Ask a Portlander about spring produce, and chances are she'll name asparagus, strawberries, and fava beans. What many people don't realize is that spring is an ideal time for endives, too. Too much sun causes an endive's flavor to turn acrid, but the cool, moist weather of a Willamette Valley spring makes for the pleasantly nutty, slightly bitter crunch we love in a fresh endive.
The Market's farmers sell both curly and Belgian endives. Curly endive is a head of greens with white-rimmed leaves that part and curl. Belgian endive grows into a tight conical shape. To blanch its leaves, Belgian endive is grown indoors, or covered with only its tip exposed to sun. When Belgian endive is unearthed for harvest, it is opaque white, tipped with green.
John from Gathering Together farm in Philomath, Oregon, has harvested some curly endive for his spring salad mix, but he said that most of his endive won't be ready for harvest until early or mid-June.
Endive's assertive flavor stands up to walnuts, pecans, and blue cheese, making it ideal for hearty salads. Endive also complements mild cheeses like Brie, and can even be sautéed and tossed with pasta. Look for endive at the Market this month and try it in this simple salad recipe adapted from epicurious.com.
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ECOTRUST MARKET OPENS on Thursday June 5. We’ll kick off the market season with the Dig and Dine Book Exchange and a cooking demonstration by Ivy Manning, author of The Farm to Table Cookbook: The Art of Eating Locally. |
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Ivy Manning: Cooking Demonstration and Book Signing: Ivy Manning, author of the new book, The Farm to Table Cookbook: The Art of Eating Locally, will be on hand to give a cooking demonstration, sign copies of her book, and talk about making the most of a visit to a farmers’ market. |
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Make merry with locally grown berries at Portland Farmers Market’s two berry festivals, set for Thursday, June 19, at Eastbank Farmers Market and Thursday, June 26, at the Ecotrust Market in the Pearl. We’ll dress a fresh baked shortcake with your favorite berries and top it off with organic whipped cream, compliments of the Oregon farmers of Organic Valley. Berry shortcakes will be served to shoppers who make a $5 minimum purchase from any market vendor. |
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How would you like to be served strawberry and hazelnut crepes with hand-whipped cream from a Cory Schreiber-trained chef in your own home? It can happen! This summer from June through August, Kids Cook at the Market will bring Portland's premier chefs to the Market to share their skills with children between the ages of seven and eleven. |
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Jeff Falen of Persephone Farm says it never fails: every July, market shoppers ask if he has tomatoes yet. And every year, he tells them no, that his produce is truly seasonal, and tomatoes won't be ready for another few weeks. Sustainability is a driving tenet of Persephone's practices, and, for Jeff, growing tomatoes under plastic so that they ripen sooner isn't environmentally sustainable. Sustainability has been Jeff's passion since the first Earth Day in 1970. "I don't feel right doing anything that hurts future generations," he says. |
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Ever wonder just how much water your lawn needs each week? The Regional Water Providers Consortium has your number. Your “weekly watering number,” that is! |
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Sure, we'd love to shop at the Farmers Market every day. But when it's not a Market day, or when we can't make it to a Market location, Food Front Cooperative Grocery is the next best place to buy local, seasonal, and sustainable food. |
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