Market Meal - Pasta with Asparagus and Shiitake Mushrooms

Very Prairie pasta, shiitakes from Cherry Tree House Mushrooms, asparagus from Prairie Hollow Farm, and butter from Rochdale Farms = a super fast dinner.  While the asparagus was roasting, there was just the right amount of time to cook the pasta, sauté the mushrooms in butter and then toss it all together in the skillet as soon as the asparagus came out of the oven.  The only seasoning used was sea salt and fresh ground pepper, and that was all it needed.  Yum :)

And now I'm hooked on shiitake!

Market Meal - Wild Rice Burgers

Another first from the Market for us - Light Wild Rice from Northern Lakes Wild Rice.  It cooks up fast, and was really good in these wild rice burgers.  I mixed in cubed plain feta from Singing Hills Goat Dairy, sauted ramps from Prairie Hollow Farm and eggs from Braucher's Sunshine Harvest Farm.  Most recipes I saw said to use olive oil, but I used the hand rolled butter from Rochdale Farms because it's so darn good.  The micro green mix from Bossy Acres and tomatoes from Natura Farms went perfectly with the burgers.   The only non-market ingredient was breadcrumbs.  I included dried rosemary from last years herb garden from Schultz Farm Organics.

Herb Garden with Plantings from Mill City Farmers Market

This is our 4th spring living downtown, and every year there's a twinge of melancholy for the beautiful yard we left behind.  This year Dave came across an LGarden, which fit nicely on our balcony.   So, it was fun picking up chives, cilantro, lemon thyme and basil at the Market and adding them to our new little garden in the sky. Green Earth and Loon Organics both had a great selection of herbs.

It's great seeing urban gardening take off.  We were the first in our old neighborhood to replace the entire lawn with veggies, fruits, and other plants.  Initially the neighbors were a little put off (as in "What the hell are they doing over there!?!?!").  By the time we left, however, even the die hard "lawn people" were digging up little plots for tomatoes, zucchini, perennials, etc.

The Beez Kneez at Mill City Farmers Market

The Beez Kneez delivers local, raw honey by bicycle (or "beecycle", as they call it) to customers in Minneapolis and St.Paul.  They maintain honey bee hives in Twin Cities community gardens, parks, schools and urban farms. You can order their Clover & Bassword and Buckwheat honey online.  Also find their product at retail locations around the metro, including Local D'Lish and Seward Co-op, and thru select CSAs and Farmers Markets.  Restaurants, including Ginger Hop and Red Stag Supperclub, use their honey.

In addition to selling honey, The Beez Kneez offers an education program under Community Bees on Bikes.

Shopping Basket from May 18 Mill City Farmers Market

So excited for asparagus!  This week I'm experimenting with fresh Shiitake mushrooms and ramps for the first time.

Market Meal in a Glass - Veggie Smoothie à la Vitamix

Over the winter we picked up a Vitamix 750. It was the perfect solution to our need for both a blender and a food processor (plus things we didn't even know we needed!).   While we've used it almost daily from the get-go, I couldn't wait to put it to work with Market purchases. 

Tonight it was a veggie smoothie, incorporating 6 ingredients from the Market: Swiss chard, cucumber, beets, yogurt, sweet sugar pea shoots and flax hull lignans.  Pear, OJ and ice balanced it out.

This week we anticipate the first asparagus of the season, and I'm looking forward to roasted asparagus soup.  The Vitamix has a soup setting - simply layer in the ingredients, hit the button, and minutes later out comes steaming hot soup ready to bowl.  

Ingredients from the following vendors:

Swiss chard and beets - Prairie Hollow Farm
Cucumber - Natura Farms
Sweet sugar pea shoots - Bossy Acres
Flax Hull Lignans - Ellie’s Whole Grains/GotFlax
Greek yogurt - Rochdale Farms 

Cynthia Froid Group MCFM Opening Day Plant Give Away

Cynthia Froid Group has been a Mill City Farmers Market sponsor since the 2006 inaugural year. To kick off the 2013 season, CFG offered shoppers complimentary herb plants.  Thank you for this lovely rosemary plant, Cynthia and staff! :)

Market Meal - Ingredients from the Mill City Farmers Market

This is the fastest Market Meal ever! Four ingredients from the Market come together to deliver a well-rounded lettuce wrap with crunch and bite.  Butter lettuce from Prairie Hollow Farm, Wild Idea Bison Chorizo (now sold by Buffalo by Bike), Curry Kimchi from Kiss My Cabbage, and Greek Yogurt from Rochdale Farms.  The bite from the bison and kimchi is cooled down by the lettuce and yogurt.  Yum! :)

EBT Now Available at Mill City Farmers Market

Effective with the 2013 seaon, MCFM joins 13 other Twin Cities farmers markets in accepting Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) payments, which increases access to healthy, locally and organically grown produce to shoppers from low income households.

Using their EBT card, participants purchase market Tokens to use at any MCFM food vendor.  Participants also receive up to $5 worth of Market Bucks for free, which can also be used to purchase food at the market.

For information on this program, call the MN Food Helpline at 1-888-711-1151.

Mill City Cooks - Wheat Berry Salad and Early Greens w/Misa Dressing and Toasted Almonds

Market Chefs Heather Hartman and Jenny Breen each prepared a recipe for the May 11 Mill City Cooks demo.

Using greens from the Market, Jenny treated shoppers to Early Greens with Misa Dressing and Toasted Almonds, a recipe from her 2011 cookbook Cooking up the Good Life.

Incorporating nettles from Prairie Hollow Farm, wheat berries Sunrise Flour Mill and Shepherd's Way Hope Cheese, Heather created a Wheat Berry Salad.

Juut Salonspa Sponsors Kids' Mother Day Flower Planting Activity

Market sponsor Juut Salonspa hosted a planting table at the May 11 MCFM.  Choosing from a variety of flowers, kids got their hands dirty creating a Mother's Day gift.  Charlie Wagner and her team of volunteers assisted the little ones.  In keeping with the Markets Zero Waste initiative, biodegradable newspaper was formed to create the containers.

Below, Charlie Wagner with Martha Archer, MCFM Executive Director.

Shopping Basket from May 11 Mill City Farmers Market

Okay - went a little overboard at opening day.  There was no way to fit in all into a basket, and this isn't even everything...

What's New at Barkley's Bistro

Mill City Farmers Market vendor, Barkley's Bistro, recently announced their renovated "treat fleet" setting sail spring 2013! They have new packaging, vibrant labels, and modified shapes/sizes of the buttons & bones du jour. 

Their springtime Bone du Jour is Lamb Stew, featuring English peas, fennel, and parmesan cheese. Check out their website for ingredients and a full list of flavors.  If you can't wait for May 11 (opening day at the MCFM) you can order online.

Barkley's popular smoked bones can be picked up at the Black Forest Inn, 1 East 26th Street (call 612-963-4426 to arrange a pick up time), and they are also available at the MCFM.

2012 Mill City Farmers Market Flashback: Great Eats!

Don't bother eating breakfast before you hit the Market.  A wonderful food experience awaits you with each visit - from a hearty meal to a sweet treat or just nibble on samples.  Click here for a list of Vendors.

Shopping Basket from April 13 Mill City Farmers Market "Winter Market"

:)  That about sums it up.