Shelby's Peachy Pork

Shelby McKenzie (Shelly Mac Farm) has shared one of her favorite recipes this week: Peachy Pork. This can be done quite "locally," using Shelly Mac's peach jam and farmers' market pork. The recipe also calls for salsa. When tomatoes are back in season, try making your own! There are many delicious ways to serve this dish - over a bed of greens, wrapped in a tortilla, over rice or on it's own.

Peachy Pork

• 1 pound boneless lean pork, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 8 ounces of chunky-style salsa
• ⅓ cup peach jam

Coat pork cubes with taco seasoning. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add pork and cook to brown, stirring occasionally. Add salsa and jam to pan, lower heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Serves four.

Trash Talking

Written by Juliann Zoetmulder, President WWFM

I rolled out our big, green garbage bin today and something felt different. The bin was much lighter. I opened the lid and noticed that my garbage for the week filled up less than half of the bin. We’re still a family of 5 and we weren’t on vacation so what could be going on? I asked my husband, Eric, and he told me it’s been like that for a few months now and traced it back to some changes we made to our household that center around food.

We decided last May to make a commitment to eat less processed food and less sugar for a variety of reasons. I was not feeling energetic despite my commitment to exercise and after reading several books on the subject, I decided it couldn’t hurt to try to change my diet to see if it helped. I also found that it was so easy to pick a box or a can off the shelf or a Trader Joes meal and tell myself that my kids were eating healthfully. I just didn’t have the time and that’s what everyone else was doing, right? Forever a rebel, I decided to take the plunge to commit to cooking more things from scratch and buying less pre-packaged and pre-made food.

The change has taken some getting used to but I will never go back. I’ve been cooking a lot and cleaning and shopping and working, but we continue to be awed at the results. One such result is less garbage. It never really occurred to me before how much garbage we were producing eating that way. The average American produces 4.4 lbs of garbage a day or 29 lbs per week and 1,600 lbs a year. I hope to bring that number down for our household. Gone are the countless packages of food that seemed to fill my bin to the brim almost daily. Gone are the food scraps that now go to my composter and then to my garden.

My entire family’s energy level has improved tremendously, my husband and I have lost weight without counting calories, and my children are sitting at the dinner table eating what I fixed for the family. They still won’t eat Brussel sprouts, but my rule is you have to try something 14 times to decide if you like it or not. To that, my four year old just gives me a thumbs up or thumbs down. I say, “OK, thanks for trying.”

So what’s the harm in trying? Less processed food and more real food might be a great resolution for your new year.

2011 Season Vendor Application Online!

The 2011 vendor application is now available online. The application deadline is February 14th.
Learn more about becoming a Vendor.

Farmers' Market Red Lentil Curry

The past several weeks of heavy holiday eating left me craving something lighter this week. Feeling frugal and also seeking a way to use my leftover Coon Rock Farm smoked ham from Christmas, I turned to my pantry and fridge to see what could be transformed into a respectable meal.

I had a cup of red lentils purchased in the bulk section of Whole Foods. Some onion and garlic. Several sweet potatoes and fingerlings from the farmers’ market. A bunch of cilantro from Redbud Farm, a little plain yogurt and of course, the ham. The base of red lentils inspired thoughts of savory stew. Bingo! I still had a tablespoon of curry powder from Whole Foods bulk spices. This curry dish turned out surprisingly delicious and was quick, easy and inexpensive to make. Serve with rice and enjoy a perfect post-holiday recovery dish.

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 T butter or olive oil
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 cups chopped potatoes or sweet potatoes
• 1 cup red lentils, rinsed
• 5 cups water or stock
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1-2 T curry powder (to taste)
• 1-2 cups cooked ham, pork, chicken or shrimp
• 1 ½ cups plain yogurt
• salt & pepper
• cilantro for garnish

Method

In a large pot, sauté onion and garlic in oil or butter until tender. Add potatoes, red lentils, water, curry powder and soy sauce (will need less soy sauce if using stock instead of water). Simmer for about 25 minutes until lentils and potatoes are tender. Add meat and simmer for another 10 minutes. Stir-in the plain yogurt and season with salt, pepper and more curry if desired. Serve as a stew or over rice and garnish with cilantro.

makes 4 servings