| Book Highlights California's
Agricultural Bounty
Farmers markets
are a favorite haunt of the journalists and chefs
who write for the San Francisco Chronicle food
section. So it’s not surprising that many of
the 350 recipes in the San Francisco
Chronicle Cookbook (Chronicle Books, San
Francisco, 1997) read like the inventions of
someone who has just returned with bulging
shopping bags from an excursion to a well-stocked
farmers market.
The
recipes in the book, billed as the best of 13,000
published in the paper over the last 10 years,
offer lots of ideas for making use of the more
common types of produce, from artichokes and
asparagus to walnuts and zucchini. Reflecting the
"melting pot" character of California
and its farmers markets, the book also includes
recipes for more exotic fare, including cardoons,
burdock root, long beans, pea shoots and taro.
This recipe, contributed by
Deborah Madison, founder of Greens, San
Francisco’s pioneering vegetarian
restaurant, could well have been inspired by a
visit to a farmers market this time of year.
Warm
Spring Vegetable Salad
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1-1/2
pounds of fava beans,
shelled
1 small red onion, thinly
sliced
3 tbs extra-virgin olive
oil
3 tbs chopped fresh
chervil
8 ounces asparagus,
thinly sliced on the
diagonal
4 ounces (or 4 small)
carrots, peeled, thinly
sliced or julienned
1 pound green peas,
shelled
½ small fennel bulb,
cored, thinly sliced
crosswise
½ tsp salt, plus salt to
taste
pepper to taste
tarragon vinegar to taste
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| 1.
Bring 3 quarts of water to a
boil, put in the shelled fava
beans and cook 1 minute. Take
them out with a slotted spoon
(save the water), rinse briefly
to cool, them remove their outer
skins. Put the peeled beans in a
bowl along with the sliced onion,
olive oil and chervil. Return the
water to a boil. 2. Prepare the rest
of the vegetables and add to the
boiling water, along with ½
teaspoon salt. Check after a
minute to see if the vegetables
are done; cook longer if
necessary.
3. Drain
the vegetables in a colander and
shake off as much water as
possible. Add them to the onions
and beans and gently mix
everything together using a
rubber spatula.
4. Taste
and season with salt, if desired,
and a grinding of pepper.
Gradually add vinegar until it is
as tart as you like. Serve right
away.
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