soup

We can’t guarantee that ripe avocados from Gilbert Quintos Farm at the San Diego Public Wednesday Farmer’s Market are actually an aphrodisiac, but they can definitely be part of a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner. Scoop out a couple avocados, blend with a little vegetable stock, lemon and your favorite fresh herbs and serve chilled for a silky smooth soup.

Toss thick slices of avocado with chopped radicchio and lettuce from Maciel Farm and Bistro Blends’ Citrus Balsamic for a luxurious salad, or drizzle avocado puree over a grilled wild Alaskan filet from the Salmon Slinger for a satisfying entree.

Want a new way to serve this classic SoCal fruit? Check out this grilled avocado variation. Try Chef Trey Foshee’s avocado cheesecake for dessert - we used chevre from Nicolau Farms and it turned out fantastic!

You’ll find Swiss chard at Suzie’s Farm, JR Organics and African Sisters’ Farm at the North Park Thursday Farmers’ Market throughout the winter, long after the fickle summer vegetables have left the market.

Pick up potatoes from Proios Family Farm and plenty of fresh parsley for this Mediterranean style, vegan stuffed chard recipe, or grab some Mountain Meadow mushrooms from the Kawano Farms stand for this simple, warm, earthy mushroom-chard soup. You could kick it up a notch by combining chard with organic jack cheese from Springhill Cheese Company in these enchiladas, or visit the Salmon Slinger and try this chard wrapped salmon - you’ll also need a couple oranges from Smit Orchards for that recipe.

Shop green(s) at the market this week - it isn’t that chard!

SOUPER MARKET

Cool fall evenings are a great time for soup from the Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers Market. Visit One Fresh Meal for tasty treats like zesty lentil, parsnip and apple curry, winter squash bisque or autumn minestrone. The soups are loaded with local and organic veggies and made fresh daily, and they also offer house baked peasant bread that’s perfect for dipping.

If you’d rather make your own, pick up potatoes from Proios Family Farm, kale from Gilbert Quintos Farm and sausage from Ochoa Family Chorizo for this classic caldo verde, or grab pumpkins from JR Organics and fresh chestnuts from Smit Orchards for chestnut-pumpkin soup.

Combine happy rich broccoli and cheddar cauliflower from Suzie’s Farm with organic cheddar from Springhill Cheese Company in this recipe, or roast a chicken from Descanso Valley Ranch and make this incredibly flavorful stock from the leftovers.

Have a souper evening!

November usually brings apples and pears, pomegranates and pumpkins to the Little Italy Mercato Farmers’ Market (and you will find those things this week!), but the heat wave a few weeks back means we’ll also see another wave of warm weather crops that are usually gone by this time of year.

JR Organics is still picking heirloom tomatoes; stretch summer out with this cool tomato and basil salad, using olives from Lisko Imports, basil from Schaner Farms and crumbling some chevre from Taste Cheese on top. Or welcome winter with a warm bowl of tomato soup! Belen Bakery country French bread and cheddar from Spring Hill Cheese Company will make a tasty grilled cheese to go with that salad!

Kawano Farms and Proios Family Farm have more eggplants and summer squashes, and we spotted sweet and hot peppers Suzie’s Farms.

Lone Oak Ranch and Smit Orchards are still harvesting peaches and pluots, and cantaloupe and watermelon are especially sweet right now. Enjoy the fall that feels like summer!

Pumpkins and all your other favorite fall squashes are starting to arrive at the Little Italy Mercato’s farm booths. We spotted spaghetti squash at Gilbert Quintos Farm, bought butternut squash from JR Organics, and we ache for acorn squash from Proios Family Farm.

Try stuffing a baked acorn squash with sausage from SonRose Ranch and goat cheese from Nicolau Farm. Make the most of the squashes this season! Get creative with your stuffing ingredients. 

Butternut squash soup never ceases to please- try this easy recipe for the nights that will eventually get chilly! Add a Honeycrisp apple from Smit Orchard to your soup for a sweet touch. 

Pick up adorable miniature pumpkins from Maciel Farm or grab bigger specimens from Suzie’s Farm. Find even more squashes at Sage Mountain Farm and Schaner Family Farm. Roast squash until it’s soft and drizzle with honey from Mikolich Honey or Farmer’s Daughter, sprinkle with spices from Starre’s Spice, or top it with crushed roasted almonds from Hopkins AG.

It’s going to be an awesome autumn!

Pick up fresh broccoli at the North Park Thursday Farmers’ Market from African Sisters’ Farm or Suzie’s Farm and brocc out in the kitchen! Stir-fry it with red bell peppers from Proios Family Farm, onion from JR Organics and almonds from Hopkins Ag, or pick up California cheddar and jack from Springhill Cheese Company for a bowl of broccoli-cheddar soup in a bread bowl from Belen Bakery. 

Dip it in any spicy habanero Bitchin Sauce or hummus from Baba Foods. Toss it with chopped garlic and oil from the California Olive Oil Company, roast in a hot oven and top with parmigiano-reggiano from Taste Cheese.

So versatile, so tasty, so healthy, it’s the brocc star of the vegetable world!

LETTUCE JUST SAY...

Tender red and green leaf, buttery Bibb, crisp romaine, and gorgeous Galactic are just some of the lettuces found at the North Park Farmers’ Market from Gilbert Quintos, JR Organics and Suzie’s Farm. Not just for salads anymore, these garden fresh greens can play multiple roles in your next dinner party. With its deep red wine color, slightly bitter flavor, and generously large leaves, galactic lettuce is perfect for an appetizer of lettuce wraps filled with braised beef from DaLe Ranch.  

Firm and crunchy romaine lettuce can take the heat, so slice a head in half, brush it with olive oil and grill it over hot coals - you’ll love the slightly smoky flavor, and it’s even better if you top it with a crumble of Parmigiano reggiano from Taste Cheese.  Think outside the box and try lettuce soup - it’s different and delicious, and a perfect way to use up any leftover lettuce hanging around the back of your refrigerator.  

If it is salad you're serving, there’s an endless list of toppings available at the market - will you pick up olives from Lisko Imports, dates from Morocco Gold, winter hoop-house tomatoes from Valdivia Farms or apples and almonds from Smit Orchards? Come by the North Park Farmers’ Market on Thursday and lettuce give you some more ideas!

Are you wanting to make fresh, healthy dinners but feel overwhelmed by picking out ingredients and putting it all together?? Really, its not that hard if you visit the farmers' market to take advantage of Chard! JR Organics has beautiful, leavy bunches of red, yellow, and white chard now that is bursting with vitamins, carotenes, chlorophyll, and iron. Not to mention it yields delicous brackish flavors and when cooked the leaves release a sweet aftertaste.

A simple recipe for dinner is to toss some freshmade pasta (Lisko Imports has some delectable handmade fettucines of all flavors) with olive oil, lemon juice, a bit of minced garlic and steamed or sauteed swiss chard. Or try adding a little zest to your breakfast omelets by adding a few stalks of boiled chard. With Autumn really setting in, it's always a welcome idea to cook ahead and make a creamy "beans & greens" soup for take away lunches or easy dinners. Make sure to pick up some cremini mushrooms from Kawano Farms, a bundle of chard, some pecorino cheese from Taste for grating on the top, and some sprouted black eyed peas from Suzie's. Season with olive oil, garlic, and maybe add some thick cut bacon from Da Le Ranch to infuse more flavor into the broth while your soup cooks down. 

Enjoy! It's easy!

FROM RUSSIA, WITH SOUP

Invite your neighbors over, turn on some music, sit outside and settle down with a bowl of hearty, cold Russian beet soup. On a hot summer day, this soup is energizing and light. The red beets from Suzie's Farm, with their sweet flavor that is close to the earth, from which they emerged, make a dazzling duo with JR organics' cucumbers. In a mixing bowl, combine three cups of buttermilk, a peeled & quartered cucumber, 3-4 cooked beets (sliced, with juice), and two chopped green onions with a bit of white vinegar. Stir in a bit of fresh, chopped dill or mint and a dash of salt to taste. Let soup chill for a couple of hours, or overnight, and serve cold, replacing the traditional sour cream garnish with a dollop of fresh goat cheese from Nicolau Farms. A loaf of fresh rye or pumpernickel bread makes this dish a real Russian experience.

SOUPER MERCATO

This Saturday will be cold, at least by San Diego standards, and that has us thinking of some of our favorite soups.  Beets and carrots from Suzie's Farm are the basis of a satisfying bowl of borscht, seasoned with fresh dill.  Swiss chard and kale from JR Organics make a gorgeous green soup that really comes alive when topped with a bit of fresh chevre from Niciolau Farms.  If you've got the time, grab a fresh whole chicken from Descanso Valley or Dale Ranch and spend the afternoon turning it into tortilla soup; finish it with avocado slices from Paradise Valley.  Bouillabaisse, cioppino and moqueca are just a few of the world's famous seafood stews; see Poppa's Fresh Fish or Bristol Bay Salmon if you're ready to invent your own famous fish soup.  Winter squashes from Sage Mountain are a great start to a hearty winter soup; we sprinkle  chopped chipotle flavored almonds from Hopkins Ag on our version for the crunch and the extra kick.  If you need another soup idea this Saturday, come to the info booth; we can point you to the best ingredients in the world.  If you've got a great soup recipe to share that uses farm fresh local produce, please send it to us at info@sdweeklymarkets.com.  Have a souper Saturday!