One Local Summer, Week 4: New England

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

New England is now green!  Lettuce is plentiful, as are other greens like spinach and Asian greens, we’ve got some broccoli, peas and plenty of herbs.  There is definitely some color around, too, in the form of red strawberries and cherries (even some early raspberries), greenhouse tomatoes, and baby summer squash.  It seems like we go a long time with nothing, then POW, all of a sudden, it’s here!  And folks must be busy with all of the great stuff, since our numbers are a little down this week.  If you didn’t get around to e-mailing me this week, stick your link in the comments so we can catch up with you.

So, what are we doing with all the fresh, green stuff?  Well…

MA

Sarah H made homemade whole-grain spelt noodles (with home-ground spelt flour!) and served them with garlic scape pesto, tofu, and roasted summer squash. She enjoyed the noodles with a radish-salad turnip salad with a spicy-sour dressing.  Check out her entry for great tips on roasting the squash!

Capitalizing on labor from visitors (and that leftover?! lobster), Leslie and her guests enjoyed a lobster salad composed of ingredients from different farmer’s market vendors.  They even had a wild-blueberry pie for dessert.  Check out those little red potatoes - aren’t they the cutest?

There’s still some squash left at Laurie’s house, and she enjoyed it with a meal she also put together from the farmer’s market - delmonico steak (is there anything like a grilled steak in the summertime?), and a green salad with lettuce, radish and greenhouse tomatoes (yeah, tomatoes!). 

Erica showcased a couple of the stars of the season in her meal.  She made a green garlic and pea soup with the bounty of fresh peas.  And, since, as she points out, strawberry season always coincides with heat and humidity, she did the only logical thing she could with her berries, she made ice cream.  She stressed a little about some of the non-local ingredients included in both recipes, but I think she made those two ingredients shine!

Sara E. tried some new ingredients this week, something she probably wouldn’t have done if she wasn’t trying to eat more local foods.  Kale and red currants were in the rotation at her house.  Her entry meal is a beautiful salad of lettuce, broccoli, fresh peas, red currants and cranberry dressing - gorgeous!

NH

Sarah enjoyed a roasted chicken with gravy, potatoes and a delicious kale gratin.  Check her post out on Flickr this week. 

Chicken and potatoes were on the menu for my entry this week, too.  It was a cold, rainy Saturday here, so I also took the time to pit some cherries for a clafouti, and we enjoyed a caprese salad with cocktails.  I’m sorry we didn’t think ahead and invite someone over, for crying out loud!

If you haven’t had some pastured pork yet, find a way to try some. Lisa is lucky to have her own, and enjoyed some grilled porkchops, homemade egg noodles and fresh peas.  She made homemade pie for dessert, too.  She’s got great tips for whole-wheat pie crust in her entry.

VT

Pasta and chard with basil pesto were on the menu at Stacey’s.  She, too, made homemade pasta, and what looks like a really yummy maple pudding.  I hope she’ll share the recipe, it’s always nice to make something using local sweetener. 

Have a great week, everyone!