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Sensible Snacking On-The-Go

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By Madison Jackson & Julia Howard

We know how busy life can get. Whether packing school lunches or struggling to find time to eat during the workday, the Saratoga Farmers’ Market makes it easy for you to eat healthy, locally produced food even when you’re in a rush. Here are some of our favorite snacks at the farmers’ market this month.

Saratoga Crackers, photo by Madison Jackson

Fruit smoothies & Sweet Greek Yogurts
Argyle Cheese Farmer has probiotic-packed smoothies and mini sweet Greek yogurts in flavors you will love. Smoothies include vanilla chai, mocha, ginger pear, and others. Mini sweet Greek yogurts include chocolate raspberry, maple, blueberry, and others.

Apple chips
Saratoga Apple has some of our favorite fall treats and we think their apple chips make a great healthy and mess-free snack option.

Crackers with toppings
Saratoga Cracker Co. has prepackaged crackers in flavors like garlic parmesan, everything, rosemary olive, and many more. Pair with some artisan cheese from Moxie Ridge, R&G Cheesemakers, Nettle Meadow, and Argyle Cheese Farmer. Freddy’s Rockin Hummus makes a variety of dippable hummus with organic chickpeas. Saratoga Peanut Butter Co. has many flavors to spread on those crispy crackers.

Vital Eats, photo provided

Jerky & snack sticks
Muddy Trail Jerky Co. makes hand-crafted beef jerky and meaty snack sticks in 13 flavors like teriyaki beef, jalapeno lime beef, and more. Vital Eats offers their plant-based, probiotic, vegan Zen Jerky in hot ranch buffalo and BBQ.

Honey sticks & maple sugar candies
Ballston Lake Apiaries offers wildflower honey sticks that satisfy any sweet tooth. Slate Valley Farms has a variety of honey sticks in flavors like tangerine, wildflower, cinnamon, and raspberry. Slate Valley Farms also has maple candies that are a delicious melt-in-your-mouth treat.

Moon Cycle Seed Company, photo provided

Granola & Seed Squares
The Chocolate Spoon offers freshly baked and individually wrapped granola and cookies that make sweet grab-and-go treats. Moon Cycle Seed Company has seed squares that contain your daily dose of seed blends in a tasty on-the-go bar made with natural and organic ingredients. These bars are specifically prepared to help women rebalance their hormones.

Fresh fruit & vegetables
This list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning some of the fresh snackable fruits and vegetables at the farmers’ market. Snap off a stalk of crisp celery or snack on sweet carrots. Cauliflower florets and cherry tomatoes also make healthy and satisfying snacks. Apples, pears, and plums are still in season and can be easily tossed into lunch boxes or briefcases.

 

This week’s recipe: Apple Cinnamon Fruit Roll-Ups

Keeping the Lunchbox Fresh

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by Jodie Fitz

Saratoga Apple, photo by Pattie Garrett

All meals have their challenges whether it’s a pandemic or not; packing the lunchbox is no exception.

I have three children and I’d like to tell you I figured it all out after the first, but I did not. Each child came with their own sets of likes and dislikes. My youngest was, and is, my pickiest eater with a fickle palate that’s forever changing. She is NOT the traditional sandwich eater.

Carmella Making Apple Parfait, photo by Jodie Fitz

Whether you are homeschooling, fully virtual, or schooling in a hybrid fashion here are few lunchtime prep tips that are tried and true:
● Use the weekend to organize the plan.
● Separate shelf-stable snacks in containers or Ziploc® bags and put them in a basket so that the kids know they are for lunchbox packing only.
● Prepack refrigerated items into containers for several days at a time, label and keep those items in the fridge ready to grab.
● Include your children in the entire process.

The goal? Keeping you from spending more time than needed in the kitchen during the busy weekdays. Not only will these steps save you time, but they will also help to promote independence in the kiddos and hopefully feel-good vibes in your kitchen (wink).

Here are some easy prep ideas that include apples:

Toby making fruit dip, photo by Jodie Fitz

1. Cinnamon Apples: Simply wash, core, slice your apples. Place them in a Ziploc® style bag. Add a few shakes of cinnamon, seal the bag, and shake. This helps to avoid brown apples, enhances flavor and they keep in the fridge for several days.
2. Dip: Make yogurt dips to serve with the cinnamon apples and keep in mini containers. Try my Creamsicle Fruit Dip by folding 6 oz. low-fat vanilla yogurt with 6 oz. of Greek yogurt and the juice freshly squeezed from half of a navel orange.
3. Apple Pie Parfait: Layer vanilla yogurt, granola, and cooked apples that have been cooled. Simply wash, core, peel, and dice two apples. Cook them in a saucepan with 3 tablespoons of water, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. These will keep for several days in the fridge.

*Apples, cinnamon, yogurt, and granola are all available at the farmers’ market.

Cheers to a successful school year.

Jodie Fitz is the creator of the Price Chopper/Market 32 Kids Cooking Club. You can learn more about her, her recipes, and her online classes by visiting JodieFitz.com. She is also the author of Fidget Grows a Pizza Garden.

This week’s recipe: Peanutty Apple Wraps

Peanutty Apple Wraps

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Lucy making an apple wrap, photo by Jodie Fitz

Recipe by Jodie Fitz

Ingredients
*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market
● ¼ cup peanut butter*
● 1 tablespoon honey*
● ½ teaspoon cinnamon*
● 10 thin apple* slices (approximately ½ an apple)
● 1 Flatbread

Instructions
1. Wash, core, and slice the apple into thin slices.
NOTE: You can peel or not peel, the preference is yours.
2. Stir the peanut butter, honey & cinnamon together.
3. Spread the peanut butter mixture onto the flatbread, add the apples and roll it, or fold it, like a burrito.

Submarine Sandwiches with a Mediterranean Twist

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

 

Sabreen Samman of Petra

Sabreen Samman stands by a panel of windows at the Lincoln Baths Building in the Saratoga Spa State Park. In front of her are serving trays holding her savory Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, made with lamb and beef, ready to be topped with onions, peppers, and melted cheese.

A customer approaches. With a smile, Samman fills the order.

“I like cooking and I like feeding people,” she says. “When people come back and tell me how much they enjoy the food, I feel good.”

Samman calls her business Petra, after the ancient city in Jordan, where she is from. She started the business as a farmers’ market enterprise and joined the Saratoga Farmers’ Market in 2018.

Petra is an ancient city, known for beauty and historical significance. For Samman, it is like a taste of home.

Samman’s early work years were at a desk. She left that life and in 2014 started a restaurant, the Falafel Den, in Saratoga. The long hours of restaurant work tired her out, so she sold her share in the business to her partners. Still, she wanted to keep cooking.

As she developed Petra, she realized it was a perfect fit. She could cook in a creative way, with more time for herself.

She initially began offering pocket pies, which were modeled after a food common in and around Jordan. The pies, like the accompanying recipe, were made with pizza dough; filled with combinations of vegetable, cheese, and meats; seasoned with spice blends of the Mediterranean; folded at the top, and then baked.

Samman has always liked to surprise market goers with different ingredients and styles of snack or lunch foods. Along with pocket pies, she has brought salads and gyros to the market in the past. She looks forward to mixing things up with sub rolls and fillings and plans to offer chicken and vegetarian combinations this spring.

Response to her Philly steak sandwiches has been quite favorable, she says.

For her, the cooking and the selling come together as a pleasurable experience. “It’s meditative and soothing,” she says. “And when I’m done, I feel refreshed.”

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at the Lincoln Baths Building in the Saratoga Spa State Park through April. The market moves outdoors to High Rock Park in May. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)

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Adapted from recipe by Lucy Parissi of Supergolden Bakes

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Servings: 12 slices

Ingredients

*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market.

  • 2 ½ lbs fresh spinach*
  • 14 oz feta cheese crumbled*
  • 2 large eggs lightly beaten*
  • ¼ cup fresh chopped dill*
  • ½  cup or a small bunch of fresh chopped parsley*
  • 8 scallions, finely chopped*
  • 2 large leeks, white part only finely chopped*
  • 1 pack frozen phyllo pastry thawed overnight in the fridge
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • Olive oil
  • salt and pepper

 

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place a tray on the middle shelf.
  2. Warm olive oil in a pan over medium heat and gradually add the spinach in batches until it is all cooked.
  3. Allow to cool. Then drain excess water from the spinach using a cheesecloth or strainer.
  4. Sauté the green onions and leeks in a pan with a splash of olive oil until soft. Add the spinach and herbs and cook for a bit longer. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside to cool slightly.
  5. Add the crumbled feta and eggs to the spinach. Season generously with salt and pepper and mix together.
  6. Brush your pie dish with the melted butter then start layering the phyllo pastry, brushing each leaf with butter, in the dish letting the ends hang over the edge. Layer 5-6 phyllo squares over the bottom of the dish then add the filling in an even layer. Fold the edges over the top and brush with butter.
  7. Brush 4 phyllo squares with the melted butter then scrunch together and cover the entire surface of the pie.
  8. Bake for 45 minutes, covering with foil after 15-20 minutes to avoid the pie coloring too quickly. Cool before slicing (otherwise you won’t be able to slice neatly).

Kale Salad with Roasted Acorn Squash

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Adapted from recipe by Kitchen Confidante, shared by My Saratoga Kitchen Table

Serves: 6

 

INGREDIENTS

*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market

For the dressing:

  • 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 Tablespoon maple syrup*
  • 1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • ¼ cup olive oil

For the salad:

  • 1 acorn squash, halved, seeds removed, and sliced into ½ inch thick slices*
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 6 cups chopped kale*
  • 1 cup shredded carrots*
  • 1 cup shredded red cabbage*
  • ½ cup currants
  • ½ cup sunflower seeds, plus more for garnish
  • ½ cup crumbled goat cheese*

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. To make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, maple syrup, and mustard. While whisking, drizzle in the oil and continue whisking until the dressing is fully emulsified.
  2. To make the salad: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees with wire rack placed in the center. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl, toss the slices of squash in the oil. Place the slices of squash on the baking sheet. Season the squash with paprika. Place in the oven to roast for about 40 minutes, flipping halfway through.
  3. In a bowl, toss the kale with half of the dressing. Massage the kale with the dressing until wilted, the color is darker and looks shiny. Let it sit for around 5 minutes. Add the carrots, cabbage, currants, and sunflower seeds. Arrange the salad on a platter or in a salad bowl and top with the squash. Drizzle the remaining dressing and top with cheese and a few more seeds for garnish.

NOTES

Delicata squash makes a great addition or substitute for the acorn squash.