There’s little question that Farmers’ Markets are an easy and affordable way to support your local food producers while getting out and enjoying the festive open-air environment. So I jumped at the chance to report from the fabulous St. Paul Farmers’ Market for the Simple Good and Tasty blog! My favorite part about shopping the St. Paul Farmers Market is knowing that the vast majority of the food sold there was produced within 50 miles of the place. (If you're looking for bananas, you're outta luck.) And beyond produce, the market has some of the best dairy, poultry, pork, beef and cheese (!) around. I love to skip breakfast, have a latte and a community-supporting doughnut, and spend the morning wandering through the goodness. Meal planning is out; I recommend coming with an open mind and basing your menu on what’s freshest. I guarantee you a day of food inspiration and unabashed cravings. My top 5 picks this week:
- Salad greens – most bunches seem to go for $2 for a mixed assortment, but look for the clever merchandisers that will charge $3 and also give you a bunch of spring onions and some pea shoots to round out the basket.
- Strawberries – I didn’t have a chance to sample, but the very first baskets of ruby-colored beauties made their appearance this week. Not cheap, but ½ sized baskets were available. I’m already dreaming up uses for these in the coming weeks.
- New potatoes – red and/or yellow were running $4, add a $1 bunch of garlic chives and you’re well on your way to a yummy side dish. I boil mine, crush slightly, pour over buttermilk and sprinkle on the chives.
- Mint – summertime on my deck means lots of minty mojitos, mint-spiked ice water in the fridge and homemade mint tea.
- Napa cabbage – the wonderful Asian communities in St. Paul bring some of the best traditional ingredients to the table including Napa cabbage of all sizes. I bought a 2-pk of smaller cabbage for $1 and larger ones tended to be $2-3. I love these chopped and simply featured in soups or stir fries.
(The St. Paul Farmers’ Market has many locations throughout the week. On the weekends it runs 6am – 1pm Saturdays and 8am – 1pm Sundays downtown St. Paul at the corner of 5th and Wall Sts.) Tracy Morgan (no, not that Tracy Morgan) is a Twin Cities foodie and the owner of Segnavia Creative, a marketing services consulting company located in St. Paul, MN. I'm thrilled to have her contribute to Simple, Good, and Tasty.
