Market Watch: Uncommon Offerings
Broccoli grown at Blue Moon Farm in Urbana.
With the fear of sounding redundant, I must say that we had a great market again last Saturday. Beautiful weather, great produce and a ton of patrons — the vendors couldn’t have asked for a better day.
This week, visitors to the market can expect to find many of the same vegetables we have seen over the past few weeks as well as raspberries, gooseberries, cherries, blueberries, broccoli, green beans, squash and onions. Make sure to visit all five aisles to really cover what the market has to offer. New vendors are popping up everywhere, and you never know what new treasure is to be found.
Every week the list of available produce gets a little bit longer, and it’s getting to the point that unfortunately I have to choose amongst vegetables. Why not celebrate this weekend’s summer solstice by exploring one of the market’s more uncommon vegetables?
Kohlrabi — A sputnik-shaped green vegetable with a flavor like broccoli and stems enhanced by radishes. Kohlrabi has a variety of uses. Those in the know enjoy kohlrabi raw tossed into salads and slaws, boiled and mashed, and layered in casseroles and gratins. Sweet and crisp, kohlrabi has its die-hard fans and is a favorite across continents and generations.
Garlic Scapes — Garlic scapes are the flower bulb of the garlic bulb. Farmers cut them off the garlic in the spring to encourage the bulbs to grow bigger. Garlic scapes are tender and delicious with a good garlic flavor and aromatic essence. Garlic scapes can be stir-fried, sautéed or grilled and even eaten raw. Tossed into soups, used as a garnish or made into pesto, garlic scapes are a culinary delicacy that appear at the market each spring and last for only a few weeks.
Broccoli Rabe — Also known as rapini, broccoli rabe is a bitter broccoli with leafy greens and a unique taste. Broccoli rabe has six to nine-inch stalks and scattered clusters of tiny broccoli-like buds. Broccoli rabe can be cooked in a variety of ways including frying, steaming and braising, but I like to boil it briefly in water and then sauté it with loads of sliced garlic, red chili flakes and olive oil.
Market on the Square runs every Saturday from 7a.m.-noon, rain or shine, now through Nov. 8. It is located in the parking lot of Urbana Square Mall on the corners of Vine and Illinois streets.
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I think it’s neat that SP has turned rightward, now espousing a Tea Party-style frustration with government regulations & taxes.
This makes me so sad. (Happy to live in Urbana, though!) Crave Truck has been a GREAT addition to the food choices in C-U, and it’d be a travesty to chase them away. This town should be supporting small businesses. I’m glad to hear that they’ll still…
This weekend will mark the first appearance of Kayla Brown’s Fire Doll Candle booth at the Market. Check it: http://www.facebook.com/firedollcandles
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As a teenager too broke to actually buy anything, I indulged in many a free cup of Kopi water.
Excellent additions, LY.
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The Alan Partridge lookalike on the right in the first small photo has nothing to condescend to anyone about. AH HA!
Snell and the little Hitlers of the neighborhood association need to chill out. Legitimate businesses should have the freedom to exist without having to endure the slings and arrows of ignorant and misguided opposition.
represent, Matt.
Yeah, I’d agree that Transporter Room 3 is the worst house venue I’ve ever seen.
Food trucks are the start-up, small businesses of the future for those unable to afford real estate. No surprise, that merchants who pay rent, utilities, and maintenance on a property would despise the traveling competition. Or developers who build more empty retail spaces would want to close…
Not so much far-right Tea Party as a balanced, moderate viewpoint between letting businesses succeed and protecting society with reasonable regulations. In spite of what the city reps are saying, the interpretation of policy on this issue certainly has changed. Letting a business start up under one…
I think it’s neat that SP has turned rightward, now espousing a Tea Party-style frustration with government regulations & taxes.
This makes me so sad. (Happy to live in Urbana, though!) Crave Truck has been a GREAT addition to the food choices in C-U, and it’d be a travesty to chase them away. This town should be supporting small businesses. I’m glad to hear that they’ll still…
*slow. clap.* Still offering no threat of intelligence…. I know I said I thought you should just write this whole column yourself next year, Isaac, but now that you’ve gone and taken a “part deux” run at it, I’d like to modify my request: Best Music 2013,…
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What? Echo! (Echo!) Where’s the dischord and dissent?
This weekend will mark the first appearance of Kayla Brown’s Fire Doll Candle booth at the Market. Check it: http://www.facebook.com/firedollcandles
And without bloodshed. Sounds like the Savoy trustees aren’t as narrow-minded as some of their whiny pants constituents. Do you think quack Snell is already planning an asinine counterattack or is he still laying low after those “threats” against his person?
hey, if hair ain’t gon’ be over your head, my jokes may as well be.
Okay, almost 24 hours later and I finally got Issac’s Summer joke. I’m an idiot.
Excellent. I am glad sometimes American dreams are encouraged, rather than stifled.
Swap the dog for a fire pit and it sounds like you’re writing about my back yard. Very nice.
funny, as your summer begins, another Summer ends.
@Dan - Wow. Unfortunately, I have to refrain from further comment due to a previous employment relationship. But with that brief context you might be able to imagine possible comments or responses I could have.
Oh, by the way, the “Champaign County YMCA” no longer exists. The official name is now the “Stephens Family YMCA” (the website has not been updated, but check out the latest program guide). And no, it’s not just the name of the building. It’s the name of the organization.
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Food trucks are the start-up, small businesses of the future for those unable to afford real estate. No surprise, that merchants who pay rent, utilities, and maintenance on a property would despise the traveling competition. Or developers who build more empty retail spaces would want to close…