The weekend before we left my parents', we stopped by the farmers' market in Mount Vernon, Washington, so we could meet our one local summer challenge. As Colleen had mentioned to me, West Coast markets have far more organic vegetables and fruits, and we were able to assemble a tasty, local, organic meal with ease.
The very first stand had bunches of sweet peas--my favorite flowers. They smell heavenly and familiar (childhood memories of growing them in our garden in Sweden).
I could not resist the baby carrots...
...or the heirloom tomatoes.
These were not grown in a hot house, but rather with tarps over the fields to keep the plants warm.
The very first Skagit Valley strawberries were available, so we grabbed some, along with rhubarb, spinach, asparagus, spring onions, and young garlic. I had hoped for some free range chicken and also some mushrooms, but didn't spot any. So we "settled" for grass-fed hamburger.
Our local meal this week:
baby spinach salad with strawberries, pecans, and this dressing (adapted with honey--add it to taste instead of sugar). (I'm still tinkering with this dressing--if anyone has a suggestion on a better one, let me know!)
baby carrots sauteed in butter, and grilled asparagus
hamburgers (grass fed beef mixed with chopped spring onions and minced fresh local garlic with a dash of Worcestershire); local lettuce and heirloom tomatoes to top them off
and cheater's rhubarb crumble for my dad who never gets to eat rhubarb (the same dessert I made last week, with the non-local sugar and non-local flour. I promise to do better next week).
I could've eaten three bowls of this salad. There's more spinach in there than meets the eye, you'll just have to trust me.
My usual "six is better than two" mentality really pays off (for once!) with shopping at farmers' markets--we've been eating four or more different veggies at each meal this way.
