Buying directly from farmers helps prevent waste in the delivery process. The fewer people handling the produce and the shorter distance it travels, the less likely fruits and vegetables are discarded along the way.
Fresh loquats can sometimes be found in late spring and early summer at San Francisco farmers markets. Help us improve your experience on this website. Please complete this 2-minute survey. But there is still time for everyone to transplant cauliflower in September. When transplanting cauliflower, select seedlings with at least four to six true leaves and bury them to the first leaf.
For four persons, plant 10 to 15 plants. Cole crops like well-drained soil; a raised bed is ideal. Cauliflower should be spaced 18 inches apart when planted in rows, with 25 inches between each row. To avoid build up of diseases, it is best not to plant cole crops in the same spot year after year. Normally, there few weather issues and insect pests when growing cauliflower in the fall.
If weather is unusually hot, you can protect maturing cauliflower heads by using floating row covers. Also, you can tie up leaves to keep heads white -- sunlight exposure can cause the heads to yellow. Water cauliflower deeply by drip or furrow irrigation to encourage deep rooting. Select beets that are heavy for their size and show no surface nicks or cuts. Extra tips Prepare beets by wrapping them in aluminum foil and baking at degrees until they are tender enough to pierce with a knife.
Cool them and the peels will slip right off. There is nothing at the farmers market that sums up the late summer-early fall season like the mounds of brightly colored peppers that seem to be everywhere. Their colors — red and yellow, even purple and brown — are so saturated they seem to have been designed for the painterly golden light at this time of year. And they taste as good as they look. Bell pepper recipes ». How to choose bell peppers? Look for peppers that are firm, deeply colored and glossy.
Peppers that have the straightest sides will be the easiest to peel. How to store bell peppers? Keep peppers in the refrigerator, tightly wrapped in a plastic bag.
Extra tips To peel peppers, place them whole on the grill, turning as the skin begins to blacken. Transfer them to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, the peel will slip right off.
Blood oranges get their color from the same anthocyanin pigment that gives raspberries theirs. And though the chemical compound itself has no flavor, there is a shared berry taste between blood oranges and raspberries. Blood orange recipes ». How to choose blood oranges? Select oranges that are heaviest for their size. Color is not a reliable indicator of flavor. How to store blood oranges? Because oranges have relatively thick peels, they can be stored at room temperature for up to a couple of weeks.
Extra tips Blood oranges pair beautifully with many of the best cool-weather vegetables — fennel and beets in particular. Cook it quickly and the flavor is bold and assertive.
Push it a little longer and it becomes sweet and complex. Broccoli recipes ». How to choose broccoli? Choose broccoli with flower heads that are tightly closed and blue-green, rather than pale green or even yellow. Feel the stock with your fingernail — overgrown broccoli will be too tough to dent and will be stringy when cooked. How to store broccoli?
For a staple vegetable, broccoli spoils rather quickly. Treat it as you would a lettuce — tightly wrapped in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. And use it as soon as you can.
These have more stem than flower head, so they lend themselves to different dishes. Like tiny little cabbages, Brussels sprouts depend on accurate cooking to be at their best — cook them long enough to bring out the sweetness, but not so long as to bring out the sulfur-y smell. Brussels sprouts recipes ». How to choose Brussels sprouts? Choose Brussels sprouts that are vivid green and are tightly closed. As they sit, the leaves will begin to separate and the edges will yellow. Squeeze the head, it should be hard enough that there is very little give.
How to store Brussels sprouts? Brussels sprouts should be refrigerated in a tightly sealed bag. Extra tips My favorite way to cook Brussels sprouts: steam them whole until just tender enough to pierce with a knife. Then cut them into lengthwise quarters and finish cooking as you wish to impart flavor. This helps keep them from overcooking. Once carrots came in one model — fat and orange.
Today you can find them in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors. Carrots recipes ». How to choose carrots? The best way to choose carrots is by the greens — they should be fresh and crisp looking. After that, make sure the roots are deeply colored whatever the color and vibrant and make sure there are no cracks or deep dings. How to store carrots? Store carrots tightly wrapped in the crisper drawer.
Be sure to remove the tops before storing as they will draw moisture from the roots, wilting them faster. Extra tips Want to look like a genius cook? For cooks, cauliflower has two distinctive personalities.
Blanch it briefly and it has an aggressive, grassy quality that pairs well with big flavors like olives and garlic. Cauliflower recipes ». How to choose cauliflower?
Cauliflower heads should be firm and tightly closed. How to store cauliflower? Though it seems durable, cauliflower is extremely perishable. Keep it tightly wrapped in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. Extra tips Unlike other vegetables, the color of cauliflower lasts through cooking, particularly if you add a little acidity, either vinegar or lemon juice.
All of them have fairly crisp, ridged stems and thick, fleshy leaves that are, frankly, unpleasant raw but become absolutely wonderful when cooked. Chard recipes ». How to choose chard? The stems should be firm and crisp. Examine the cut end — it should be somewhat moist and fresh-looking, with minimal darkening. How to store chard? Keep chard tightly wrapped in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.
Extra tips Chard often seems to be sandier than some other greens, so clean it thoroughly by covering it with water in the sink and then giving it a good shake. There is no surer, happier sign that summer is coming than the appearance of the first cherries at the market. Cherries recipes ».
How to choose cherries? Look for cherries with firm, shiny, smooth skins. Usually the darker the red, the better with the most common varieties, this is a sign of ripeness. Also check the stems, they should be green and flexible; they turn brown and woody in storage. How to store cherries? Refrigerate cherries in a tightly sealed plastic bag.
Extra tips Cherries are also closely related to almonds; if you want to beef up the flavor of cherries in a dish, add just a drop or two of almond extract. Corn is frustrating. Old varieties had terrific flavor, but the sugar started converting to starch sometimes within hours. Still, is there anything sweeter than that first bite of corn on the cob?
Corn recipes ». How to choose corn? Ears should be well filled out check the tips of the ears to make sure there are kernels , and make sure the silk is still soft, not dried out. Extra tips White corn is not necessarily sweeter than yellow; which color you prefer has more to do with where you were raised than the actual flavor of the corn.
Cool and crisp, incredibly refreshing in salads, cucumbers — along with tomatoes — are the stars of summer. And these days you can find so many different kinds. Cucumbers recipes ». How to choose cucumbers? Choose cucumbers that are firm, vibrantly colored and without any soft or shriveled spots.
How to store cucumbers? Keep cucumbers in a tightly sealed bag in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. Also, take a bite — if the cucumber is excessively bitter, peel them because the compounds that cause bitterness are usually located right under the skin. The sheer variety of eggplants in the market can be a bit overwhelming, but there is good news: For the most part, eggplant tastes like eggplant. Only the degree of bitterness varies somewhat.
Other than that, the main difference among the varieties is texture. Eggplant can be firm, even slightly stringy, or it can be creamy. This can be hard to predict, although generally the familiar black globe eggplants are among the most fibrous.
Eggplant recipes ». How to choose eggplant? There are a lot of myths about eggplant and bitterness. So be sure to choose eggplant that is firm, even hard to the touch. There should be no shriveling or soft spots. Also check the calyx the green leaves at the stem end ; it should be fresh and green, not dried out and brown. How to store eggplant? You can leave eggplants at room temperature for a day or two with no ill effects.
After that, refrigerate them, but not for too long. Odd as it may seem, eggplant is a tropical fruit and suffers chill damage very quickly. Extra tips Eggplant is one of the best vegetables on the grill — cut it into thick slices, brush with garlic-flavored olive oil and cook over a medium fire until soft.
Then brush with more olive oil and sprinkle with vinegar and salt. There are few spring flavors that rival that of a really sweet English pea, but there are also few flavors more transitory. English peas recipes ». How to choose English peas? Look for pods that are firm and crisp. The color in general should be a saturated pale green. How to store English peas?
Refrigerate in a tightly sealed plastic bag. Extra tips Shucking peas is one of the most communal of cooking activities. If nothing else, you can talk about how boring it is. One of the most popular of all farmers market vegetables, favas have ascended to culinary stardom contrary to all reason. And you have to buy a mountain to wind up with a molehill. It takes more than 3 pounds of pods to make enough for two respectable servings of beans.
And then you have to peel them a second time to remove that fine pale skin that surrounds each bean. But still, is there any taste that promises spring as much as that bright flash of green you get from a fava bean?
Fava beans recipes ». How to choose Select pods that are firm and filled out along the entire length. How to store Store favas in the refrigerator in a tightly sealed plastic bag. Extra tips The easiest way to peel that second skin from favas is to collect the shucked beans in a work bowl and pour over boiling water just to cover.
Either way, its licorice flavor is a perfect fit. Fennel recipes ». How to choose fennel? Look for fennel with fresh-looking greens on long branches.
As the fennel sits, the greens wilt and grocery managers trim them. The bulbs should be bright white with no discolorations or soft spots. How to store fennel? Keep in the refrigerator in a tightly sealed plastic bag.
You may need to double-bag in order to cover the fronds. Figs are among the most sensuous of fruits, almost melting in texture and with a sweet, jam-like center. Considered rarities not so long ago, fresh figs have become more and more available in the last five years as cooks have discovered their magic.
Figs recipes ». How to choose figs? You want them soft and ripe but not smashed. A few tears in the skin will be just fine, though. Real fig lovers say to look for a drip of moisture in the little hole at the bottom of the fruit.
Smell is important, too. How to store figs? Figs are so delicate that they have to be refrigerated; they can start to spoil within a few hours of being harvested. Extra tips Some green fig varieties are grown primarily to be dried — they have thick skins and the flavors are unremarkable.
The stars of deep summer are big juicy tomatoes. But unfortunately those take a while to ripen. Rather than jump the gun and settle for less-than-great fruit, choose these little tomatoes, which are bred to ripen early.
Grape and cherry tomatoes recipes ». How to choose grape and cherry tomatoes? Choose tomatoes that are vibrantly colored and without soft spots or wrinkling. How to store grape and cherry tomatoes? Store tiny tomatoes as you would the big ones — at room temperature. Extra tips There are so many ways to use these little tomatoes, but one of the best is in a pasta sauce: Cut them in half; warm butter, garlic and the tomatoes in a skillet over medium heat; add a splash of white wine and cook just until the tomatoes have softened and released their juices.
The largest and latest of the citrus fruits, grapefruit need some heat to sweeten up. This is especially true of the large pummelos and the crosses that come from them, such as Oroblanco. Grapefruit recipes ». How to choose grapefruit? Choose grapefruit that are heavy for their size; they are full of juice.
Rub the peel with your thumbnail; the fruit with the most perfume will be the most flavorful. How to store grapefruit? Because their peels are so thick, grapefruit can be stored at cool room temperature for a week or so. But refrigerating does them no harm. Try making a beet salad with grapefruit. But you can find grapes with real flavor at farmers markets. Grapes recipes ». How to store grapes? Chefs Who Shop with Us. Recent Recipes. Apple-Fennel Kraut with Red Cabbage. Roasted Radicchio with Beans.
Pinakbet Filipino Vegetable Stew. Celebration Red Salad. More recipes ». Bitter melon. Bok choy. Broccoli rabe.
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