Marketwatch: Is it spring yet?

Reading Peter Singer and Jim Mason's The Ethics of What We Eat (review) is making me question my gastro-values and it inspired me to go to the Union Square Greenmarket for the first time in a while (perhaps the first time this year...). Hopefully I will write a post after I finish the book.

I popped by the Greenmarket at 8:30 a.m. Monday morning and it was even more barren than I thought it would be. No fewer than three flower stalls, the pretzel guy, two bakers, Red Jacket Orchards, and a small smattering of produce venders. As I mentioned I didn't expect much, since it is still so early, but I was shocked to find only carrots, potatoes, onions, apples/pears, kale, leeks, and rosemary. I thought there would be some leftover fall squashes, you know, things that don't spoil so quickly.

Before I sunk completely into despair, I purchased a lovely goat cheese and strawberry tart from the Buon Pane. Any readers who were around last summer for the awful strawberry-ricotta frittata episode will remember my theoretical affinity for strawberries where they aren't supposed to be.

The tart, unlike my frittata, was everything I'd hoped for: the bread was fresh and chewy, the strawberries retained their sweetness and texture (ie they hadn't become stewed and bland-jammy), and the goat cheese and rosemary added a delightful nip.

And on a somewhat related note, I just found that The Girl Who Ate Everything approves of Buon Pane. Can't have too much positive reinforcement...

I have to imagine more venders showed up during the day, but I certainly hope things start growing soon. I want spring foods.

(Oh, and I bought some kale and leeks. The kale made its way into a pasta salad [post later?] and the leeks are still in a holding pattern. Perhaps a soup.)

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The photo's from our flickr.com site. Check it out for more of the same.