North Park Farmers Market: They’re Back … in North Park

After an absence of close to a year and a half, North Park's neighborhood farmers market is back. Reopened last Thursday afternoon on the south side of the CVS Pharmacy parking lot at Herman St. and North Park Way, the market has 37 vendors, many of whom are familiar to regular area farmers market shoppers.

So, who will you find along the aisles? Baba Foods and their spread of pitas, hummus, roasted veggies and tabouli. The ubiquitous Kettle Corn, of course. Hillcrest’s Bread & Cie. And Belen Artisan Bakers with Louise of Impeccable Taste, whom I met at the La Jolla Open Aire Market. She came prepared to sell her jams, pickles and mustards, along with the Escondido baker’s breads. World Famous Smoked Fish was there, with bags of fresh sea bass, salmon, albacore, mahi mahi and ahi, along with smoked yellowtail, ahi, salmon and albacore and dips they make from the tuna and salmon. And, some familiar farmers were there—both Smit Orchards, with their delicious plumcots and organic blueberries, and Rodriguez Farms, with its wide array of unusual produce.

So, what was Rodriguez Farms offering in North Park? Magnificent greens, which this time included purslane, called verdolaga in Mexico. Often considered a nuisance weed, this succulent is actually one of the most nutritious you’ll find, with more beta-carotene and Omega-3 fatty acids than spinach. Traditionally, it’s been used as a remedy for arthritis, but it may even lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

More to the point, of course, it’s very tasty. In Mexico, it’s eaten in omelets, sauteed as a side dish, rolled in tortillas or dropped into soups or stews. My friends Paula and Armando eat it all the time, prepared like spinach (steamed a few minutes with a little water, then drained and seasoned with a lot of lemon, salt and pepper). She says it's better a little al dente than too soft. You can also pull the leaves from its thick stems and eat it raw in a salad. Joe Rodriguez, owner of the farm, was at the market on Thursday and he suggested sautéing it with onion, garlic and tomatoes as a side dish or cooking it with pork. It also pairs well with cucumbers and is a great addition to a traditional Middle Eastern fattoush salad, which would include large cut up pieces of cucumber, tomato and onion, mint, along with parsley and stale pita and tossed with olive oil.

Rodriguez Farms also had some beautiful bunches of mizuna, a mild feathery green typically found in Japanese markets, but also a regular component of mesclun salad mixes. I bought a both a bunch baby bok choy and mizuna, which I’ll stir fry together with shitake mushrooms and shrimp.

I discovered some fun new vendors, new to me at least. If you have a hankering for jerky—from beef and turkey to ostrich, venison, salmon and even rattlesnake—head over to Lee Harris and his House of Jerky. If the products are unconventional, the flavorings will be familiar—natural, black pepper, teriyaki, habanero chile and cayenne and garlic.

I saw and tasted even more wonderful produce. Creekside Tropicals sells oranges, grapefruit, apples and lemon, but the most spectacular of their offerings are the mammoth Reed avocados, easily the size of a hefty grapefruit.

At the R&L Farms stand, I discovered the most astounding summer fruits I have tasted in a long while. Customers were thronging at this stall for gorgeous huge peaches and nectarines, both regular and white, as well as Santa Rosa plums and plumcots that while firm to the touch were almost pulsating with sweet juiciness. The flavors were so rich they tasted like they had been injected with liqueurs. I took home some of each and all were just as wonderful once I got them into my kitchen. They’ve made breakfast a treat.

Bakehouse Foods is full of nuts—great nuts. The charismatic Patrick offered me samples of fire-roasted Valencia peanuts, which were even better than traditional ballpark peanuts and far less salty. They have a terrific flavorful crunch to them.

If you’re a fan of glazed nuts, try the orange glazed pecans tossed in a green salad, on ice cream or with crunchy wheatberries (cook wheatberries like you would rice, only simmer them longer, say, for about an hour, drain and add sautéed onions and garlic, olive oil, a little balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper). They also carry three-ounce bags of glazed walnuts and almonds.

I saw the folks at Gourmet European Pastries and Lisko Imports at the OB Farmers Market but didn’t have a chance to take a good look. If you are planning on entertaining and want to impress your guests with some amazing desserts, check out their offerings. They have slices of baklava and little lemon bars, along with individual flourless chocolate cakes filled with chocolate ganache, upside down pineapple cake, apple streusel, pecan pies with a chocolate crust, Tahitian vanilla crème brulee and dreamy Belgian chocolate and white chocolate covered apples.

Sharing the space alongside the pastries is Lisko Imports—all part of the same company, I believe. I tried their rich roasted eggplant with feta mixture and their delicious sundried tomatoes, marinated in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. They sell several varieties of olives: garlic-stuffed greens, black rounds, kalamatas brined in red wine vinegar, green olives and yummy wrinkled olives layered in Mediterranean sea salt, which are actually very mild and not at all salty.

Also try their cheese. They offer a hearty Bulgarian feta and lighter Greek feta, a semi-soft manouri from Greece—wonderful topped with honey and walnuts—and the firmer, tangy Kashkaval cheese. This is a hard yellow table cheese from Bulgaria, often called “the cheddar of the Balkans.” Use it in a salad or shred it on pasta or pizza.

You can also satisfy your appetite with gourmet tamales of a variety of flavors. The owners brag that these are made without lard. I tried a sample of the sweet corn with poblano and cheese and found it light and, well, sweet. There are tamales for vegetarians and vegans, but also more traditional fare like shredded beef, pork loin and chicken, as well as dessert tamales like pineapple, coconut and raisin; orange mango and pumpkin spice. They freeze well, so are worth stocking up on.

Next to the tamales was a stall with empanadas (an Argentinean stuffed pastry) and chimicurri (a wonderful condiment made of parsley, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, oregano and paprika). These folks can be found online. At the market, they sell chicken, beef, corn, spinach and mushroom empanadas as well as choripan, an Argentinean-style sausage.

And, of course, you’ll find several stalls of magnificent flowers, a massage booth, jewelry, plants, clothes and some unusual garden mobiles.

The market is open every Thursday from 3 p.m. to sunset in spring and summer, and from 2 p.m. to dark in autumn and winter.

The North Park Farmers Market is located at the CVS Pharmacy parking lot off of University and 32^nd St.

Have some thoughts about the North Park Farmers Market or other farmers markets in San Diego? Do you have a favorite neighborhood market or shop that carries unique or unusual foodstuff? Let me know or add to the conversation by clicking on comments below:

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New Farmers Market Comes to Tierrasanta in Late August

Welcome, welcome news for those of us who live in Tierrasanta.

Beginning August 23, the community will have its own weekly certified farmers market. The De Portola Middle School Foundation is partnering with De Portola to host the market, which will be held every Thursday afternoon from 3 to 7 p.m. in the front school parking lot.

The market will feature fresh produce, flowers, fish and seafood, as well as food vendors and crafts. Half of the proceeds from sales will go to the Foundation to benefit students at De Portola.

It's been a long time coming...

Ocean Beach Farmers Market: The Sixties Live in OB

Who says the 60s are over? Every Wednesday afternoon on Newport Ave. in Ocean Beach, beginning at 4 p.m., you would think Jerry Garcia, Ken Kesey and even his psychedelically painted Magic Bus had never left our collective consciousness. Flower power, along with organic veggies, still live at the OB Farmers Market.

Of course, between the street musicians, the arts and crafts and the llama rides for the kids, it almost seems that the food is beside the point. But, it’s not. In this one little block between Cable and Bacon, you can find all sorts of farm fresh organic produce, flowers and prepared foods. The only caveat? Parking is a bear.

Which is why my planned leisurely afternoon outing turned into a frenzy of note taking, photo shooting, food tasting and finally purchasing—all to be wrapped up before 6:30 when I was due at my friend Marti’s house a few blocks away for our book club’s monthly meeting. I had promised to bring appetizers from the farmers market but at 6:45 was still frantically racing around trying to pick up some unique goodies from various vendors. All because I couldn’t find a parking spot.

But, don’t let this detour you. The OB Farmers Market is a hoot—the people watching and dog watching have high entertainment value, along with the street musicians. And the vendors offer some remarkably wonderful stuff.

One of the first stops I made was at the Smit Orchards stall. Among the apricots and peaches, strawberries and rainier cherries were a pile of utterly gorgeous, sweet and juicy plumcots. After sampling a couple of pieces I gathered about a dozen in a bag to enjoy at home. They’re the color of apricots but with the texture of plums and a flavor that merges the two. They alone are worth the parking hassles.

As I continued along in the June gloom, buckets of brilliantly colored flowers perked up the street. Yellows verged into orange and just approached red in the many varieties of sunflowers. Yellow and blue iris competed for attention with tuberoses. Lilies, whether pink or yellow or white, put out an intoxicating scent. The customers were drawn like bees and so were the many dogs accompanying them.

Just a few yards down was the Milagro farm stall, red tables overflowing with braids of heirloom garlic, and enormous heirloom red onions and beets. They were tempting but I didn’t need a braid of garlic and don’t love beets, so I picked up a couple of heads of the garlic and a promising looking sweet red onion before moving on.

Well, I tried to move on, but was fixated by the mini parade of llamas passing by. The little kids, one with a long blond shaggy Mohawk, one with a close shaved scalp and a pretty-in-pink girl were happily perched on these docile creatures as they passed by The Electric Chair hair salon and Apogee body piercing. Only in OB.

Back to the food. Among the “regular” offerings of produce at one stall were Japanese tomatoes, touted as being low acid. I bought a few and have found them to be fully ripe, juicy and sweet. Then, there’s Jackie’s Jams, sold not by Jackie but by Robert, who would love for you to stop and taste flavors ranging from peach ambrosia and mango raspberry to zippy jalapeño and plum. Robert scooped a spoonful for me of tomato and I could imagine placing a small dollop of it on slices of toasted sour dough rounds topped with a very soft brie.

Near Jackie’s Jams was the very tempting Dr. Chocolat, with their pastries and candies. Six-inch chocolate surf boards perched next to slices of carrot cake, éclairs, fruit tarts and peanut brittle. The butternut brickle they were handing out as samples were that perfect crunchy candy combination of sweet and salty.

The ubiquitous CJ’s mini and regular pies were there also as was another bakery stall, Johann’s Austrian Bakery, with its challah, olive bread, and gorgeous nutty multigrain bread.

I had to move on, but stopped in front of Richie’s Roasted Products. For those uninterested in roasting chiles themselves, you can get all sorts of roasted peppers here, from jalapeños and serranos to anaheims, red bells and pasillas. The company also sells homemade dips. I picked up the spinach, artichoke, pasilla chile and parmesan dip—the mild version—for my book club meeting. My friends enjoyed it but said it could use some salt.

Next to them was La Salsa Chilena, run by Chilean native Silvia Almonacid and her daughter Patricia. They sell homemade tortillas and chips, salsa roja, chipotle salsa and a smooth guacamole. I bought a pound bag of the chips and am still enjoying them. You can also find their products in Albertson’s and Ralphs.

In the spirit of multiculturalism, I moved on to Baba Foods, with their many flavors of hummus and pita chips, their Mediterranean salads and baklava, their falafel and, what I ended up buying, their very tasty taboulie.

I couldn’t get near the Gourmet Tamales stand, with its crowd of customers hovering to pick up some of their 20 varieties. I’ll have to go back and try the pork loin with roasted green chiles and the tinga (spicy chicken with chipotle). If those don’t appeal, there’s the vegan spicy black bean, the sweet corn and scallion and garbanzos, green beans and red sauce. Vegetarians might enjoy the feta cheese, corn and jalapeño or the spinach, feta cheese and tomatillo. Of course, they have dessert tamales, too—pineapple, coconut and raisin; strawberry apple; orange mango and pumpkin spice.

In search of more good produce, I found myself in front of a group of tables with magnificent Blue Lake and wax beans. I bought about a pound of the wax beans which I intend to cook briefly and toss with honey, lemon zest and garlic oil. I also bought a couple of round zucchinis and some fabulously ugly heirloom tomatoes that are as full of robust tomato flavor as they are homely.

There was also a display of sumptuous looking baby zucchinis with squash blossoms. I was so tempted to buy some, but decided to wait for another time.

Nearby was more produce, the most remarkable being the enormous, bowling pin zucchinis.

My final stop was Peggy’s Pasta. Her breads and pastas proved irresistible and I succumbed to a small round of sour dough, a couple of white cheddar cheese-topped rolls, a loaf of multigrain and a couple of packages of pasta—thick and chewy basil pappardelle, true comfort food with olive oil and grated parmesan, and a wonderful plain fettucine that cooks up beautifully.

Marti told me to keep an eye out for the vendor who sells Key Lime Avocado Oil. In my frenzy to see and taste as much as possible before making my book club meeting, it completely slipped my mind. But, when I got to her house, she promptly remedied that. Her husband and daughter were on their way to the market so he promised to pick up a bottle for me. It turns out that Peggy’s Pasta sells the oil… I had completely missed it.

Anyway, what to do with Key Lime Avocado Oil? The company that produces it, Pacific Culinaria, suggests grilling shrimp, scallops and fresh Maui onions, splashed with the oil. It’s also good for sautéing because it has a high smoke point.

I tried it on the shrimp, which I enjoyed with Peggy’s unadorned fettucini, chopped heirloom tomatoes, slices of heirloom red onion, a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts and a vinaigrette I came up with:

Key Lime Avocado Oil Vinaigrette

1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbl. Key Lime Avocado Oil Vinaigrette
2/3 c. Tiburtini Aceto di Vino Bianco, a sweet, unfiltered white wine vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 large clove of garlic, minced (I used a clove from the heirloom garlic I bought)
1 tsp. granulated sugar
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Those couple of tablespoons were just enough to produce a rich, sweet citrus flavor that was also wonderful with the romaine salad I had for lunch earlier in the day. In the salad I added one of the sweet, low-acid Japanese tomatoes, which perfectly complemented the citrus tones of the dressing.

Long live hippyland in OB. As Ken Kesey said, “You’re either on the bus or off the bus.”

The Ocean Beach Farmers Market is located on Newport Ave. between Bacon and Cable streets.

Have some thoughts about the Ocean Beach Farmers Market or other farmers markets in San Diego? Do you have a favorite neighborhood market or shop that carries unique or unusual foodstuff? Let me know or add to the conversation by clicking on comments below: