This Week at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

My vegetable selections for February 23 included Swiss chard, big ol’ artichokes, little bitty cauliflower, wild arugula, baby carrots, radishes, and two kinds of dry farmed potatoes.

The chard accompanied Shrimp Scampi over noodles. (recipes below)

The artichokes were steamed, halved, de-choked and dressed with vinaigrette while warm.

Potatoes were grilled along with Trout onna Plank (story to come).

Cauliflower, carrots, and radishes were served on the side as crudités enhancing Spaghetti with Crab sauce. We snacked on the rest.

Arugula made a nice salad as well as a bed for Artic Chard.

That’s all well and good, but I yearn for asparagus, green beans and English peas. They’re in the Supermarket now — from Mexico — but we can wait. They’ll be in the Farmers Market in the next few weeks. Oh boy.

Greens
Adapted from Simply Recipes, one of my favorite food blogs. Use with any kind of greens.

history
1.08 — This is the best greens recipe I’ve encountered in a while. Really good and tender. Served with Knockwurst and mac n cheese.
Cooked 1.08 wiith Mariquita’s erbette chard.
Cooked 2.08 — dis is good again with Swiss Chard! Served with Shrimp Scampi and noodles.

1 bunch greens
1 strip of thick cut bacon, chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 large garlic clove, minced
3/4 cup of water
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/6 cup of cider vinegar

Wash the greens in a sink filled with cold water. Drain greens and wash a second time. Drain greens and remove any heavy stems. Tear leaves into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

In a 3 qt saucepan, [Cuiinart] cook bacon until lightly browned. Add onions, cook over medium heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions soften and start to brown. Stir in garlic. Add water to the hot pan, stirring to loosen any particles from bottom of pan. Stir in sugar and red pepper. Continue cooking until mixture boils. Add greens, reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes (up to 30 minutes for kale or collard greens). Stir in vinegar. (For kale or collard greens continue cooking additional 20 to 25 minutes or until desired tenderness.)

Classic Shrimp Scampi
Adapted from NY Times, Melissa Clark
March 2007 Time: 15 minutes

Cooked 6.07 — cooked with fresh, wild shrimp from Shogun, easy and quite good. I cooked it a little too long while the Kale was finishing, overcooking the shrimp a little. Served with kale over homemade noodles.
Cooked 2.08 — dis is good! Served over noodles with Swiss chard. Yum. I used 1-pound of shrimp, yet it could have used more liquid.

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine or broth
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound large (21-25 count) shrimp, shelled
1/3 cup chopped parsley
Freshly squeezed juice of half a lemon
Cooked pasta or crusty bread.

1. In a large skillet, melt butter with olive oil. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add wine or broth, salt, red pepper flakes and plenty of black pepper and bring to a simmer. Let wine reduce by half, about 2 minutes.

2. Add shrimp and sauté until they just turn pink, 2 to 4 minutes depending upon their size. Stir in the parsley and lemon juice and serve over pasta or accompanied by crusty bread.

Yield: 2 servings.