Go Local With Your Cuisine: Groceries, Restaurants, and Lifestyle

www.buylocalpa.org

I found this website today and wanted to share it because it makes it easy to find fresh, local food in the Lehigh Valley. 

Support the farm-to-table movement, restaurants and retailers that offer food from within 100 miles, and most importantly, your local economy.

Sound like a lot? It's not, this site makes it easy: http://www.buylocalpa.org/lehighvalley 

The site will help you locate retailers, restaurants, farmers' markets, wineries, breweries, and the originators: farms that offer local Lehigh Valley food.

Want to learn more about the farm-to-table movement? 

http://www.farmtotableonline.org/

Question: Why eat food from within 100 miles? 

http://100milediet.org/

Answer: To be a localvore: 

http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/definitions/Localvores-Localtarians

And from FoodRoutes.org, how to accomplish this: 

http://www.FoodRoutes.org/howtobuylocal.jsp

Roasted Lemon-Thyme Potatoes and Sausage with Braised Swiss Chard and Goat Cheese

This was a combination of a few recipes and ingredients that I had on hand including red potatoes and swiss chard from The Bethlehem Farmer's Market that just so happened to turn out mouth-watering together. Love it when that happens.

Prep: Set oven to 425*

Find an oven-proof pan (I used the griddle pan again) and combine the following:

Red potatoes (I had about 10, which made 3-4 servings) diced into little bite-sized pieces, erring on the side of too small 

Sliced sausages (in my recipe, 2 AlFresco Roasted Garlic Chicken sausages) 

3-4 cloves of garlic chopped, but don't mince

Squeeze half of a lemon's juice over potatoes and sausage
Add about a tablespoon of olive oil
Sprinkle with a handful of fresh thyme leaves (no stems) if possible, only about a teaspoon if using the dried spice (the dried spice is generally more potent than fresh)
Salt and pepper
Mix ingredients in the pan and place in the oven until the potatoes are cooked. Turn the heat down to 325*.

Meanwhile, wash and chop swiss chard- trimming the ends and cutting the rest into 2" segments.
Put swiss chard in a bowl with:
1/4 cup of scallions (trim the root end and chop the scallion up to the point where it turns from lime to dark green)
1/4 cup of crumbled or diced goat cheese
Juice from the remaining lemon half
Salt, pepper
A pinch of brown sugar

When the potatoes appear done, pour the contents of the bowl with swiss chard, etc. over the potatoes and sausage and distribute evenly across the top, forming a layer.
Close the oven and cook for another 3-5 minutes until the swiss chard is braised (see picture). At first, it will appear as though it has nearly dried up and on the verge of browning, but fear not, it will still retain good flavor.

Remove the pan from the oven and use a spatula to mix the ingredients. The goat cheese will have melted and will make a nice flavoring over the other components. Enjoy!

Fresh Corn? Try This Southwest Salad.

So this is probably one of the last few weeks that fresh corn is available (like the corn I've been picking up at the Bethlehem Farmers' Market), but if you can find some, this recipe is worth your while. I've been putting together a batch every Sunday to enjoy for lunches throughout the week and it hasn't gotten old yet!

It's based on the Southwest Black Beans and Corn Salad from Mollie Katzen's Still Life with Menu cookbook (one of my mom's favorites of which I have inherited a copy).

• 2 ears of corn
• 1 can of black beans or 2 cups of black beans should you choose to cook them yourself
• 2-3 minced garlic cloves
• 1/2 red onion, minced to about the size of corn kernels
• 1 medium bell pepper, minced to corn kernel size as well
• 1/2 cup of olive oil, or enough for a light coating of the salad components
• 1/2 cup (handful) Cilantro or Parsley or both--Lately I've only been able to get Parsley and have been really enjoying a slightly mellower flavor than cilantro, which is what I typically use from Mom's garden at home
• Dash of cayenne pepper, adjust to your spicy tolerance
• A teaspoon of ground cumin
• Juice of a Lime
• Salt to taste (Sea Salt is both good for you, has better flavor, and requires less)
• Ground Pepper- also to taste

Mix, enjoy. Adjust any of these amounts or proportions to your personal taste, you really can't go wrong. It is excellent by itself or as a contrasting, palette-cleansing side for richer, heavier meat or seafood dishes. Mollie Katzen recommends it in a tortilla, also yummy.
The best news of all: this a recipe which actually improves with time as the flavors exchange and marinate in your fridge.

Weekly Special: Thursdays at the Bethlehem Farmers' Market

Every Thursday in the fall and spring, Lehigh University's Campus Square is turned into a little fair of local farmers, kettle corn vendors, bakers and breadmakers, and even artisans of hand-knit woolen items. This opportunity for purchasing produce, sampling delicious baked goods, and perusing other products is the Bethlehem Farmers' Market and is absolutely a weekly specialty. Vendors set up tents and tables from 12-4 in the afternoon, drawing students and local Bethlehem residents alike.

I began my patronage last year as a senior while living off-campus and cooking for myself almost daily. In my hometown Durham, North Carolina, many families have supported, for many years, a farmers' market which is growing in scope and selection to accommodate the increasing desire for fresh, seasonal, local produce. I was raised to appreciate these Saturday outings, delighting over heirloom tomatoes or peaches that are so ripe they beg to be tasted at the earliest possible opportunity.

Plus, shopping the Farmers' Market supports local farmers, and the local food movement is here to stay. Despite tough economic times, people are still supporting Farmers' Markets, in part because many recognize that it takes a committed clientele to keep such vulnerable business owners afloat. Furthermore, in the face of increasing hype around reducing our carbon footprints, it's just plain "green," which is enough to validate anything these days. (Local produce doesn't travel as far to reach you, reducing the amount of gas used to transport it, reducing carbon emissions.)

People wouldn't pay the prices if it wasn't worth the trip; like produce sections with a face and a story behind every vegetable, human contact and mutual culinary delight abound. As pleased as shoppers are to be purchasing beautiful seasonal produce, farmers are equally proud of, literally, the fruits of their efforts. I have routinely found attendants on the other side of the stand not only willing but thrilled to engage in conversation about their favorite recipes, their own farm, or just local events. Just today, the woman from whom I was buying two apples threw in a third from other type that I had mentioned I was deciding between. Establishing a rapport or loyalty to her particular stand is a likely motivation, but I am more than happy to be on the receiving end.

Farmers' markets are engaging, inspiring, and most importantly, guarantee seasonal quality. As we left the Farmers' Market, a friend asked me about what is in season in the spring and I realized it took some thought to respond. In a world where when one region's produce ends its season and produce from halfway around the world can restock and replace it, we forget that certain foods are meant for a specific season. I'm not complaining about the fact that I can find tomatoes all year round, but I enjoy the Farmers' Market for reminding me what is suited for this particular season. These vegetables were not picked green and ripened in their cross-country trip, they were plucked off their stems because they were ready for your next weekly special.