The Market Report, June 13

By Tyler Nemkov Mon., Jun. 15 2009 at 12:37 PM

Categories: Food for Thought

As the weeks roll on, visiting the Boulder Farmers' Market is beginning to make me feel like the Octomom at a Baby Gap: Overhwhelmed by the options, I start thinking, "I just want it all!"

This past Saturday, I was blown away by the explosion of summer greens (like chard, kale and other braising mixes) coming into season right now. These are possibly the healthiest things in the market, and unbelievably easy to cook. As in: take greens, wash well, put in pot with some garlic or onion, add stock, cook for about 20 minutes...then eat.

I opted for some Red Russian Kale, an interesting, spiny-looking kind of green. And while it didn't make me commie, it did keep a distinct flavor and considerable bite when braised.

The turnips that I'd bought two weeks ago were still good, so the turnips hit the ovens and the greens met their fate with the kale. I flavored them with those crazy curls shown above, known as garlic scapes and cut off the garlic plant to give energy to the bulb. They have this incredible creamy, sweet garlic flavor that makes me smile just to think about it.

But all of this green was just a backdrop for those wild strawberries -- the first of the season. I love strawberries, but supermarket strawberries are not strawberries. They are oversized, bland, impostors. And while these little guys were a bit sour, they had huge flavor compared to those grocery-store strawberries.

And why are there only three in the picture? My brother had gone to a bachelor party, took our shared camera, and didn't return until Sunday. By then, I'd emptied most of the bag of wild strawberries. And seconds after the photo was taken, those last three disappeared, too.