sea salt

PASSION IN A PAN

If you haven't the time or the means to travel all the way to Spain this fall to visit one of many Paella festivals, don't despair: visit the Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers' Market for the fresh ingredients to make a paella yourself.

Paella can be served year round, for any celebration! This is a mouth watering Spanish dish, traditionally cooked in a large, flat pan with two handles. Paella is usually personalized, so feel free to substitute your favorite ingredients for any that are hard to find. With our long growing season and wonderful farmers' markets in San Diego you shouldn't have a problem finding all the freshest ingredients!

Heat olive oil from Thyme of Essence and braise chopped yellow onions from JR Organics and summer tomatoes from your favorite farmer. Strain out the juices and toss the veggies into your paella pan. In another pot, lightly cook your choice of shrimp (visit Miss Sushi at the market this week for all your seafood needs) mussels and other seafood. We like the finger-food action of playing with the shells, but you can remove tails and shells for more refined dining. Save some of the broth for later. Heat up your paella pan, and when it's good and hot, toss in roughly chopped red and green bell peppers (have you tasted the big ones from Produce Stand??), and your rice. Let this cook down in an appropriate amount of broth/water, keeping sure not to burn the rice. Mash garlic, parsley and a few threads of saffron with a little bit of Salt Farms' sea salt. Wet it with a couple spoonfuls of temperate broth, and spill this mixture into your paella pan. Add all the seafood and vegetables and  cook together gently for about 20 minutes. Garnish your beautiful offering with big clusters of thinly sliced lemons and ribboned bell peppers. Ah, passion in a pan.

COOL AS A CUCUMBER

Have you been seeing those sneaky snake-like fruits popping up at the markets? Ta-daa! They're cucumbers! The cucumber, or Cucumis Sativus, is one of the most direct relatives to muskmelons and gourds, and as most people know, there's nothing quite as a cool as a cucumber- cucumber peels can be used to treat skin irritation or sunburns, and the fruit contains nearly 95% water and loads of potassium to keep you hydrated during the summer months.

Here's a refreshing tonic that will bring you back to life, especially if you've enjoying it too much! Sea salt delivers a healthy form of sodium with important trace minerals and elements like magnesium and calcium that replenish your supply of electrolytes. Try using one of the Natural Sea Salt blends from Salt Farm, and while you're at it grab a bunch of fresh mint from Maciel farms or JR Organics. Or, if you're hankering for a little exotic flavor, Paradise Valley Ranch has some tasty limes to twist into your drink.

Cucumber Cooler:
In a blender, mix together until completely pureed:
2 medium sized cucumbers
Juice from 2 limes
5-6 mint leaves
1 pinch of sea salt
1 cup water
2-3 ice cubes

According to Chinese medicine, one should consume pickles during the hottest summer months as a tonic for cooling the stomach and strengthening the kidneys.  But don’t stop at cucumbers, almost any vegetable or fruit can be pickled.  Why not consider pickling chard from JR Organics, leeks from Schaner Farms, beets from Sage Mountain Farms, green beans or okra from Vang Farms and let’s not forget the pickled pepper!

Here is a basic pickling recipe that will get you started: Start with approximately 4 pounds of any vegetables.  Combine 3 cup vinegar, preferably apple cider, but rice, white or red wine are fine too with 3 cup water, 1/4 cup non iodized sea salt!  Check out  Salt Farm or She Sells Sea Salts for more adventurous infused and flavored salts. Cover the vegetables with the vinegar, water and salt mixture, fill sterilized mason jars and refrigerate.  Some vegetables, such as chard and leeks will need to be boiled for 5-10 minutes, before jarring.

Not so much into the whole do-it-yourself thing, then stop by the Happy Pantry booth, where they have an amazing selection of pickled veggies and salads.  However you choose to get your pickling fix, we think pickling is a great way to save your summer vegetables for consumption when you long for the taste of summer!

Ripe avocados will be plentiful at the Pacific Beach Farmers' Market this coming Tuesday, with Paradise Valley Ranch providing the fragile varieties with shorter seasons rarely seen in grocery stores. Peel and slice, then stack with tomatoes from Kawano Farms, crisp lettuce from Suzie’s Farm and bacon from SonRise Ranch for the best version yet of a BL(A)T. Toast a slice of sunflower whole wheat bread from Charlie’s Best and spread with mashed avocado, then add a coarse grind of Smoked Applewood Sea Salt from Salt Farm for a simple breakfast.

Our newest way to love avocados? Grilled! Drizzle a halved avocado with a little good olive oil, place cut side down on the grill for just about a minute, and taste the transformation. Grilled avocados take guacamole to a whole new level, mixed gently with chopped tomatoes, scallions, basil, and squirt of lime juice. Slather it on burgers, tacos or simply with tortilla chips. It would also be a perfect match atop the vegetable tamales from Gourmet Tamales.

ANOTHER DELICIOUS THURSDAY

Whew! Where did that month go? May was a crazy mixed up month of grey mornings and sunshine. It was the beginning of the summer stone fruits and the month of food trucks. We still may not know what the weather has in store from day to day (banish the though of June Gloom), but you can bet every Thursday at the North Park Farmer's Market will be full of delicious bounty.

A salad of JR Organics spicy green mix and cucumbers, avocados from Paradise Valley and thinly sliced flank steak from Da Le Ranch with a creamy dressing using Majestic Garlic's garlic paste is perfect on warm or cool evenings. A side of Cornbread Daddy's jalapeno cheddar cornbread? Oh, yes.

Little fuzzy apricots from R&L Farms perfume the air with their sweetness. Cut them in half, brush them with a little olive oil from Thyme of Essence, a sprinkle of brown sugar and a very small pinch of Salt Farm's espresso infused sea salt and roasted under the broiler for a few minutes. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and finish dessert off right.

Hungry yet?