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Roasted Beet and Apple Salad with Honey Dijon Vinaigrette

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Recipe by Marisa Kerkvliet

Yields: 4 servings 

Ingredients 

*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market 

For the salad: 

  • 3 medium-size beets or 1 large beet* 
  • 1 apple, thinly sliced* 
  • 1 bag baby lettuce* 
  • 1 handful pea shoots or microgreens* 
  •  ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese* 
  • ¼ cup toasted walnuts 

For the vinaigrette 

  • ¼ cup olive oil 
  • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar 
  • 2 tablespoons minced red or yellow onion* 
  • 2 teaspoons honey* 
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard 
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt 
  • ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

Instructions 

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Trim the stem end off of each beet, wrap in a piece of aluminum foil, and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast beets for 1-2 hours or until they are tender when pierced with a paring knife. 
  2. Allow the beets to cool and gently rub off the skin. The beets can be used at this point or stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. 
  3. When ready to serve, slice the beets into ¼ inch slices and arrange them on a serving platter. Layer on the sliced apple, baby lettuce, pea shoots, feta cheese, and walnuts and set aside. 
  4. To make the dressing combine the olive oil, white wine vinegar, minced onion, honey, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper in the jar or a small blender and blend on high for 15-30 seconds or until completely smooth. If you do not have a blender small enough for this quantity, simply whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl. 
  5. Pour dressing over the plated salad and serve immediately.

Eating Fresh and Flavorful in the Winter

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By Marisa Kerkvliet

We probably all have memories of the farmers’ market during the summer months. Tables stacked full of brightly colored fruits and vegetables and bustling isles full of customers. During the winter, the farmers’ market might not be the first place you think to go on a Saturday morning. If you have yet to venture into the winter market, you may be surprised that there is far more fresh produce than you think! Not to mention the booths full of other kitchen staples like honey, meat, and fresh bread.

Gomez Veggie Ville, photo by Marisa Kerkvliet

Root crops such as beets, potatoes, turnips, and carrots are hearty and do well in cold storage many months after the fall harvest. Winter squash can be kept for months and is still delicious when roasted or baked, even in the early spring. Brassicas such as kale and cabbage are also available. Did you know that kale leaves become sweeter after they withstand frosty weather? You can find fresh, sweet greens like lettuce, spinach, pea shoots, and microgreens.

Saratoga Apple, photo by Marisa Kerkvliet

This week’s recipe features sweet roasted beets and fresh apples complemented by salty feta cheese and a tangy honey dijon vinaigrette. The salad is rounded out with the freshest of greens. The recipe can easily be adapted with ingredients available at the market. If pea shoots are not available, use microgreens instead or stick with the baby lettuce. If beets aren’t your thing, pour this dressing over the greens, apple, and feta to make a light side salad.

Photo by Marisa Kerkvliet

Roasting beets in foil is an excellent way to cook them while retaining flavor and sweetness. After roasting, the skin should easily slip off. The exact cooking time for the beets varies greatly depending on the size. Medium size beets, about 3 inches in diameter, will typically take about an hour to fully cook. Winter beets at the market are often much larger, about 6 inches, and can take up to 2 full hours to cook. Roasted beets keep well in the fridge, so consider roasting more than you need so you can use the rest throughout the week. 

I am a freelance recipe developer and food photographer with a background in Nutrition and Culinary Arts. I focus on sharing seasonal whole-food recipes for the whole family. You can find me and see more of my work on my Instagram @lemon.thyme.kitchen.

This week’s recipe: Roasted Beet and Apple Salad with Honey Dijon Vinaigrette

Know Your Farmer – and Get to Know a Few New Ones, too

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

We get it. It’s January. It’s cold. It’s COVID, year three. 

And while you might love the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, you feel it has changed.

You’re right. We’ve changed. Some longtime, well-established vendors are gone. Their owners retired or chose amid the COVID-19 pandemic to shift their operations toward online, home delivery, or mail-order sales.

But we are still the same market in many ways. We still offer some of the best locally grown, raised, or made foods and craft items. We’ve continued to do so by shifting our definition of local away from the six counties that traditionally defined our vendor base toward a more inclusive idea. That shift has helped bring in vendors from other counties, from anywhere within 50 miles of Saratoga.Our new vendors give our market a new face. But they value good products that are local. Stop by and say hello. In time, they’ll be quite familiar to you. 

Here’s the lowdown on a few:

  • Pork & Greens. This farm hails from the Hudson Valley and is woman-owned. Isabel Buenaga started the farm in July 2020, with a mission to create healthy soil, reduce food waste, and produce high-quality pork and nutrient-rich greens. Her pigs “graze and laze” on 15 acres of woodlands and receive a carefully monitored diet of repurposed foods. Foods that would otherwise be trashed or composted become nutrition for the pigs and yield nicely flavored pork chops, sausages, ham steaks, and other pork items. As for the greens, they are chosen for their ability to withstand our region’s bitterly cold winters and sweltering summers. Check out Buenaga’s kale, pea shoots, and lettuces.
    Pork and Greens, photo by Pattie Garrett.
  • The Mushroom Shop. This farm, based in Salem, is run by Jacob Howard and Elise Olsen. They joined the Wednesday market last spring and are continuing through the winter to offer gourmet specialty mushrooms for culinary and medicinal uses. Check out their oyster, beech, and cinnamon cap offerings.
    The Mushroom Shop, photo by Pattie Garrett
  • Boozy Moo. Yes, ice cream in winter. Boozy Moo, based in Albany, is the brainchild of Leila Kiosse. Kiosse had opened a craft cocktails bar and games house in early 2020. Like so many retail outlets, hers was shuttered amid the pandemic. Kiosse began experimenting with craft ice creams, infusing them with alcohol, and realized she had a great new approach to a popular dessert on her hands. Ask for a sample and let Kiosse’s cool treats warm your soul.
    Boozy Moo!, photo by Pattie Garrett

 

This week’s featured recipe: Pork Chops with Apples and Onions

Peak-of-the-Season Salad with Walnut Oil Vinaigrette

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Photo by Pattie Garrett

“The holiday season for our farm family has come to mean celebrating local bounty. Enjoy my recipe for the most delicious, nourishing, seasonal salad for the winter holidays!” – Corinne Hansch

Recipe shared by Lovin’ Mama Farm
Serves 6-8
Prep & assembly time: 25 mins

Ingredients
*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market

For the vinaigrette:
● 1 1/2 Tbs. sherry vinegar
● 2 small shallots*, finely diced
● salt and freshly milled pepper
● 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
● 6 Tbs. roasted walnut oil or a mixture of walnut and olive oils

For the salad:
● Local, seasonal baby greens, such as baby lettuce*, radicchio*, arugula*, or mesclun*
● Microgreens* or shoots*
● Assorted radishes*, including watermelon radish, sliced
● grated carrots*
● sliced cabbage*
● crumbled goat cheese* (optional)

For the toasted walnuts:
● 1/2 cup walnuts
● 1 tbs butter*

Instructions
To make the vinaigrette, combine vinegar, shallots, and 1/4 tsp salt in a bowl and let stand for 15 minutes. Stir in the mustard, then add the oil. Whisk well until the dressing is thick and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

To make the toasted walnuts, warm a heavy-bottom skillet and melt the butter. Add the walnuts and stir until coated in the melted butter and slightly browned. Watch closely as they can burn easily!

Assemble the salad in the largest bowl you have. First toss the greens, microgreens, and shoots together, then top with grated carrot, sliced cabbage, and slices of radishes. Add crumbled goat cheese and toasted walnuts, then drizzle the dressing on top and serve!

Harvest Season — in February???

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by Pattie Garrett

A visit to Saturday’s Saratoga Farmers’ Market during the cold winter months brings surprises: the tables are overflowing with vegetables and fruit, and each week newly harvested leafy greens and other fresh-picked produce appear. This leaves me wondering, how is it possible to grow vegetables when the temperature is below freezing? 

Paul and Sandy Arnold, who have been working the land at Pleasant Valley Farm for the past 30 years, explain that they started experimenting with winter farming in 1992 with low tunnels, and in 2006 with high tunnels. 

Paul Arnold and his daughter Kim harvest greens in a high tunnel. Photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

“Through much trial and error, the high tunnel winter greens production has proven to be worthwhile. Customers are excited to come every week of the year and be able to get fresh, healthy greens. Each year, our systems have been improved so that we have a more consistent supply throughout the cold winter months, though we will always be challenged by the weather,” explains Paul, with a knowing smile.

I decided to visit the farm on a cold February day. I drive down ice covered unpaved roads for miles; upon arrival I’m greeted by a hawk’s screech and an overwhelming view. Walking past several high tunnels full of colorful vegetables, I find the Arnolds harvesting vegetables, spinach, lettuce and more. High tunnels make it possible for local farmers to extend the growing season and provide us with locally grown fresh vegetables year-round at the farmers’ market. On the Arnold’s farm, the high tunnels are made of polycarbonate material and plastic over a steel structure; the tunnel protects the plants from weather extremes, controlling the environment for the plants in a safe, natural way. The vegetables are planted directly in the soil inside the tunnel. If the tunnel detects the temperature is too high or low, the tunnels’ side curtains will move up or down automatically to maintain an appropriate temperature.

Lettuce sown in the soil of a high tunnel. Photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett.

The 5000 square foot high tunnels enable the Arnolds to grow tasty winter greens such as spinach, lettuce, kale, swiss chard, mustards, broccoli raab, Asian greens, arugula and more. Paul explains, “The seasons change the flavor of the produce. The cold may bring out its flavor or heat will enhance its sweetness.” So, enjoy your favorite vegetables and fruit from the farmers’ market, grown locally and naturally healthy and delicious all year, thanks to innovative farmers like the Arnolds.