Healthy New Year!
The plan for this month is to stick to the topic of taking better care of ourselves. I shan’t refer to resolutions because rarely are we resolute about them, but as we usher in a new year, we often decide that change is good. A suggested change, that you may already have a wish for, is to eat more fresh vegetables. jump to recipe
According to my my mother, I have always loved veggies. It’s not common though, and some never grow out of the hating vegetables stage. In an effort to spread my love and assist those with an aversion, I wrote a vegetable cookbook several years ago. I gave the recipes a cute upper title and a more descriptive lower title. Interestingly, the titles proved the most challenging part of the book. One recipe had a place holder name that I got so used to seeing that it wasn’t until the book came out that I realized I never gave it a proper title, and will ever be known as, “No-Name Roll-Ups.”
Although the gist of the book was how to sneak vegetables into your family (not universally condoned), some of the dishes weren’t the least bit covert, but rather what I called “bite club” recipes. The thought being that if you could get them to try a bite, they might just like it. One such bite club recipe was called, “We met the farmer who grew the stir-fried ramps.” Ramps are a variety of wild onion gaining popularity that grow in the Northeast, and turn up at farmer’s markets there in late spring. I may have been overly optimistic to include them in the book, but I dare say that meeting the person who grows your dinner makes it infinitely tastier.
We have so much sun where I am that our farmer’s market is year round. Because I live in a Goldilocks sized city I often run into friends, and a walk through our market is a similitude of a walk down main street. If you go to the farmer’s market regularly the vendors become friends, and I have made friends with most of them at mine.
One such farmer friend is Winnie, whose beautiful produce has graced this blog many times. We kibbitz over her varied offerings and talk recipes. Very much a family affair, she and her five children steward the “farm,” each of them with different responsibilities. At least one of them is with her at the market every week. Her hubby helps too, but he runs a plumbing business, so you don’t see him often. All that love is integral to the terroir of everything they sell.
As members of the burgeoning tribe of “nouveau” farmers, Winnie has had her share of on the job training, and trial and error, all of which yields tales to go with your bag of veggies. When she shares with you that her radishes didn’t read the back of the seed package, which clearly stated it would be 33 days to harvest, yet up they popped, you can’t help but want to take them home. Your salad at dinner then, not only tastes better, it comes with a charming story.
If the farmer’s market isn’t easy for you to get to, the “produce man” in the supermarket may be able to help you with any UVOs (Unidentified Vegetable Objects). If you have always wondered about turnips and rutabagas, ask your them or your new farmer friend! Making friends at the market makes eating more veggies even easier
While I’m here…
The Veggie-Potassium Connection
One of the reasons Mediterranean eating and plant based diets are found to be the healthiest, is all the fresh produce. Part of that equation is the potassium found in most vegetables. Potassium is an electrolyte, which plays a role in many systems in the body, in particular balancing sodium, hence the reduction in high blood pressure. Deficiency in this essential mineral is linked to fatigue, hypertension, and irritability among other maladies. If you want a healthier new year, prioritize fresh produce. It doesn’t get any fresher than that your won farmer’s market.
This was as pretty as it was tasty.
Ingredients
- 1 kohlrabi, julienned
- 3-4 radishes, julienned
- 1 carrot, julienned
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 1 Tbsp. mayo
- Squeeze of lemon juice
Instructions
- Toss everything together and season with a little salt.
