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The Market:
Union
Square Greenmarket
17th Street and Broadway
New York City / map
Mon., Wed., Fri., and Sat.
8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Market-Goer: Mark
Thompson
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This is the
time of year when summer meets fall in the farmers
market. Summer items -- tomatoes, peppers, beans,
cucumbers -- are still in abundance, but they not for
much longer. The pumpkins are among the harbingers of
that news. |
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Previous reports from
this market:
April
7, 2010
Oct. 23, 2009
July 11, 2009
Nov. 5, 2008
Aug. 9, 2008
Feb. 20, 2008
Dec. 14, 2007
Oct. 5, 2007
Sept. 27, 2006
May 13, 2006 |
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What I Bought:
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red
radishes, black radish, parsley roots
I almost never leave this market without at
least one oddball item that I have
rarely if ever seen before. Among
today's discoveries: parsley roots. Searching back
through Seasonal Chef, I noticed that I have purchased
parsley roots at a farmers market at least once
before, in Santa Monica, Calif., on April
5, 2006, but those wispy roots weren't anything
like these. The sign on
the table where I bought this hefty bunch
says they're good for flavoring soups, stewing or
pureeing. A quick Internet search yielded
another good idea: boil some parsley roots with potatoes and
mash them together to make parsley-inflected mashed
potatoes.
Price: $1 for red radishes
$5/lb. for black radish
$2.50/bunch for parsley root
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Delfino
cilantro This is an unusual variety of
cilantro, with leaves that are fern-like rather than
flat. It should be popular with farmers because,
unlike more conventional varieties of cilantro that
go to seed after just a couple of days of hot
weather, the delfino variety is very slow to bolt,
according to the listing for the variety in the Park
Seed catalog.
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Recipes:
Five ways to
use bunches of cilantro
Price: $1.50/bunch
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Heirloom
tomatoes
There were lots of tomatoes in the market
today, including tables full of spectacular
heirloom specimens, for only
$2 a pound! At least they were spectacular looking
as displayed, bottom up. Flip them over and
you'll see why they're selling at half the price
that heirloom tomatoes typically fetch in this
farmers market.
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They are aesthetically challenged, end of the season tomatoes,
clearly showing signs of the ravages that cool, wet
weather inflicts on tomatoes. No matter. The bad
spots can easily be trimmed away. The red tomato
was as juicy and sweet as a tomato at the peak of
summer. The yellow one, which I think is a
pineapple tomato, one of my favorite varieties,
was tougher skinned and drier than one harvested
at mid-summer, but it still tasted like a real
tomato, and, blemishes and all, was far superior to an
immaculate supermarket tomato.
Price: $2/lb.
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fairytale
eggplants, brussel sprouts
I've never seen tinier eggplants. The
smaller ones, as you can see, are just a bit
bigger than a nickle.
Price: $3/lb. for
eggplant
$3.80/lb. for brussel sprouts
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all-blue
potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes
Price: $3/lb. for
potatoes
$4/lb. for Jerusalem artichokes
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cranberry
beans
Price: $4/lb
sugar
pumpkin
Recipes:
Three pumpkin recipes
How to puree pumpkins
Price: $2
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