Rainbows in
Webb City – At Least Three Times a Week
by guest columnist and loyal market customer Carolyn Foat
Three times a week, at the
Webb City Farmer’s market you can indulge your senses in a rainbow of sights,
smells, tastes, sounds and people.
The Sights – Red, peach, orange,yellow,
pink, purple, green, white, brown- a beautiful array of healthy foods, flowers,
and handmade crafts (on Saturday),
The Sounds – Happy voices,
beautiful live musical performances, excited children, and thousands of “Thank
you’s.”
The Smells – Just-baked
bread, pastries, garlic, herbs, flowers, fresh-picked vegetables, coffee, roasted
peppers, caramel corn, ripe melons, and sweet peaches.
The People – Babies in
strollers, energetic toddlers, spry adults, not-so spry adults – all eager
shoppers thrilled with the choices and happy to see faithful vendors,
volunteers, friends and family.
It’s a multicultural,
multi-sensory celebration. Hundreds of
eager customers visit this fabulous market every week. Have you realized that you can purchase everything
you need for a complete, healthy diet at the market? Meat, vegetables, cheese, milk, coffee, bread,
snacks, honey, desserts, fruit, and seasonings. Do your weekly food shopping here.
Right now, there is an
abundance of almost everything. If you
are a canner, there are plenty of green beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Melons and peaches are also plentiful.
I can’t resist purchasing
a rainbow of produce. Ratatouille is my
favorite dish to enjoy eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, onions, garlic
and thyme – all of which are available at the market right now. Here’s the recipe:
Ratatouille
8 servings
2 medium eggplants
1 tbsp salt
¼ c vegetable oil
2 large onions, cut into
rings
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 green or yellow peppers,
cut into strips
4 medium zucchini or
summer squash, cut into small chunks
3 medium tomatoes, cut
into wedges
¼ tsp salt
Black pepper
½ tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
Chopped parsley (for
garnish)
Cut eggplant into thick
slices and then into small wedges. Sprinkle
with salt and let stand for 30 minutes.
Rinse and pat the eggplant dry with paper towels.
Heat oil in large skillet.
Saute onions and garlic for two minutes.
Add green pepper and cook for another two minutes. Add eggplant and cook for three minutes on
high heat stirring constantly. Add
zucchini and continue stirring for 3 minutes.
Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaf. Simmer uncovered for 40 minutes on low heat
until all vegetables are tender. Remove
bay leaf.
Serve hot. Excellent reheated and also served cold as an
appetizer.
Last week on PBS’s Cooks
Country, I learned of this delicious potato dish. This is perfect for those small yellow, red,
and/or purple potatoes at the market.
The large amount of salt in the cooking water makes the potato skins
extra crispy and gives the potato the perfect texture. Amazingly, the potatoes don’t absorb much of the
salt!
Salt-and-Vinegar Potatoes
Serves: 4
Ingredients
6 Tbsp olive oil
2 lbs small red (yellow
and/or purple) potatoes (1 to 2 inches in diameter)
1 1/4 c salt
(yes this is cups)
3 Tb malt (or cider)
vinegar
Ground black pepper
Adjust oven rack to
upper-middle position and heat oven to 500°F.
Brush a rimmed baking sheet evenly with oil. Bring 2 quarts water to
boil over med-high heat. Stir in potatoes and salt, and cook until just tender
and paring knife slips easily in and out of potatoes, 20 to 30 minutes. Drain
potatoes and let dry for 10 minutes on a rack or a kitchen towel.
Transfer potatoes to oiled
baking sheet. Flatten each potato with underside of measuring cup until ½-inch
thick. Brush potatoes with half of vinegar and season with pepper. Roast until
potatoes are well browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Brush with remaining vinegar.
Transfer potatoes to platter, smashed side up. Serve.
Today we welcome M
& M Bistro as our Friday market restaurant. They’ll serve a choice of chicken or beef/lamb pitas full of lovely fresh market
produce. They’ll also have hummus and tabbouleh, as well as baklava.
Marshall Mitchell provides the entertainment. John Skinner, the
urban forester for the Missouri Department of Conservation, will be at the
market today to answer all your tree questions. If you have a sickly or
damaged tree, bring a sample for him to examine.
Tomorrow is
“International Can It Forward Day” and we'll be celebrating with a drawing for
a full-size canning kit and with a cooking demonstration by Market Lady Trish
Reed. Trish will show how to pickle cucumbers, zucchini and okra.
Jim Graham brings his wonderful repertoire of songs ranging from
children’s music, bluegrass, hymns to train songs. He even has some songs
about canning vegetables.
Cooking for a
Cause tomorrow benefits the American Cancer Society. Volunteers
from General Mills will dish up biscuits and gravy, sausage, and farm fresh
eggs cooked to order until 11.
On Tuesday, Market
Lady Carolyn Smith will show folks how to make healthy packed lunches.
The Pommerts will play and we’ll have wood-fired pizzas, a variety of hot
dog dishes, plus Frito pie and pulled pork sandwiches. Remember, we’re
open from 4 to 6 on Tuesdays.
