Farmers' Market Finds

This past weekend, I wandered around the Ferry Building Farmers' Market instead of my usual local one. As you know, I'm not a big fan of the Ferry Building market because it's overwhelming, crowded, a little pricey and sucks me in for hours. This time around I set a time limit and had a general idea of what I wanted to pick up. In and out in 20 minutes.

Here's a sampling of fruits and veggies you'll see this week!

White Guavas (from Washington State) - I just wanted to open my bag and sniff these suckers all day long. AMAZING. I hope they taste as good as they smell!

Mandarins, Cara Caras, Minneolas and Navel Oranges - Yeah, that's a bag full of citrus and I already ate two in one sitting. I thought I'd give the mandarins and minneolas another chance and again, they were too tart for my taste. I prefer the Cara Cara. The end.

Brussels Sprouts - I've never met a brussels sprout I didn't like. I got about 3/4 lb for $4, plus a few extra thrown in from the farmer dude. You know, just for fun. 

Green Garlic - I saw this on my list of things in season, but I had no idea what it was or what to do about it. It was in abundance at the market and luckily there was a very informative vendor on hand to tell me that it can be used as you would use regular garlic, but the flavor will be milder. He had some samples of a green garlic fromage blanc spread over bread. Delish.

I also grabbed a perfectly ripe avocado...though, it was definitely more expensive than at Safeway. Odd.

Stay tuned to see what I do with this week's ingredients!

The Letter M

Today's post is brought to you by the letter M. M for Mandarin Orange.

(source)

I'm really not sure why I'm on this random citrus post kick. I think it's because I've been in the dark for so long about all the different varieties? Eh. Whatevs. I'm into the knowledge sharing. 

From the Wiki page:

Satsuma, a seedless variety, of which there are over 200 cultivars, such as Owari and mikan; the source of most canned mandarins, and popular as a fresh fruit due to its ease of consumption.

I grabbed a couple Satsumas at the farmers' market and these are itty bitty suckers! I snacked on one for breakfast and couldn't even handle how small the segments were! So cute. Flavor, not so cute. Maybe I don't know how to pick mandarins, but mine was super tart. Then again, I've only had canned/jarred mandarins before. These will not be appearing on the blog ever again. The end.

I know some of you are thinking: 'WTF? She traded in running posts for citrus fruits?!'

(source)

Do not fret. I'll update you guys soon on the running front. I've just been too busy trying to cross stuff off my training list! Want to know what I've been up to? Check out the Training tab. I've got two big races coming up in April and May, so keep any eye out for those pre-race rambles and recaps. 

Miss any other topics? Hate my random fruit posts (seriously, they will stop soon)? Want more wine? Crave recipes that use certain ingredients? Tell me what you want to hear about: runbeansrun@gmail.com

Blood Orange

Not a pleasant sounding name for such a gorgeous fruit, is it? Today's citrus adventure (if you haven't figured it out yet): Blood Orange

From the Wiki page:

The blood orange is a variety of orange (Citrus sinensis) with crimson, blood-colored flesh. The fruit is smaller than an average orange; its skin is usually pitted, but can be smooth.

I grabbed a Moro and Sanguinello (moro is pictured above) for cooking and was pretty bummed that I didn't slice into some deep red. 

No matter, it still tasted good enough for my cooking purposes! Blood oranges are great on salads, as vinaigrettes and as desserts (think granitas or I've even seen them in baked goods). I paired mine with shallots, champagne vinegar and tomato for a quick fruity salsa. They also go great with some fresh fennel!

Farmers' Market Success

Rainy Sunday? Not going to keep me from visiting the Fort Mason Farmers' Market! I was worried it wouldn't be open on a wet and gloomy day, but turns out they are open rain or shine! 

I was able to pick up a ton of fruits and veggies for under $20! Here's a snippet of fruits and veggies to be featured later on this week:

Broccoli Rabe/Raipini - We all know this is one of my favorite dark leafy greens and I was so excited to grab a fresh bunch for $1.50. INSANE! These are close to $3 at Whole Foods!

Mixed Salad Greens - HUGE 1lb bag for $5! This will definitely work for lunches this week. 

Fennel and Beets - I've never seen such beautiful bulbs of fennel before...and there were bulbs a plenty! Also, these had fronds that were out of control. It was like I was buying a fennel tree! Smelled amazing. The beets were pretty big and the greens were plentiful too. I don't know if I'll be making use of the beet greens since they looked a little yellow...

Citruscitruscitrus - Just when you thought my citrus postings were over, I picked up a few more Cara Cara Oranges, some Mandarins, and a Sangiunello Blood Orange. I'll probably snack on the cara caras and a mandarin and save the blood orange and a mandarin for cooking purposes. Maybe a salad or salsa is in order??

Cannot wait to work my magic on these goodies! Where do you get your produce? Farmers markets? Produce shops? CSA boxes? Do tell.

Orange madness

It continues. Today's juicy experiment: Minneola Tangelo

I first came across this interestingly shaped citrus fruit while walking through Whole Foods. I thought it might have been a freakishly navelly orange, but no. Totally different. From the Sunkist website (again, because they just have better descriptions than Wikipedia, not because I'm a Sunkist nut)

Tangelos - a cross between a grapefruit and a tangerine. They are noted for their juiciness and mild, sweet flavor. Orlandos and Minneolas are popular Tangelo varieties.

So I picked up a Minneola on my way home from this morning's 9-miler. Super easy to peel, color was somewhere between a navel orange and my new favorite cara cara orange. 

I'm not really into tangerines, so this wasn't my favorite citrus adventure, but I'm absolutely fascinated by the flowery scent this fruit gave off. You know how while you're eating, and immediately after you finish, an orange the fruit and your hands have a very distinct orange smell? Not these. It's like citrus meets jasmine tea. Very interesting...and no, I did not put anything flowery on before eating.

Seasonably tasty makeover

For those of you still reading (thank you!), you may have noticed a couple layout changes over the past couple days. There are more coming, but I thought I'd take some time to fill you in on the bigger changes going down. 

I think one of the reasons why I haven't been posting as much is because I felt like the blog was turning into more of an online journal where I recapped my days and blahblahblah. I wasn't getting excited about writing and blogging was starting to feel like a chore. Not cool.

(source)

At first I considered closing up shop, but then I realized I'd never keep track of my recipes and the blog was a way to keep friends and family back east informed. Then I started thinking about doing a major blog overhaul. That required way too much work and honestly, I don't have the time or patience to deal with that at the moment.

SO, Run Beans, Run is getting a makeover. 

(source)

I'll still write about the usual topics - running, biking, food, food, more food - but I'm hoping to keep the tone a little less 'dear diary-ish' and will work on my flavor descriptions. I'm also hoping to get a little more creative in the kitchen. Instead of making variations of trusty standbys (which I've noticed I do a lot), I'm going to try my best to experiment with different flavor combinations and actually follow recipes once in awhile (eek). 

I do want to bring your attention to one important addition to the blog - please glance at the left sidebar for a quick second. Ready? Ok.

After a deliciously simple dinner with a friend, it occurred to me that I live in a city that is full of fresh fruits and veggies year round. I don't have to rely on grocery stores for my produce; I can head to a farmers market every week for fresh, locally grown produce. WHY AM I NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THIS?? 

(source)

Anyway, I did some Googling and found a few sites that posted month by month lists of in-season produce (in Northern California) and the makeover was born. 

Every month I'll update that little sidebar with a list of fruits and veggies that are in season. My goal is to eat and cook as many of them as possible. Canned and frozen don't count (because we know I love to dump beets, artichokes and corn on my salads year round). I figure this will get me cooking outside my comfort zone, especially when random veggies like nettles pop up on the list.

As you can see, I've already crossed a couple items off my list. As I use these seasonably delicious ingredients, I'll post the recipes so you can enjoy them as well (and I'll try to keep the salads to a minimum)!

I hope you enjoy my little experiment and maybe it'll get you all thinking about making the most of what's in season in your neck of the woods!

Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

I’m usually not a much of a citrus gal, but every few years I find myself going into serious orange craving mode. A few weeks ago I grabbed an orange for my daily fruit intake at the office and was amazed and addicted to the juicy and super sweet pulp. This was no dud. This was a legit orange.

Next thing you know, oranges are the second thing I grab at the grocery store, preceded by bananas of course. Without fail, I keep getting these crazy good oranges. WTF? Is this for real? It is. Apparently it’s orange season and I didn’t even know it.

On Sunday I paid a visit to the Fort Mason Farmers’ Market for the first time in months and holy oranges, Batman! I had no idea there were so many varieties! Since I was in a rush, I didn’t get a chance to sample and savor all the farmers had to offer. Instead, I grabbed a few oranges based on whichever had the most interesting name.

This week’s winner: Cara Cara Navel Orange

(source) 

From the Sunkist website (because they seem like a reliable source of citrus info, being the citrus king and all):

Cara Cara oranges, a type of navel orange grown in California's San Joaquin Valley, are available December through April. The bright orange exterior of cara cara oranges is similar to other navels, but their interior is a distinctive pinkish red, has an exceptionally sweet flavor with a tangy cranberry-like zing, and few to no seeds.

These babies are deceptively pink/red. Had I not peeled it myself, I would have thought I was eating a grapefruit! Of course, the minute you bite into the pulpy morsel you get a very very distinct orange taste. It’s sweet and slightly tart – exactly what I look for in an orange (yes, I believe an orange can be too sweet). The one downside to this winter treat is that it’s a bit tough to peel. I found myself struggling and hoping that I didn’t take a chunk of orange out with the peel. Perhaps it’s best sliced into wedges.