Quinoa + Apples, Pears & Maple Cream This riff on hot oats is one of my favorite ways to get a wholesome hot breakfast during the long winter we’re all heading towards. And it definitely kept us warm through the last day of the Wakefield market last week. In this version I used quinoa instead […]
Market Day
Recipes from Farmer’s Market Demos, eating fresh and local through the season.
Fall Slaw
Apple + Cucumber + Golden Beets & Red Pepper Slaw Late September is a time for school, routines, shorter days, cooler nights and meals that are quick and simple. This week’s salad/slaw was just that, using everything fresh from the market, I made a salad or slaw that was so refreshing and reaffirmed yet again […]
Crown the Cauli’
Curried Cauliflower Couscous To me, the cauliflower is an underutilized vegetable that needs to be crowned as the most versatile vegetable. When I say that, I’m not even talking about the latest food fad it’s riding as a carb alternative with all the cauli rice, cauli pizza crusts and more. I just love how it […]
Dinosaurs Must Love Apples
Tuscan Kale & Apple Salad + Barrel Aged Maple Syrup & Brown Mustard Vinaigrette + Aged Cheddar To me the epitome of a fall salad is crisp fruits over dark greens, all currently being harvested in the New England area at the same time. So the adage, what grows together goes together is so true […]
Fall Traditions
Apples + Aged Maple Syrup & Blackberry + Mint Sauce When I first came to the US as a student more than 20 years ago, I did a lot of things I had never experienced first hand in India; like going apple picking up in Amesbury and Concord MA, or trying pancakes with a delicious […]
Fritters on a Fritz!
Summer Squash + Sweet Corn Hash with Maple Chili Syrup Sometimes well laid plans fail and you have to improvise. Yes, I’m talking about recipes at the market that do not work and you as a chef have to transform the recipe on the fly. That is exactly what happened when I planned a squash […]
Be a Peach!
Grilled Peach & Kale Salad + Blueberry Mustard Dressing When the season is peaking with fruit and vegetables, it’s inevitable that I want to showcase more than just one ingredient in the recipe at the market. Farmer Dave’s juicy peaches and dark lacinto kale make an interesting pair this week, and to jumpstart that party, […]
An Aubergine Story
Lemongrass + Aubergine & Sesame + Soy + Scallion Dressing Being back in Boston after a busy trip to Bombay meant I had family on my mind. And family and food stories go hand in hand. My mother loved aubergines, and when I saw the variety of eggplants Farmer Dave had this week, I gravitated […]
Insomnia Inspired
Blueberry, Corn & Mint Salad + Dark Ale Mustard & Maple Syrup Dressing I had been up from lack of sleep and if you want to know what my brain does when I cannot sleep, it thinks up recipes. So, laying there at 3 AM my thoughts went to the market, what the farmers would […]
Crunchy Candy
Crunchy Green & Yellow Beans + Thai Basil I don’t think I had a particular like or dislike for fresh beans as a child, I ate them when my mum made them. But as an adult, I’ve come to love beans in season. Nothing can beat that snap and crunch of a fresh bean. This […]
Freshness in a Bowl
Great Gazpacho When the mercury crossed 90 degrees this Saturday, I knew for sure I would not be cooking anything warm at the Wakefield Farmer’s Market. So a gazpacho sounded just right, as I walked around the field saying hello to all our farmers and surveying the produce they were putting out. I got cucumbers […]
Primary Colored Slaw
Yellow Squash + Strawberry, Pickled Red Onion & Dark Ale Mustard Vinaigrette When you are married to an engineer, whose vision is in absolutes or black and white; the concept of using all the primary colors to freewheel based on instinct is often a point of our discussions. This Saturday morning was no different than […]
Sparkling Strawberries
Strawberry + Rhubarb + Basil Spritzer Being the first day of the Wakefield Farmer’s Market, I wanted to make it special, and so instead of one item at the demo table, I made two, and am so glad I did and I think so were the market customers. Farmer Dave’s had the juiciest strawberries; farmer […]
Tasty Tomato
Tomato + Scallion & Basil Bruschetta The first day of the Wakefield Farmer’s Market was beautiful, Mother Nature gave us a beautiful day and Farmer Dave’s and Kelly’s Farm Stand had the most gorgeous looking produce. I could not resist making two recipes for this week’s demo so you can thank the long winter we’ve […]
Shitake Pâté
Shitake Mushroom Pâté + Garlic Scape & Dijon Like a kid in a candy store, I am always excited to see which new vendor is at the market and what they have. So when I met Chris from the Mycoterra Farms who’s joined the market for the first time, I knew their mushrooms would feature […]
Ravishing Radishes
Radish + Spicy Greens & Basil Salsa This salsa is a throwback to ‘kachumbar’ salads I grew up eating in India with our meals. They’re meant to be crunchy, fresh, tart and spicy, adding a zing to all the other flavors in an Indian meal. So, this week, when I decided to make the mushroom […]
Red, Crunch & Green
Red Bok Choy & Cucumber Salad + Strawberry & Cilantro Vinaigrette What do you do at the first market of the growing season? I had the butterflies, like first day of school; I got to see all my regular farmers, artisanal producers and customers. And since it’s still early in the season, I knew the […]
Double ‘A’ Spring Salad
Warm Asparagus & Apple Slaw Spring Salad The season’s first few farmers markets are always exciting, you don’t know what will be available dependent on the fickle New England spring. So, to better prepare myself, I reached out to David, from Farmer Dave’s CSA who was going to be there at the Melrose Healthy Family […]
Ode to Britannia – Cran-berri Pilaf
Roasted Squash & Brown Basmati Rice Pilaf One of the perks when I worked at the Times of India in Bombay was the food all around the historical downtown setting. You could eat anything ranging from hot vada pao, a vegetarian burger with a fried spiced potato fritter served with hot and spicy chutneys at […]
Something Warm & Spooky!
Roasted Cauliflower & Celery-Root Hash + Fennel Vinaigrette October rains call for warm foods, something to comforts us like a warm hug. And since last week was the final market for the season in Melrose, I was thinking about the warm memories I had made with the community. I needed to leave them with a […]
Smokey & Sweet
Roasted Poblano Pepper & Corn Soup One of my favorite things about soups in the fall is how sweet and ripe all the veggies are at the peak of harvest, and they need the least amount of intervention. One thing that enhances their sweetness even more is roasting them and cooking them simply. Roasted poblano […]
Rustic Pumpkin Soup
Sweet Pumpkin + Sage + Red Onions I’d been up since 3 AM, unable to sleep my mind jumped around – I could see the bags of apples at Charlton Orchards’ stand, the fluorescent romanesco called me over to Farmer Dave’s blue tent, the shinning smooth skin of the onions stretched translucent at Kelly’s Farm […]
Warm Apples Many Ways
Apples + Blackberries + Cinnamon Raisin Bread + Winter Savory As I drove to the market, I was watching the wind gusts shaking leaves off the trees that gathered along the pavements in large whirls of colour. On any other October afternoon, this would have been welcome for brisk walk, a hot beverage and some […]
Blissful Warm Salad
Red Potatoes + Green & Yellow Beans + Red Onion & Dill Vinaigrette As I am coming to terms with the fact that the markets are almost over, and was making a mental list of all the produce I wanted to hoard, freeze or preserve; I had to make something with the season’s potatoes and […]
Stirring it Up!
White Eggplant + Zucchini + Lemon Verbena It’s not just Mother Nature who throws a curveball at farmers markets’ from time to time, but also man-made logistics can get the better of the hour. This week’s market had some starts and stops, some with our cooking apparatus, and later as the wind kicked up in […]
