My Saturday Market Bag (Clockwise from Bottom Left)
Yokatta Na, Four Varieties of Snap Peas, New Red Potatoes, Italian Parsley, Tomatoes, Garlic Scapes, Chinese Garlic, Wild Mountain Spinach, Red Oak Lettuce, Yellow Summer Squash, Manila Clams, Spouted Broccoli, Spring Onions, Cucumber
A sunny Saturday morning on Bainbridge Island. Arguably the best day of the week, in one of the most beautiful places on earth. My day starts with a 7:00am swim with friends. Coach April works us hard, and during the last tough set all I can think about is the prospect of breakfast. A quick shower and I'm at Farmer's Market when the opening bell rings at 9:00am. The vendors are accustomed to the sight of me. I'm a fright. Goggle-eyed, wet hair, essence of chlorine permeating the air around me. Did you have a good swim, they ask?
The farms are in full swing now, with overflowing displays, and produce even I haven't seen before, such as:
Wild mountain purple spinach and green spinach
You eat stems and leaves of yokatta na
They taste similar to bok choy with the zip of mustard greens
Check out the peas - There are purple ones!
Shopping complete, I dash home, grab knife, cutting board, whisk, and pan. Saute yokatta na, snap peas and spring onion in butter. Transfer to bowl. Top with shredded wild mountain spinach and red oak lettuce. Drizzle with olive oil and white wine vinegar. Toss around a bit. Top with French omelette and tomato chunks. Sea salt and pepper.
Swimmer's Breakfast
Now, what's for dinner later?
The friendly folks at Baywater Shellfish had set me up with an oyster to slurp off the shell while they bagged my fresh clams. Shuck me an oyster and I'll follow you anywhere. They'll be at Farmer's Market every week. This makes me happy, as I need a fix to hold me over until my monthly oyster share from the Puget Sound Restoration Fund.
I had garlic and garlic scapes from Laughing Crow Farm. . .
Add more spring onions, spinach, yokatta na, parsley, and a few other ingredients on hand and a feast of steamed clams came together in a snap.
Phil and I grabbed a baguette from Pain D'amore to soak up the sauce, a bottle of rosé from Bainbridge Vineyards to wash it down, and headed to the deck to watch the sunset.
Bainbridge Vineyards is offering free wine tasting to island residents
on June 13th and 14th
Stop by the tasting room from noon - 5:00pm
and try their certified organic wines from 100% island-grown grapes
Yup
That's the view from our deck
Did I mention life here is really, really good?
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