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Chicories’ bitter edge offsets richness of fall dishes

October 12, 2022 By marketeditor

By Himanee Gupta

 

Thick soups, hearty meats, cheese, and rustic bread. For a lot of us, these are the foods of fall. They’re warming, flavorful, and rich – and sometimes perhaps a bit too rich to easily digest.

However, pairing these fall favorites with such seasonal chicories as Italian dandelion greens, radicchio, frisée, escarole, and Belgian endive can help. These beautifully colored, glossy leafy vegetables all offer meals a bitter taste. That taste helps break up the fat and can be quite pleasing to the palate.

Photo provided by Green Jeans Market Farm

“Bitterness is valued by many culinary traditions around the world,” says Andrea Grom of Green Jeans Market Farm. “In French and Italian food traditions, bitter greens are typically paired with rich foods because they aid digestion.”

Grom first encountered chicories in 2009 while volunteering on organic farms in Italy and Germany through a program known as World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, or WWOOF, which young farmers often tap to gain experience and exposure to different regenerative agricultural practices. At a farm in Tuscany, she fell in love with salads made with radicchio and Italian dandelion greens that her hosts prepared as well as a creamy risotto that included shredded radicchio. Later in southern Bavaria in Germany, she got acquainted with sugarloaf radicchio, a fall staple for Green Jeans, for several years. Her hosts created salads with radicchio, toasted walnuts, and chopped apple.

Longtime New Yorkers make escarole a part of Greens & Beans, a dish featuring cannellini beans, sausage, and a green. Many of my customers introduced me – a transplant – to what has become one of my favorite dishes.

Grom notes that chicories grow best in fall and spring. They are packed with nutrients and fall crops and can be wrapped tightly and stored in refrigerators for several weeks.

Photo provided by Green Jeans Market Farm

Green Jeans is among the many Saratoga Farmers Market vendors offering chicories this season. Look for the frilly leaves of frisée, curly escarole heads, deep red and purple radicchios, plus the green Sugar Loaf. Also, check out the spiked leaves that define Italian dandelion – not quite the wild leaf and yellow flower that fills our backyards and woods in early spring but still related. All of these, says Grom, “are vibrant, healthful greens that are wonderful as salads and in comfort foods.”

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is open Wednesdays from 3 to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at High Rock Park. The farmers’ market will move to the Wilton Mall on November 5. Find us online at www.saratogafarmersmarket.org and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. 

 

Filed Under: Featured Article, homepage feature, News Tagged With: bitter greens, fall produce, farm to table, green jeans market farm, wwoof

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Get ready to mushroom into a world of flavor at th Get ready to mushroom into a world of flavor at the Saratoga Farmers' Market! 🍄🌱 This week, we're thrilled to highlight the Mushroom Shop and their incredible selection of locally grown and harvested mushrooms. We spoke with owner's Jacob and Elysee to learn more.

Q: What are some of the health benefits associated with consuming mushrooms?

A: Mushrooms contain a multitude of medicinal compounds. The mushroom species Cordyceps militaris contains cordycepin, which increases your blood's ability to absorb and transport oxygen, improving exercise performance. Mukitake or Panellus serotinus possesses compounds that have shown in recent studies to improve liver function in people suffering from fatty liver disease. Reishi mushrooms improve immune health, warding off sickness and reducing inflammation. Other medicinal mushrooms include Turkey Tail, Chaga, Agarikon, Maitake, and Lions Mane.

Q: What inspired you to start selling mushrooms at the farmers' market?

A: We initially got our inspiration from a mushroom farm based in Tennessee called Mossy Creek Mushrooms. They have many videos on Youtube covering every aspect of operating a mushroom farm from building and maintaining equipment to harvesting and marketing mushrooms. Jacob has had an interest in growing mushrooms as a hobby for about eight years when he discovered a patch of oyster mushrooms growing in the wild. We got the opportunity to lease land in the beginning of 2021 and shortly after started selling at farmers’ markets.

Q: How do you recommend customers prepare and cook the mushrooms they purchase from you?

A: At our farmers markets we always provide printed recipes that utilize the mushrooms available during the current season. Like meat, mushrooms can be cooked in a variety of ways, such as sautéing, roasting, and grilling to create a flavorful dish. One of our recent favorites is a Spicy Crispy Lion's Mane Sandwich- a thick slab of Lion's Mane mushroom battered and fried on a toasted bun with spicy mayo and pickles. This is a delicious take on a chicken sandwich made entirely of whole, natural produce. 

*Find the Mushroom shop year round at our Saturday markets!*

#saratogafarmersmarket
Get ready for a mouth-watering adventure! 🍴🌍 Get ready for a mouth-watering adventure! 🍴🌍 Join us on Saturday, March 25th from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm at the Saratoga Farmers' Market's International Flavor Fest in the Wilton Mall food court! 🎉 Indulge in frgál cakes, julekaker, burek, curries, samosas, and more, representing cuisines from all around the world! 🌎 There will be live music, family-friendly activities, and food tastings that will take your taste buds on a journey around the globe! 🎶👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Plus, our friends at the World Awareness Children's Museum will be hosting a paper fortune cookie making session for the kiddos! Don't forget to pick up your passport for a chance to win a prize by filling it with stamps from market vendors! Let's celebrate our traditions, history, and community through the language of flavorful food! 😍🍴

 #InternationalFlavorFest #SaratogaFarmersMarket #FoodieAdventure #CommunityConnection
Join us tomorrow for our Saturday market! From 9:3 Join us tomorrow for our Saturday market! From 9:30-1:30 you can find all your favorite vendors in the Wilton Mall Food court. We’ll by joined by the Academy of Life Long Learning, AIM Services, and musician Lee Paquin. Hope you can make it!!!

Photos of: @squash.villa.farm , KOKINDA Farm, and @eurodelicaciesco by Graciela Colston

#saratogafarmersmarket #saratogasprings #farmersmarket #agriculture #shoplocal
The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is seeking donation The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is seeking donations to help improve our market and keep our nonprofit organization running. Your donation will be used for essential functions of the market as well as helping us reach more of our long-term goals for the community. We are looking for additional resources to expand our community offerings such as hosting family friendly events, programs and activities.

You can help us by donating via our GiveButter account (link in bio) or in person at the market via our market manager. Thank you for your ongoing support. We couldn’t do it without you! 

#saratogafarmersmarket #supportlocalfarmers #nonprofit #communitylove #givebutter

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