We chatted this week Aliye Aydin, owner of the organic produce delivery company beachgreens, about organic foods, buying (and growing) locally, and, toward the end of the coversation, about what’s good at the farmers markets right now.

For people who read this and decide to head to one of our local farmers’ markets, what do you recommend?
Peas! Sugar snap, English peas, plus lettuces, green garlic, spring onions, leeks. Also, your basics: broccoli, chard, kale, spinach, blueberries and strawberries―the best strawberries ever! And soon, the farmers promise me, we’ll be into stone fruits, definitely peaches and nectarines. I really like fennel right now, too.

What can you do with fennel?
You can put it in salads, have it raw―shave it! Recently I braised some in olive oil, wine and garlic―you can eat that as a side dish! Also, I am really having fun with drinks. We had a lot of mint, so I made mint syrup. Now my boyfriend puts it in everything!

Aliye’s recipe for poached fennel follows! (Stay tuned for mint syrup tomorrow.) Yum!

“My inspiration for this came from the Chez Panisse Vegetables cookbook.

INGREDIENTS

4 heads fennel

2 lemons, sliced

5 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon fennel seed

1 cup olive oil

½ cup white wine

12 peppercorns

1 orange, sliced

enough water to cover ingredients

DIRECTIONS

“Remove top fronds from fennel and reserve for another use. Cut fennel bulbs into wedges.  Bring everything except fennel to a slow simmer in a large pot. Add fennel and simmer until tender, but still with a slight crunch. (45 minutes to an hour.) If all the fennel doesn’t fit in at once, do it in batches. When finished, remove fennel, and let cool. Let olive oil mixture cool as well. When both are cool, add back together and refrigerate overnight. Spoon the fennel out of the liquid when ready to eat! Strain the liquid, and reserve for another use. (Poaching fish, maybe?)”

Tags: beachgreens, FIXER-SUPPER, recipes