The greens report & recipes

Today was the first day of the farmer's market. This year there are 4 markets in town, one of them is just a block from my house. This makes me happier than a clam, in spite of the miserable rainy weather. Walking 2 minutes to get your veggies, doesn't get any better than that!

If you're a local please support area farmers and artisans at one of these locations:

• Tuesdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Kennedy Park (corner of Pine and Bates Streets)
• Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Mary's Health System at the corner of Lafayette and Campus Avenue
• Thursdays at Central Maine Medical Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 60 High Street
• Fridays from from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. the Great Falls Farmers' and Artisans Market on the front lawn of the Great Falls Art Center on Main Street and Academy Street in Auburn.

All the markets will offer fresh produce, natural meats, seafood, cheeses and dairy products as well as showcase breads, local crafts, and live music.

There was no live music today but we came home with lovely radishes, cauliflower, onions and greens.

Greens, greens, greens. What do with them all?

• We eat a lot our greens lightly steamed or sauteed. It is amazing how much greens cook down. You can start with a pound or so and end up with a little lump on your plate. Add lemon juice, white wine, garlic, sauteed onions, Mrs. Dash type seasonings. Toss in cooked beans or tofu, top with toasted seeds or nuts. Serve with grains, pasta or potatoes.
{Napa Tofu Stirfry: with garden peas}


• Eat them raw in salads and slaws (see recipe link below). Some greens are not very edible raw. I prefer to cook kale, collards and older chard.
{Eating raw young kale: at a community fundraising supper}


• Put them into smoothies. My SIL introduced me to what she calls "Shrek smoothies" - green like Shrek. Then during my MIL's visit last month she taught me a new recipe, great for summer & very refreshing.
  Barbara's Green Drink
  • 8 oz young spinach, chard might work also
  • 2 fruits, peeled and cored - peach, apple, pear, large plum, handful of berries
  • 1 banana, peeled
  • thick slice of fresh lemon, outer yellow peel removed if not organic
  • 2 cups of water
  • 1 tbsp of pomegranate or black cherry juice concentrate. I found this at the health food store, you could skip this and use part juice instead of the water

  Blend all ingredients in blender. Makes 4 or so large glasses. Funny thing is my oldest and best veggie eater doesn't like this smoothie. My younger two who are more picky about their veggies love it!

For more ideas and recipes for how to use your farm grown greens & goodies check out Willow Pond Farm's recipe section. I am a contributor over there. I input the recipes that Jill, our farmer, sends home with our weekly vegetable share.

I prepared this Napa Slaw recipe using part of our 6 lb cabbage we picked up last time. Yes, it was really that huge, Brienne could barely carry it! I used 1/2 cup of homemade tofu mayonnaise to replace the mayo & yogurt. It tasted great!

And if you're really adventurous you can eat wild greens. I wrote a post recently about that and last week while berry picking I snapped some better photos of some of the plants and plan to add them to that post for clearer identification.

{Rumex acetosella: lemon flavored "weed"}