Information and resources for eating only food locally produced in Whatcom County
(See to the right and behind the bowl in the photo.) She said she had seen it used in Asian dishes.
At first I was baffled. The roots were so woody that I couldn’t imagine how to prepare them in a way that would make them easy to chew. Finally I found a suggestion online to pan fry the chopped roots to make them a little crispy, and then grind them up with a mortar and pestle. Continue Reading
Celeriac is currently in season early winter, and I thought it might make an interesting flavor twist if used as a non-traditional ingredient in a traditional dish. I’ve been experimenting with ways to prepare it. Celeriac is also called celery root, which is exactly what it is. It’s whitish, typically about the size of a baseball or softball, and has little flat stems sprouting out of it every so often randomly. It kind of looks like an organic alien spacecraft…or something. Continue Reading
Category : About Food Sources, Bellingham, December, Farmers' Markets, Holidays, Main Dishes, Menu Ideas, November, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegetarian
If you’ve been considering planning a locavore holiday menu this year but thought it might be too hard, I’ve found just the resource for you! Bellingham Farmers Market has made it as easy as can be. Here are two complete local holiday menus, one based on poultry and one vegetarian:
Holiday Menu and Recipes (with turkey or chicken)
Holiday Vegetarian Menu and Recipes Continue Reading
Category : Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegetarian
Tuscan country cuisine is a wonderful style of cooking. The flavors have a special place in my heart, and bring back fond memories of trips to Siena, Italy, and the surrounding hill towns. Our first visit was when I took my daughter there to celebrate her graduation from high school. We fell in love with the beauty of the countryside, the incredible art, the warmth of the people, and the “slow food” approach to meals. Continue Reading
Category : Main Dishes, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegetarian
One of my favorite things to do when I’m cooking is to take a traditional food combination and change it up a little. In this dish, I used beets instead of beef to make a sturdy fall vegetable hash. Continue Reading
Beets and other large root vegetables (potatoes, carrots, etc.) especially lend themselves to being roasted in the oven or on a grill. Once roasted, they can be eaten as is or used in other recipes.
This recipe will produce perfectly roasted beets every time. It also couldn’t be easier. Just wrap the ingredients in foil, put them in the oven, and walk away until they’re done. Continue Reading
Category : Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegetarian
Succotash, a combination of corn and beans, was something I didn’t like much as a child. Probably that was because what we ate was a commercially canned variety with chalky lima beans, mushy carrots, and overcooked corn.
When I started cooking for myself and moved to an area where fresh food was easier to obtain, I quickly found that it was worth revisiting some of those childhood food dislikes. Succotash was a happy rediscovery. Continue Reading
Category : Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegetarian
Cauliflower is one of my favorite vegetables. I like it eaten raw with dips, or simply steamed and sprinkled with a little salt. It combines well with other vegetables as well.
My daughter came home from the store at Boxx Berry Farm recently with two beautiful colors of cauliflower (two different varieties). One was a rich deep purple and the other was “cheddar”–a light orange color similar to the color of cheddar cheese. Together the two were lovely, so I decided to use them together in this dish. Continue Reading
I always enjoy learning to use familiar foods in a new and different way. For years I’ve eaten green beans, but it had never occurred to me to remove the pods and have only the beans inside.
In the fall after most green beans have been harvested, there’s always some left on the vine whose pods have become large and tough. They’re really too tough to eat as usual by steaming them. Continue Reading
My personal favorite pickled food is pickled beet eggs. As a child, when my grandmother opened a jar of her pickled beets, she would remove beets to serve and then fill the jar space with peeled hard boiled eggs. By the next day, when we sliced the eggs open, the colors were gorgeous! The egg whites were deep purple on the outside, shading to white around the bright yellow yolks. Beautiful! The flavor was delightful, too–the tang of pickled beets balanced with the mild taste of hard-boiled eggs. Perfect!
As soon as I spotted the first fresh beets at the Farmers Market this year, I was eager to get them home and into pickling juice as quickly as possible. Because I planned to eat them in the next few days, I used a “refrigerator pickle” recipe. Continue Reading
Category : Recipes, Salads, Side Dishes, Vegetarian
At my local Farmers Market last weekend, Nettles Farm (Lummi Island) had three varieties of beans available–green beans, wax beans, and my favorite Dragon’s Tongue beans. Wax beans are like green beans, but the pod is a pale yellow color. Dragon’s Tongue beans have yellow-green pods with dark maroon patches all over (see a few beside the bowl in the photo on this page). They’re quite lovely! Continue Reading
My daughter’s employer is a farmer at heart, and was able to make time to grow a vegetable garden this year. He recently had more red cabbage than he could use, so passed some along to us. Continue Reading
I always look forward to the first availability of Walla Walla onions in this area. They are wonderfully sweet, large, and delicious!
Walla Walla onions originated in Italy on the Island of Corsica. They were brought to the Walla Walla valley here in Washington state by a French soldier over a hundred years ago. Now they are grown in many other places as well, including Whatcom County. (Read more about Walla Walla onions.) Continue Reading
