Smoked Trout & Roasted Beet Salad

This past weekend we took Ryan's grandma out to the Mill City Farmers Market and then to Spoonriver for brunch. It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time leisurely making our way to each destination, stopping to chat with friends along the way.

As much as we wanted to buy just about everything at the market, we reeled it in and bought only enough to get us through meals this week, not wanting anything to go to waste.

Last night we put together a salad that was oh-so-local!

I neglected to take a picture of it last night, but snapped one on my phone today at lunch. We roasted candy striped beets (Loon Organics) along with some small red onions and put them on a bed of spinach (Dehn's Garden) with chevre (Singing Hills Dairy) and smoked trout (Star Prairie). Yum!

Cauliflower, Cauliflower, Cauliflower

Wow, what a fun weekend! I started Saturday morning bright and early to be a guest on the Fresh and Local Show. It's my third year doing the show and I love it more and more every time. It's crazy how fast an hour can pass when you're having fun with hosts like Susan Berkson and Bonnie Dehn.

Me and Bonnie Dehn of Dehn's Garden

They already have the audio posted on their website, broken up into 4 parts. I'm in the 3rd section, but feel free to listen to all segments for fun facts about cauliflower.

Sunday morning was another early one as we drove to the Minneapolis Farmers Market where I was doing a cooking demonstration on cauliflower, the market's featured ingredient this week.

Prepping for Cauliflower & Potato Curry

I demonstrated two dishes: Cauliflower with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette & Cauliflower and Potato Curry. Both recipes will be listed on the farmers market website and I'll put one on Bite of Minnesota (on Tuesday), so click over tomorrow for delicious dinner ideas.

I also showed some uses for spicy pickled cauliflower that, one of which I plan on using at my next dinner club :) 

Be sure to listen to the Fresh and Local Show each Saturday at 8-9am on AM950 and then head over to the Minneapolis Farmers Market for a Market Talk cooking demo at 10:30am (both Saturday and Sunday). There are some great people coming up including my friend and fellow blogger, Bill Roehl of Lazy Lightning and Shaina Olmanson from Food for My Family.

The Food of the Big Island

Ryan and I tend to be very food focused when we go on vacation, plotting out where we need to make reservations and where we can just drop in, highlighting key menu items, and planning our trip around meals.

This Hawaii trip was quite different - we didn't plan anything food related. That's right, no planning at all. We figured we'd just let it all happen and happen it did! Check out the delicious food we ate while on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Jackie Rey's: Kalua pork spring rolls (amazing), tuna poke with taro chips and salad with hummus and basil pesto vinaigrette. My friend just saw Alton Brown there.

Island Lava Java, a coffeehouse using locally produced ingredients. Sipped Kona coffee while overlooking the ocean.

Grilled ono salad at U-Top-It. We went for breakfast, but I was in the mood for lunch.

Ryan's farm vegetable crepe topped with gravy and 2 eggs at U-Top-It.

OUR spot for sushi in Kona. Owner Seiji Mizukami is the best!

All of this plus miso soup for under $10 at Seiji's Brew Garden in Kona.

 

Passionfruit Wheat & Coconut Porter? I'm in!

Awa, made from kava root - a drink to help you relax.
Doesn't taste too great and makes your mouth tingle.

Noshing at Kanaka Kava: Kalua pork, breadfruit, purple sweet potatoes,
poi, tuna poke and seared ahi.