cooking from the market

my recent trip to seattle kicked off my farmer's market season and i've been dutifully following up in town. it is such a refreshing change of pace to buy fresh vegetables every week and create meals accordingly. eating seasonally is so joyful, each month brings a new surprise.

i thought i would share some of what i've been whipping up in the kitchen.

yellow curry with broccoli raab, leeks and potatoes
1 bunch broccoli raab cut into 1" pieces
2 small leeks, sliced
5 small potatoes in 1" chunks
garlic
ginger
jar of Trader Joe's yellow curry sauce
plain yogurt
white rice

• blanch broccoli raab and submerge in cold water, drain and set aside.
• add 2tbs of oil to a wok, add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant
• add leeks and cook a couple of minutes
• add potatoes. stir and cover. cook until soft, stirring occasionally.
• in a bowl, mix curry sauce with 1 c. yogurt and .5 cup water—add yogurt or water to adjust consistency and mix well.
• add sauce into wok and heat through.
• add raab and heat through.
• enjoy! serve with white rice.

nettle pesto on angel hair pasta
1 bag of stinging nettles
1.5 c. toasted walnuts
1 c. asiago cheese
garlic clove
olive oil

• carefully steam nettles for 5 minutes (don't touch them!)
• place steamed de-stinging nettles with walnuts, cheese and garlic in a food processor and pulse until well chopped.
• add olive oil while running food processor to achieve desired consistency
• viola!

roasted sunchokes
sunchokes
olive oil
fresh rosemary
garlic

• scrub sunchokes well and cut into even sized chunks
• toss will olive oil, salt and chopped rosemary
• spread on baking sheet with whole, peeled garlic cloves
• bake in oven at 400 under crispy and tender inside

rhubarb simple syrup
4 stalks of rhubarb, chopped
2 cups sugar
2 cups water

• boil sugar & water until clear
• add rhubarb and simmer until rhubarb has broken down
• remove rhubarb and/or strain
• use in cocktails or to make fresh rhubarb lemonade

this week i bought spinach, rhubarb, onions and dried local chickpeas—and am still working on the hummus, radishes and arugula from the week before. (i even have a few sweet potatoes from seattle.) next weekend i'll be in portland and i am really hoping to find some fava beans and pea shoots more than anything. oh, and pine state biscuit of course.

i highly encourage folks to shop their markets and eat accordingly. it is a lot of fun and instills a sense of adventure in the kitchen. i'd love to hear what everyone else is coming up with too...do tell!