Musings on Current Produce

We're in that time of year before the color splashes of summer heavyweights like tomatoes, peppers, and corn grace the grower's market tables. There are still some of the sturdy cold crops like beets, carrots, cabbage, and chard around.

I find it tough sometimes to mentally switch gears on these veggies; change from thinking of hot and soul-nourishing preparations like stews, braises, and curries to something brighter like salads and slaws. Oooh, but a salad with roasted beets, feta, pecans, grilled sirloin, and vinaigrette sure does make a nice meal this time of year.

We're in the seasonal produce twilight zone. It's Green Time. We still have cooking and salad greens while spring onions, scapes, and green onions vie for attention with herbs like mint and cilantro. Farmers expected to have tomatoes by now but the hot and cold weather of this year's spring - and even the night to day temperature swings - had young crops sending their energy towards surviving, not setting fruit. Green, green, everywhere - how often is that true in New Mexico?



Here's a great green recipe. It uses several spring greenies and a grill.

West Indies Grilled Chicken
Adapted from The Barbecue Bible by Steven Raichlen

8 pieces bone-in chicken
1 bunch spring onions*
* more if you want to throw some on the grill as a side dish, and who wouldn't want to grill up onions like the ones below from Amy O Farms?
1 shallot
4 cloves garlic
1 scotch bonnet pepper, stem and seeds removed
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup dark rum



Roughly chop veggies and place in blender or food processor. Add rum and oil and process until smooth. Rinse chicken and place in a bag or dish suitable for marinating. Add the veggie paste, toss chicken, and marinate, preferably for 12 hours in the refrigerator. Cook chicken on a medium heat grill starting skin side down.