FREE ALASKAN BROCCOLI!
Introducing the Great Alaskan Broccoli Challenge! Sponsored by the South Anchorage Farmers’ Market, A&M Farms, VanderWeele Farms, and Rise & Shine Bakery.

You know broccoli’s good for you, and yeah, yeah, you should be eating it by the bushel according to the latest health reports… But does it seem like a bit of a chore? Maybe when you shop at the farmers’ market, you head for the snap peas and carrots, lettuce and tomatoes, instead of those great big bunches of fresh broccoli.

But when was the last time you ate Alaskan broccoli?  And not only ate it, but prepared it in a way that was so good you couldn’t stop eating it?  We think our recipe and our broccoli will change the way you think about broccoli forever!  In fact, we think our Alaskan broccoli is SO good, and our garlic-roasted broccoli recipe is SO fantastic, that we want you to try this recipe ON US.  Yep. FREE. You can have three beautiful heads of sweet, tender, fresh Alaskan broccoli on Saturday, August 30, if you bring your coupon and commit to trying this recipe. Come early—because VanderWeele Farms can only bring so many cases to give away—so this offer is only good while supplies last!

Here’s how you get the coupon and the recipe!
1. If you’re not already signed up for the South Anchorage Farmers’ Market email newsletter, sign up here by Thursday at noon (just type your email into the yellow box).
2. On Thursday afternoon, you’ll receive an email newsletter with the recipe and the broccoli coupon on it!
3. Print out the page with the recipe and the broccoli coupon.
4. Cut the coupon off the recipe, and keep the recipe for yourself.
5. Make plans to get up early on Saturday morning (the market starts at 9am).
6. Bring your coupon to the South Anchorage Farmers’ Market (O’Malley & Old Seward Hwy) on Saturday, August 30.
7. Make a beeline to VanderWeele Farms’ stand.
8. Promise solemnly to make the garlic-roasted broccoli recipe, and get your free broccoli!
9. Then give us your feedback! Did you love it? Did you already love broccoli, but this recipe was a revelation? Do you have a recipe you like even better? Please share it with us!

If you want more great broccoli recipes—or for that matter, fantastic recipes for any vegetable you can find at the farmers’ market, you can find lots of other great recipes here on the website or by buying Alison Arians’ 2008 South Anchorage Farmers’ Market Cookbook (available at the farmers’ market). It’s loaded with all kinds of great ideas and time-saving tips for cooking delicious and healthy meals, loaded with local produce.

website
Guess what!! We’ve made another YouTube video!! It’s about how to make SAUERKRAUT!! It’s a really great way to process the cabbage that’s showing up, so sweet and juicy, at the market these days. It’s Farmer Mark Rempel’s family recipe, and it’s really easy, really fun, and most importantly, really delicious!!

Here’s the crazy thing about our sauerkraut. Mark told us to keep tasting it after we made it, stirring it around every week. When we liked the taste, he told us, probably after five weeks or so, just take it out of the crock and put it into ziplock freezer bags and freeze it for the winter. So we waited our first week to stir it around, and when we stirred it up, it smelled SO good that we tasted it after just one week and loved it!! It was already sour enough for us to love the taste—so we just froze it up after only one week! So make sure you make the sauerkraut to your taste. I’m going to try another batch and see what it tastes like after two weeks!

eat local challenge
The Alaska Division of Agriculture is sponsoring an “Eat Local Challenge” the week of August 24-30th.  Check http://www.alaskagrown.org for further details!
They are trying to get Alaskans buying and eating more local produce during the week! Many restaurants have agreed to participate and feature Alaska Grown products on their menus during the Challenge week! Of course we couldn’t be more pleased to join in!

recipes
I have three great ones this week!  In addition to the sauerkraut, I have a fantastic chard recipe, and a wonderful cauliflower soup, too. They are both really delicious, and couldn’t get any healthier! Please try them out when you get a chance!! Using the sweet, sweet chard and the wonderful, tender, luscious Alaskan cauliflower, you just can’t beat these dishes!

vegetables
Here’s a list of the vegetables I’ve seen at the market—but there are new things arriving all the time! 

arugula | basil | beet greens | beets, red | beets, chiogghia | broccoli | cabbage, green | cabbage, napa | cabbage, red | carrots | cauliflower | chard | cilantro | collards | cress | cucumbers, pickles | cucumbers, slicers | daikon | dill | eggplant | fennel | kale, lacinato | kale, red russian | kohlrabi | lettuce, buttercrunch | lettuce, iceberg | lettuce, red | lettuce, romaine | mustard, mizuna | mustard, red | mustard, tatsoi | onions, green | parsley, italian | peas, sugar snap | peas, shelling | potatoes, butterball | potatoes, new | radishes | rhubarb | salad green mixture | shingiku | sorrel | spinach | squash, blossoms | strawberries | sugar snap peas | tomatoes, cherry | tomatoes, red | tomatoes, yellow | turnip greens | turnips (white, snow apple) | turnips (purple-topped) | zucchini blossoms | zucchini, green | zucchini, yellow

bread
What’s happening for Rise & Shine Bread this week? If you’re in the market for golden maize pan loaves this week, you’re in luck. Full of fresh-ground cornmeal and just a hint of honey… have you found a yummier breakfast toast? Plus it goes great with anything Southwestern or Mexican for dinner or lunch. We’ll also be baking those cute little pecan & raisin loaves, just right for breakfast. Of course we’ll also be baking our standard 100% whole wheat levain pan loaves!

For hearth loaves, we’ll be making lots of the kalamata olive bread—so plan for yummy pasta dishes or salads to eat with those chock-full-of-olives slices!  And we’re going back to the Alaskan onion rye bread. It seems that neither we nor our loyal customers can get enough of that particular flavor—so who am I to argue?  Great with slices of cheese, for savory sandwiches, with soups, salads… Yum.

Mary Jane will also be at the market with all kinds of breads, croissants, palmiers, and macaroons from the French Oven Bakery.

farmers’ market cookbook
The South Anchorage Farmers’ Market Cookbook is filled with 100 pages of delicious, healthy recipes that showcase our flavorful, fresh local Alaskan produce. Recipes provide inspiration for ways to use Alaskan vegetables, fish, fruits, bread, and other products that can be found at our farmers’ markets. The cookbook focuses on vegetable recipes that have fantastic flavor and top-notch nutritional value. And if you’re wondering about how to process our Alaskan produce to freeze for the winter, the book includes instructions!

seafood
Arctic Choice Seafoods will have all kinds of fresh, delicious, Alaskan fish! Here’s a list of what they are likely to have.

fresh king salmon | fresh sablefish | fresh rockfish | fresh halibut | fresh clams | fresh oysters | halibut cheeks | king crab | snow crab | spot shrimp | side stripe shrimp | Dungeness crab | scallops | smoked salmon bellies

Saturday South Anchorage Farmers’ Market
Dates: May 10-October 4
Hours: 9am-2pm
Location: Subway/Cellular One Sports Centre at the corner of Old Seward and O’Malley

Wednesday South Anchorage Farmers’ Market
Dates: July 2- October 1
Hours: 10am-4pm
Location: behind the Dimond Center, in front of the Dimond Center Hotel

Please pass this email along to anyone you think might be interested in receiving the weekly market news—they can email me, Alison Arians, at if they’d like to be added to our newsletter list.

For more information about the market, contact Arthur Keyes, South Anchorage Farmers’ Market Manager, at 907-354-5833, or at .

Please respond to this email if you’d like to be removed from the newsletter list.

Cheers! And see you at the market!
Alison Arians
Farmers’ Market Reporter

RISE & SHINE BAKERY
Long Term Baking Schedule, July 2008
23 August
• pan loaves: 100% whole wheat sourdough levain, golden maize, raisin & toasted pecan
• hearth loaves: kalamata olive, Alaskan onion rye
30 August
• pan loaves: 100% whole wheat sourdough levain, Alaskan barley
• hearth loaves: toasted seed, Alaskan potato & chive, fruited almond
6 September
OFF
13 September
• pan loaves: 100% whole wheat sourdough levain, Alaskan baked potato, raisin & toasted pecan
• hearth loaves: fresh rosemary, Alaskan onion rye
20 September
• pan loaves: 100% whole wheat sourdough levain, golden maize
• hearth loaves: toasted seed, Alaskan cheese & roasted garlic, dark chocolate & cherry

related recipes

swiss chard with cumin, tomatoes, and cilantro
sauerkraut
pureed cauliflower soup with coriander
basic vegetable stock