The perfect thing about cauliflower is that the size of the head is no indicator of quality. Big heads or small snack-sized heads–as long as they are fresh–will be equally tasty. Cauliflower is best harvested in late spring or fall when temperatures are moderate to cool. How to Choose Cauliflower Select heads of cauliflower that…
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How to Cook and Serve Brussels Sprouts
Brussels sprouts have a nutty, cabbage-like flavor that makes a delicious hot side dish dressed with butter or meat-roasting juices. Lightly steamed Brussels sprouts are perfect with a lemon-butter sauce, or you can simmer them with chopped celery until tender and then fold them into a cheese sauce. Cooked and cooled Brussels sprouts can be…
How to Quick Cook and Serve Snap Beans
Fresh, tender snap beans have a delicate flavor that is delicious eaten raw or just lightly cooked. Both the immature seeds and seed pods are edible. Green beans are snap beans, but snap beans can also be yellow, purple, and splotched in multiple colors. The peak season for fresh local snap beans is late spring…
Seven Ways to Cook and Serve Okra
Okra is easily cooked and served. Okra has a rich, sweet earthy flavor. The flavor is similar to eggplant with hints of asparagus and artichoke. The peak okra harvest season mid to late summer. How to Choose Okra Select young, tender okra pods free of bruises. Okra pods should be firm to the touch with…
Seven Ways to Cook Potatoes
Potatoes are not fattening. Potatoes are high in fiber content and contain quality complex carbohydrates that will fill you up but not fill you out. A medium-sized baked potato contains around 90 calories, about the same as an apple. However, potatoes drenched in butter or smothered in gravy or the fat in the steak you…
How to Cook and Serve Fava Beans
The fava bean—which is also known as the broad bean, English bean, Windsor bean, and horsebean–can be eaten fresh or dried. As fava beans mature, their flavor grows increasingly starchy and strong. The smallest beans—less than the size of a small fingernail—are the sweetest. The outer skins of medium- and large-sized fava beans have a…
Six Ways to Cook and Serve Leeks
Leeks can be steamed, braised, grilled, and poached. You can also make leek au gratin and leek-potato soup. The flavor and fragrance of leeks are more subtle, more delicate and sweeter than onions How to Choose Leeks Select leeks that are straight, firm and intact with crisp, upright, brightly colored leaves and that have unblemished…
Farm Market Fresh: Mid-January
Five nights of sub-freezing temperatures around much of California last week was a good thing for crops that benefit and actually thrive on freezing weather during their dormant time of the year—the grapes, plums, peaches, and apples that will be harvested later this year. But the severe cold snap—which broke at least temporarily this past…
Height-of-the Season Harvest
Ripe tomatoes and corn! Eating fresh is habit forming. The very best corn, cucumbers, eggplant and tomatoes of the year are at the farm market this week. Here’s a list of just some of the crops you will find at your growers’ stands as the month comes to a close: First-of-season: Asian pears, chilies, gobos,…
Early July: The Peas Are Ready
Fresh peas in July! About two weeks after peas blossom, their pods become full. In the next two weeks, the harvest is on. If the sun has been strong in your area the past week or two, the best peas of the season will be at the farm market this week. Peas will be sweet…
