Valley Court Farmers' Market Abundant with Local Fare

Having just been there, I can report that the East Lansing Farmers’ Market, which is open until 2 pm today, has an abundance of local fare to offer today.

Strawberries and rhubarb can be had, and if you’re too busy or lazy to make your own pie, there is also a pie vendor selling a wide assortment of favorites. You can get locally-farmed maple syrup to put with those strawberries on some French toast tomorrow morning. And the bourbon-flavored syrup tastes like it would be terrific on grilled pork. (See below on meats.)

Vegetables available include asparagus, cucumbers, radishes, greens of all sorts (salad, braising, mustard), kohlrabi, and garlic scapes. Below I provide my own recipe for combining kohlrabi and garlic scapes. Scapes are also quite nice ground up in a blender with some oil as the basis for a salad dressing; add some cilantro (also at the market today) and buttermilk, yogurt, or mayo, with the squeeze of a lime, to make Green Goddess dressing. It's delicious on chicken, vegetables, and fish.

In terms of local fish, as of 10:15 am, you could still get whitefish, trout, and smelt. Locally and humanely-raised meats available include pork, lamb, chicken, duck, and rabbit. A number of vendors also have fresh eggs for sale from their own chickens.

There’s also locally-made herbed soaps and infused oils, homemade granola, and fresh bread. And so much more.

The market is located in Valley Court and is open until 2 pm.

Kohlrabi with Garlic Scapes

Ingredients:

1 medium-large kohlrabi (bulb and greens)

about 10 garlic scapes (about 12-15 inches long each)

about 1/2 cup neutral oil (I use canola)

kosher salt

Directions:

1. Cut the bulb off the rest of the plant. Use a good paring knife to peel the bulb, removing the tough outer skin.
2. Slice the cleaned bulb as thinly as possible. I use a good bread knife for this. Don’t worry if you end up with half-slices.
3. Pull the leaves off of the tough stems. Discard the stems. Wash the green leaves very well, and dry them well. Chop them up.
4. Chop the scrapes diagonally into bits that are about 1/4 inch long.
5. In a large, heavy pan, heat the oil for about 3 minutes on high heat.
6. Lay the bulb slices in the oil. Put all the slices in even if you have to have 2-3 layers; just be sure to stagger them so they’re not just in thick piles.
7. When the lowest layer of bulb slices are pretty brown, stir the bulb slices around. Stir now and then.
8. About 4 minutes later, toss in the garlic scrapes. Cook, stirring occasionally, about another 5 minutes.
9. Throw in the chopped greens.
10. Cook until it looks really good. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon. Serve with a lot of salt.
     

This contains no trans fat and no cholesterol, but is not exactly low-fat. For more about how to cook kohlrabi, click here.