at the market now • early november
It never feels like winter is truly coming until daylight savings comes and all of a sudden, the days end abruptly
things I bought + things I made
fennel • I am in love with fennel, so it appears often during our weekly meals, and I often snack on it too. I love it best raw, personally, and most often prepare it as a very simple salad. The key for me is to slice the fennel thinly. I use this mandolin. Then, I toss it with lemon juice, good dark olive oil, salt, and some of the inner feathery fronds, and a juicy fruit- most often orange, but I love grapefruit and pomegranates too. Another excellent winter salad using fennel is this one- it’s also a staple for us in winter months.
broccoli • I saute this with a little oil, salt and garlic and it is so delicious. The kids and I devour it like this. You can see the exact method in my video highlight on IG if you’re curious. We often have it as a side or snack in winter.
cauliflower • really into cooking this with buffalo sauce a la this recipe. Paired with a good salad + these greek potatoes, it’s heaven.
sugar pie pumpkin • I love to cut them in half and roast (no need to skin or scoop seeds out before), cut side down, on a baking sheet until very tender. Then, I scoop out the seeds easily and scoop the flesh into a food processor and puree. The resulting silky orange puree is perfect to have on hand to add to pies, expand on as a base for soup, add to baked goods, oatmeals, and more.
chestnuts • I love fresh chestnuts. When they arrive at the market I always have to buy some. This week, I married them with farro and pumpkin in this soup recipe.
chickpeas • still very addicted to the best pot of chickpeas. They can so easily be transformed into many things, two of which this week have been: roasted chickpeas (atop a thinly sliced fennel salad with oranges, red onions, kalamata olives, parsley and olive oil) and chickpea noodle soup (recipe in my ebook).
celery • always on hand for soup making, and I especially look for darker green bunches with fresh looking leaves, as they give a really nice flavor in soups.
brussels sprouts • I either sear and steam these, or roast. A tip- they are excellent with a dried chile salsa, such as chile de árbol or morita + toasted pumpkin seeds and cilantro.
potatoes • a staple for us all year round, but especially as the weather gets colder. We have been getting small fingerling types from the farmer’s market, steaming, smashing, brushing with oil and a sprinkle of salt, then roasting until crispy. Insanely delicious. Something like this, if you need an exact recipe- although I oven roast at 425f.
almond milk • The kids have been helping me make plant milks every week. We use them on oats, in baking, and in tea. This week, we made almond. Super simple- 1 cup almonds, soaked overnight. Blend with 3-4 cups water, 1 date or 1 tsp maple syrup, a pinch of sea salt, and a bit of vanilla bean if you like (we do). Strain through a fine mesh cloth (I use one of our simple ecology muslin cotton bags) and store in the fridge 5-6 days in a sealed jar.
marinated white beans • These have been a staple for us lately, too. Very simple to throw together, yet yield big flavors. We’ve been loving the coriander and lemon variation.
sourdough bread • Made my first loaf from my rye starter from this bread recipe. Extremely delicious flavor, a little dense because my starter is new, but baking bread is so therapeutic- and sourdough is so much healthier for you. Keeping it going for the moment feels just right for this cooler weather.
