market with a recipe in hand, won't you then have to go back out later for more ingredients?Here's the thing: Just about nothing at the farmer's market is specific to itself or its own recipes. Buy whatever. Buy anything. There are relatively few combinations of grain, vegetable, and protein that don't work, and having a couple types of grains on hand will generally ensure you never have to face one of them down. That's the point of the pantry. It lets you buy anything fresh, because you already have the basics at home.Someday, of course, we will all be converted into Apple branded products, plugged into iRecipe at all times, and this will cease being a problem. Until then, folks need base recipes they can plug all sorts of fresh things into. The one I made last weekend is a good example: Two cans of white Great Northern beans. A lot of Swiss chard I'd gotten at the Farmer's market. Four cloves of garlic, a chopped yellow onion, a can of diced tomatoes, some red pepper flakes, and some thick slices of toasted baguette. There was nothing interesting about the recipe. Most of the dish was waiting in my pantry. And it was waiting for me to run into some good looking Swiss chard at the farmer's market. Which made it delicious. But it didn't need to be Swiss chard. Kale would have worked fine, as would any thick, bitter green. Hot peppers could have gone in there. Spinach. Corn. Pine nuts, (The recipe I used is below.) 
