Local Food Mn

As you can see, this week's Harmony Valley farmshare box looks every bit as good as the one we've just eaten our way through. Of all last week's treasures, none went over quite as well as the broccoli romanesco, which my kids ate raw in a matter of minutes. In fact, we've been through 2 heads of the great green stuff this week (thanks, Seward Co-op!) - and a bit of tasty cheddar cauliflower as well. I made a batch of fresh salsa from last week's ingredients that was a hit, too - it's so easy when the tomatoes, garlic, jalapenos, cilantro, and onions come fresh, direct from the farm.

Lucia's Restaurant at NightWho is your farmer?

Most people know their hairdresser, insurance agent, doctor and many others, but few today know their farmer, perhaps the most important person in their lives. Knowing your farmer can change your health, your approach to cooking, your respect for food, your stewardship of the earth and even your social and political circle. This dinner will introduce you to 12 different farmers and producers.

Here's a list of what was in this week's Harmony Valley farmshare box. The box was literally overflowing, and we were excited to see foods we'd never even heard of, like teggia beans and Orange Ukraines (we were excited for the return of radishes, too). And this is - already, finally - the week we didn't throw away our edamame beans. So delicious and easy, as it turns out - and the kids love 'em too.

Please send me your recipes! Until then, here's what Harmony Valley had to say about the food we've got and how to prepare it (the picture is theirs too):

In yesterday's post, I highlighted local foods I ate this week at the MN State Fair. I'll admit it from the start - the list of foods I ate is much longer than the list of foods I didn't. This is a point of pride in my house - I'm not ashamed. That said, there were a few locally produced foods that didn't make it into my belly this week. For example:

I recently spent a day at the MN State Fair with my friend and cohort Tracy Morgan, and we did our best to eat as much local food we can could cram into our eager bellies. Here are a few of our favorites.

I started with a big ole turkey drumstick, the kind I've watched people carry around for ages at all sorts of festivals and fairs (Tracy passed on this). I had to admit to Tracy that I'm not much of a food "toucher" - I'm kind of a knife and fork guy - but the drumstick was tender and delicious, with a bit of sweet sauce on top. I didn't do too much gnawing on the bone, partly because it's not my thing, and partly beause I was saving room for more food.

You'll notice that the list of what's in our Harmony Valley Farmshare is getting longer. I should also point out how amazingly good the food is. And despite the fact that I have shamefully tossed out my amaranth each week, I'm happy we got it again - just in time (again) to try out that amaranth and goat cheese pizza recipe I've been talking about from Amy Boland's site (see our picture below - it was delicious). My wife wonders when enough is enough, but even she gave me grief for not picking up a few more eggplants from last week's "choice" box.

Image Credit: David Joles, Star TribuneI was delighted to find myself quoted in the Star Tribune this morning, in an article entitled: "Making the local food movement accessible." The article, by Hayley Tsukayama, is all about how to eat local food on a student's budget, and includes terrific advice from Lucia Watson from Lucia's, Tracy Singleton from the Birchwood Cafe, and Jennette Turner. Here's an excerpt from the article:

My family and I had a fun time at the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota's Garlic Festival this past weekend in Hutchinson, MN.

Here's a list of the great foods that came in our Harmony Valley CSA box this week, along with notes and a picture directly from Harmony Valley Farm to help us figure out what to do with everything. I posted my initial reaction to this great farmshare bounty last week. The food is really amazing (local, organic, sustainable, and delicious) - so much better than what you'd find in most grocery stores - even if it can be a bit overwhelming at times.