This week at the farmers’ market.

by in Breakfast & brunch

One word: Strawberries!!!


The first crop of strawberries showed up this week—not too many, yet, but they’re absolutely delicious. I had a bowl of sliced strawberries with vanilla nonfat Greek yogurt and a sprinkle of Turbinado sugar for a bit of crunch. That plus a slice of 10-grain toast from Blue Oven Bakery with my own homemade butter made The. Perfect. Sunday. Breakfast.

Also available this week: The first turnips and radishes we’ve seen; arugula and Swiss chard; asparagus (which, I’m told, hasn’t been loving the weather we’ve been having). And: sugar snap peas, one of my favorite spring vegetables (see recipe below).

Worth noting if you’re a Cincinnati-area reader of writes4food: The farmers’ market at The Party Source in Bellevue on Saturday mornings. About a half-dozen vendors from Findlay have moved south across the Ohio River, apparently because of rising stall rental fees. I was glad to see some old friends still on the market scene, and we’ll make a point of heading over there some weekends (it’s also open Wednesday afternoons).

wonderful sautéed sugar snap peas

1/2 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed (see Note)
1 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted
juice of 1/2 lemon

Melt the butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add peas; sauté about 5 minutes until beginning to caramelize. Taste one: if it’s sweet and crisp-tender, turn off the heat, squeeze the lemon juice into the pan, add the almonds and salt and pepper. Toss to combine. You don’t want to overcook these babies, lest you wind up with the soggy, wrinkly ick that made you hate this vegetable when you were a kid.

Note: To trim sugar snap peas, take a small paring knife and remove the tip of the stem end, pulling off the stringy edge of the pod. Turn the pea over and do the same with the blossom end. Take the time to remove the strings.

3 thoughts on “This week at the farmers’ market.”

  1. Who was selling strawberries? Most of the local u-pick strawberry patches are saying May 22nd is when they’ll be ready. I’m thinking the cooler, wet weather we’re getting this week will push it back even further. Anyway, I can’t wait for the strawberries!

  2. Hi, Beverly — at Findlay Market, Back Acres Farm had just a couple of pints, and Scott Farms from NKY had quarts. They’re not seeing huge quantity yet — but I think that both farms use row covers or high hoops to get an early start on the berries.

  3. Thanks Bryn! Back Acres comes to our market on Wed, so I’ll ask them about their strawberries!