Much to my sheer and utter excitement, the 14th & U Farmers Market opened for the season this past Saturday. To say I’ve missed the familiar sights and sounds of this little market would be an understatement. Some of my favorite Chesapeake foodshed farmers sell their amazing fruits, veggies, meats and cheeses at the corner of 14th & U. And I’ve been dying for some of Panorama Bakery’s fresh, sliced multigrain deli bread all Winter long. So on Saturday morning, I was more than eager to grab my shopping bags and head down 14th Street to mingle among my favorite vendors.
We got to the market a bit early because I was anxious to get my hands on the seasons first crop of strawberries from Garner’s Produce. The brief spurt of Summer like weather in the beginning of Spring led to an earlier-than-usual bounty of my favorite berries. As we walked up to Garner’s table, I could smell the fragrant aroma of the berries wafting towards me. I wanted to dive right into the table of red jewels, but decided to show a bit of restraint. Garner’s Produce also had some big, floral bouquets of spinach that instantly inspired an idea for a simple, cool spinach salad (more about that later).
I had resolved to pick up a bag of stinging nettles in an attempt to be more adventurous (yes, I consider trying new produce adventurous) and found some at Mountain View. Rich in iron and calcium, stinging nettles have been touted as a wonder food, especially for women. Unfortunately, the word “stinging” doesn’t really make people jump to cook with this plant. When touched with bare hands, raw stinging nettles have tiny hairs (called trichomes) that turn into needles and can release several chemicals that result in a stinging sensation. These stinging agents are neutralized once they are cooked, even for only a few minutes. So it was with care that The Boy and I picked out two bags of them and placed them in our shopping totes. While chatting with one of the Mountain View vendors, she suggested a recipe for French Nettle Soup. I filed it away along with her recipe for a Nettle-Walnut Pesto Crostini.
Asparagus was at almost every vendor table, much to my delight, as were radishes:
And just when I thought I was going to faint from farmers market happiness, I stumbled upon sunchokes AND the season’s first rhubarb at Kuhn Orchards!
Kuhn also had fragrant and delicate lilac stems and my favorite pink lady apples. I couldn’t resist the lilacs, especially after inhaling their hypnotic scent.
And speaking of plants, there were plenty of herb and vegetable plants for the urban gardener. Still a little gun shy after last Spring’s failed windowsill herb garden, I opted to wait before buying any more plants.
We picked up some eggs from Pecan Meadows, who also had duck and goose eggs for sale. Even though I was tempted by the duck eggs (lately they seem to be on every restaurant menu in DC), I knew I needed chicken eggs for some whole wheat pasta I planned to make.
After I picked up a fresh loaf of Panorama Bakery’s bread (and sniffed and squeezed it lovingly), I ran into Robin Shuster, the market manager. That’s when I learned Keswick Creamery sadly had to bow out of all their Saturday farmers markets. Robin assured me Keswick would be at the Bloomingdale Farmers Markets on Sunday and told me she was looking into finding another cheese vendor. And just when I thought we were done, Robin insisted I pick up some pea shoots to try. Since she’s never steered me wrong, I took her advice and bought a bag of them from Mountain View before heading home. I decided to add the pea shoots to an asparagus and goat cheese pizza idea I had floating around in my head.
Recipe: Asparagus, Pea Shoot & Goat Cheese Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 cup asparagus, diced
- 3/4 cup green onions, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 cup pea shoot leaves
- 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
- 4 ounces mozzarella, sliced
- 1 1/2 tbsps olive oil
- Pizza dough (recipe I used here)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Make the pizza dough per the linked recipe (or use your favorite pizza dough recipe), separating it into two balls. Store one ball in the refrigerator or freezer for later use. Roll out the dough and place it on a large pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal (or covered with parchment paper).
- Place 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a small bowl and add the garlic to it. Set it aside.
- Toss the diced asparagus in a 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil, the salt and the pepper. Set it aside too.
- Using a pastry brush, paint the pizza dough with the garlic olive oil. Sprinkle the green onions evenly over the surface of the dough.
- Place the sliced mozzarella around the dough and then add the goat cheese. Toss the pea shoot leaves on top of the cheeses. Finally, strategically add the asparagus pieces around the pizza.
- Using the pizza peel (or the back of a baking sheet), gently shimmy the pizza and parchment paper onto a baking stone. If you don’t have a baking stone, simply cook the pizza on the back of the baking sheet.
- Bake the pizza for 5 minutes and then turn it halfway. Cook for another 5 minutes or until it reaches your desired crispiness.
Diet type: Vegetarian
Diet (other): Low calorie – 2 slices equal 286 calories!
Number of servings (yield): 4
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
i just wanna go down to dc and steal all your farmers’ market goodies! our outdoor markets open one week from tomorrow, and i still haven’t seen any good stuff in the stores. the asparagus is still from washington, i think? and the berries? you know where those are from – california! i want the local shit, ya know?! so jealous….
Love your post – I feel really giddy about spring at the Dupont Market. I need to get back up to 14th and U on Saturdays too!
Thank you for that lovely write up of our opening day! And what photos! This week we will have new potatoes, shelled English peas, baby summer squash, squash blossoms, kohlrabi, lots of greens and sweet spring lettuce, radishes, strawbs, asparagus, etc.
Come to Bloomingdale and taste the incredible new beer washed cheeses Keswick has created. Come early — they sold out fast last week.
Robin