Charleston Farmer's Market: A Local Interlude

I got a hold of some great stuff at this morning's Farmer's Market: homemade pasta, grass fed beef from River Run Farms, tomatoes, okra, red and yellow peppers, oyster mushrooms from Mepkin Abbey, and Farrah's Giddy Goat Cheese! (Farrah has an art show coming up at Bin 152 on Wednesday—don't miss it!)

clockwise from left: beet pasta, spicy red pepper pasta, basil pasta
all surrounding oyster mushrooms

This is the perfect start for some of my favorite recipes: Okra, Onions, and Tomatoes, which is my grandmother's recipe and exactly like what it sounds, except that you add corn and a little honey; Steak with Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Feta over basil spaghetti; and homemade Mushroom Fettuccine with goat cheese and roasted red and yellow peppers.

Tonight I made Tabboule Salad, my mom's recipe, with quinoa instead of bulgur wheat. This is the simplest, yummiest recipe you can ask for: cold quinoa, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, fresh mint, fresh parsley, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Chop it all up, put it in a bowl, and marinate about an hour. Piece of cake and remarkably tasty and refreshing. The quinoa gives it some protein.

In the goals department, I've decided I need to be making my own bone broths. I meant to get some soup bones today at the market but forgot. Bone broths are incredibly nourishing in ways that non-bone stocks are not, and as flu season approaches I could use some of those extra nutrients. I'll be posting on how to make broths out of chicken and beef bones, and I might even get daring and try fish broth.