For the Love of Local Farmers, Eat Your Produce!
Kayla Parker, Seacoast Eat Local Intern
For the Love of… Wait, What Are Those?!?
This week at the farmer’s market as I looked around, trying to figure out my next recipe idea, I started seeing a lot of new vegetables that I was unfamiliar with. With a long list of root vegetables at the farmers market, many customers can be confused about which vegetable is which! Taking this into consideration, I decided to veer from my usual format and create a blog about some of the different types of less commonly seen vegetables. You can find all of these veggies and many more at the Winter Farmers Markets all winter long.
Rutabaga
I have heard of this vegetable before, however I don’t think I have ever seen it or eaten it until now. I decided to take one of these home, cut it up and roast it. It tasted was very similar to a turnip, with a little more bitterness, so I was not at all surprised when I founnd out that it is classified in the same root vegetable group as a turnip, and is actually a hybrid of a cabbage and a turnip!
Scarlet Turnip (The red ones of course)
This next vegetable, I had guessed was a radish, I was wrong! I did take some home, and after roasting the outside was a bit spicy like a radish, but the white flesh was nice and sweet on the inside. Turnip greens can also be used in soups or sautéed in a similar fashion to beet greens.
Watermelon Radishes
Okay, so these ones are the radishes! (Maybe you can understand why now I was so perplexed by all of this!) I truthfully have never seen OR heard of these before. I spoke with Andre from Heron Pond Farm, who told me that the best way to eat these is shredded into a salad or pickled. This variety is much sweeter than a normal radish.
Adirondack Blue Potatoes VS Gold Potatoes
Now these I have tried, and heard of! I must admit, I really just wanted a good excuse to bring these home because I love potatoes, and well, they are blue! So cool right?!? I was really curious as to what the difference might be between these and other potatoes in their usage and nutrient content, something that I did have to look up. In general, the blue potatoes have a similar carbohydrate, vitamin and mineral content, but due to the dark blue color they can be higher in antioxidants!
And Voila!
Roasted adirondack blue potatoes and scarlet turnips with rosemary, thyme, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Pretty, easy, quick to prepare and really nutritious!
Information from Health-care-clinic.org johnnyseeds.com healthyeating.sfgate.com