A fun part of my job is to find interesting recipes each week that highlight seasonal ingredients you'll find at the market. I know all too well what it's like to buy what looks so fresh and fetching and then get home and not have any specific use for it. I end up making lots of ratatouille and shakshuka because of this impulse. Just ask my family.
Going to the market armed with a recipe or two in hand helps. Even better when you find a recipe that pulls in not just seasonal produce but ingredients from multiple rotating vendors as well, as in the case of this panzanella salad. It calls for "salami" but of course, you should use saucisson sec from Larchmont Charcuterie. You can get the green olives from Doc Pickle. Or use Kalamata olives from Kontoulis, instead.
I can't get enough olives in my cooking. Pruny black pitted olives, chubby green ones, and yes, meaty, briny Kalamatas, too. I try to always have some in my larder and I always flag recipes with olives as an ingredient, especially for chicken or pasta recipes, because you know they will have tons of flavor right out of the gate.
This braised chicken with olives is a perennial at our house and with good reason. As is the classic pasta puttanesca. Please buy fresh parsley at the market for this pasta... it makes such a difference.
Jenny Fernandez, of AYA Hummus, is always tapping into what's available in the produce bins, like the gorgeous fresh ginger or turmeric you can find at the market. She has created a new Kitchari hummus using both, with added garlic, cumin, cardamom, fennel and mustard seeds in combination with yellow mung dal and seasoned vegetables. As nutritious as it is delicious as with all of her unique flavors.
Not everything at the market is 100% righteous. Blondery is bringing her sweet potato blondies. Why should I describe them when baker Auzerais Bellamy took such delight in writing the following description:
"If this blondie had its way, it would be leaf-peeping in a flannel whilst drinking a pumpkin spiced latte on a scenic mountain. Warm fall flavors inspire this plant-based beauty, making for a seasonally relevant and wonderfully festive bite (best enjoyed with friends around a cozy fire). All natural plant-based ingredients collide with gorgeous purple yams (ube) to create a ~legit beautiful~ plant-based blondie that would be welcomed at any gathering."
Every year, I'm determined to find a sexy way to serve parsnips at my holiday table. I happen to be the only one in my family to love parsnips but I want to change that. I used to sneak them in my mashed potatoes until my kids got old enough to call me on it. This year, I'm trying this recipe to win them over.
Need a fabulous hostess gift for the holidays? Or want to serve your Thanksgiving salad greens in something very, very special? The Misshapened Bowl is back this week with a whole new inventory of handt-urned bowls. Each bowl takes hours and hours and hours to make and is fashioned from cut or fallen local trees.
Spain at Home is back this week so you can pick up some simmering paella for lunch, or grab a protein-packed poke bowl from the Poke Motion food truck.
Don't be caught with a dull carving knife on Thanksgiving! Bring your blades to Matt from Ready Set Sharp who is eager to get your knives in tip-top shape for the big day.
See you at the market!