salad

What’s the best way to enjoy artisan cheese from Nicolau Goat Farm at the Little Italy Mercato Farmers’ Market? Maybe it’s classic chevre layered with beets from Sage Mountain Farms in a beautiful terrine. Could it be the goat feta combined with citrus-y sorrel from J.R. Organics and extra-virgin oil from the California Olive in sorrel pesto?

We love to spread red pepper chevre on country French bread from Bread & Cie and top it with caramelized fennel from Maciel Farm. Slice up aged Stanislaus Supreme and serve on a cheese plate with Fuji apple wedges from Lone Oak Ranch, roasted almonds from Hopkins AG and a drizzle of Heratige Farm honey, or try the Stagionato Misto, a semi-firm cheese of sheep and goat milk, garnished with peach-blackberry preserve from Terra Verde Foods.

Try these variations of Goat Cheese Salads, using Kawano Farms' strawberries and Smit Orchard cherries. You can't go wrong with a Strawberry, Basil and Goat Cheese Panini; grab whole wheat levain from Belen Bakery and basil from Suzie's Farm.

What’s your goat-to recipe?

Find crunchy carrots at the Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers’ Market from Maciel Farm, Kawano Farms, Suzie's Farm and J.R. Organics. Follow French fashion by tossing grated carrots with a little fresh flat leaf parsley and a squeeze of Meyer lemon from Gilbert Quintos Farm in salade de carrotes rapees, or do something decadent and dunk chunks of carrot in goat cheese fondue featuring fresh rosemary and Nicolau Farm’s chevre.

Aged vinegar from Bistro Blends adds tang to balsamic glazed grilled carrots and a trip to Suzie's Farm for fresh herbs livens up these roasted carrots. Toss carrots in the oven with beets, parsnips and turnips from your favorite farmers or make a hearty bowl of carrot-fennel soup.

Grab a bundle of carrots to make farm-fresh carrot cake bites for dessert. What’s your favorite way to eat carrots?
 

Get fresh with sprouts from Suzie’s Farm at the North Park Thursday Farmers’ Market. We like to mix onion sprouts with kale from J.R. Organics Farm plus avocado and a squeeze of lemon from Paradise Valley Ranch in this outrageously healthy salad.

Use spicy China rose radish sprouts to add crunch to a sandwich of Colby Jack from Spring Hill Cheese Company and cucumber from Valdivia Farms on sliced French bread from Belen Bakery. Wrap sprouts with smoked fish from Salmon Slinger and whipped garlic spread from Hani's Olives in a fresh tortilla from Don Tommy's, or add pumpkin sprouts to a slaw of cabbage and carrot from Kawano Farms.

There’s no doubt we love sprouts!

The Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers’ Market is full of Hass, Fuerte, Zutano and Bacon avocados from Paradise Valley Ranch, R&L Farms and Gilbert Quintos Farm, and they’re good for more than just guacamole!

Try this beautiful avocado salad with blood oranges, beets from Maciel Farm, radishes from JR Organics and pistachios from Hopkins AG, or create your own avocado recipe - we love combing avocado with fennel from Suzie’s Farm and a little citrus balsamic from Bistro Blends, adding it to a sandwich of toasted organic cheddar from Springhill Cheese Company, and mixing diced avocado into tabouleh from Baba Foods for a California-Mediterranean treat.

Making a fresh salad with all your market goodies? Whip up a tasty dressing using avocados and orange juice like this one. What’s your favorite way to eat San Diego County avocados?

Check out the wild salad greens at the Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers’ Market; find mizuna, or Japanese mustard, at JR Organics and enjoy it’s slightly spicy flavor raw or stir-fried with other vegetables.

Look for tatsoi, also known as Rosette bok choy, at Suzie’s Farm and try bright red radicchio from Maciel Farm. Crunchy frisee is the key to a salad Lyonnaise topped with a perfectly poached egg from Descanso Valley Ranch.

Look for piquant dandelion greens, escarole, arugula, sorrel, purslane and more from your favorite farmers. Because salad doesn't have to be boring anymore!

Look for acorn, butternut, kabocha, globe and all your favorite winter squashes at the North Park Thursday Farmers’ Market from African Sisters Farm, Valdivia Farm, Suzie’s Farm, JR Organics and Rodney Kawano Farms.

The simplest way to cook them is to slice in half, scoop out the seeds (save and toast the seeds for a crunchy snack) and roast the squash in the oven - the smell of baking squash is almost as enjoyable as eating the end product! Drizzle a little honey from Meljess Bees over the squash and add a sprinkle of your favorite flavor from Spice Lady Spices.

Use almonds from Hopkins AG, dry jack from Springhill Cheese Company and kale from your favorite farmer for this delicious salad, or pick up apples at Smit Orchards for this butternut squash soup.

Looks like the weather may turn cool and wet later this week (remember the North Park Market is open rain-or-shine), and if you’re wearing galoshes, it’s time to cook squashes!

Check out the crimson hued blood oranges, or arrancia, at the Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers’ Market this week.

Visit Lone Oak Ranch or Gilbert Quintos Farm to pick up this unique citrus, which looks like an ordinary orange on the outside but bursts with bright red color when cut open. The color comes from anthocyanins, powerful antioxidant compounds also found in red berries, and some people find a hint of raspberry flavor in the taste of blood orange juice.

It makes a wonderful addition to vinaigrette dressing made with olive oil from Bistro Blends or the California Olive; try drizzling it over a salad of fresh greens and roasted golden beets from Maciel Farm. Try pairing arrancia with Suzie’s Farm fennel and wild caught fish from the Salmon Slinger in salmon with roasted fennel and blood orange salsa.

It’ll make a bloody good dinner!

Pomegranates from Paradise Valley Ranch at the North Park Thursday Farmers’ Market add a festive splash of color to any holiday recipe! You can get them whole, or pick up a tub of just the seeds.

We combine them with Swiss chard from African Sisters’ Farm, heirloom tomatoes from Valdivia Farm, Morocco Gold Dates and sweet gala apples from Smit Orchards in this super fun Christmas Tree Salad, or use Belen Bakery’s country French bread and pastured eggs for this pomegranate apple bread pudding.

Spoon pomegranate seeds over a cheesecake made with Springhill Cheese Company’s organic quark, or use them in stuffing for a roast chicken from DaLe Ranch. Use them to top baked yams or sweet potatoes from Proios Family Farm. Whole pomegranates can also be used to make beautiful natural ornaments for your tree!

Enjoy the beauty and flavor of the pomegranate this holiday season.

Get your goat cheese from Nicolau Farm at the Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers’ Market; they’ve recently added some amazing aged cheeses to their offerings! Stanislaus Capream is a semi-soft cheese aged for four weeks and has a texture similar to gouda and a bit of a nutty flavor - pair it with sliced Gala apples and grapes from Smit Orchards.

Stagionato Misto is made from a blend of sheep and goat milk and aged 45 days; try it with roasted almonds from Hopkins AG or melt it over a sandwich of grilled summer squashes from Maciel Farm. Try Nicolau’s raw milk feta in a salad of fresh greens from Gilbert Quintos, grape tomatoes from Kawano Farms and black olives from Lisko Imports. Add squash and try this recipe. 

Pick up swiss chard from J.R. Organics and garlic, red onion and spicy peppers from Proios Family Farm to make this braised green tacos recipe using crumbled goat cheese instead of  the queso fresco. 

Forget about the same old salad and try something new instead from the Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers’ Market. Stop by JR Organics for a bunch of fresh sorrel, a tangy, citrus-y, spicy leaf that might be an herb and might be a green, but is definitely delicious when tossed with roasted beets from Maciel Farm and a little goat cheese from Nicolau Farm. Dress it simply with a drizzle of delicate oil from The California Olive Oil Company and a squeeze of fresh lemon from John Gilruth. Try a beet and goat cheese salad recipe variation here. 

Purslane is a crisp, slightly tart succulent grown by Gilbert Quintos; try it tossed with radishes, cucumber and a drizzle of Bistro Citrus Balsamic from Bistro Blends. Suzie’s Farm arugula has a bright, peppery taste; make an a-list salad by adding apples from Smit Orchards, Asian pears from Gilbert Quintos, and almonds from Hopkins Ag. Toss together something fresh tonight!