So many colorful choices.

There’s nothing like a ripe tomato grown in the heat of summer. Sure, there are juicy, ripe peaches but tomatoes are uniquely delicious and, with just a little salt, can be eaten like an apple, sliced up for salads or teamed up with some mozzarella, basil and some balsamic. Heaven on a plate.

So I saw this article posted by NPR on gets to the heart of the problem with those hard, tasteless store-bought tomatoes. I can’t say it any better myself so will let the article stand on its own.

Here’s an excerpt … enjoy.

If you bite into a tomato between the months of October and June, chances are that tomato came from Florida. The Sunshine State accounts for one-third of all fresh tomatoes produced in the United States — and virtually all of the tomatoes raised during the fall and winter seasons.

But the tomatoes grown in Florida differ dramatically from the red garden varieties you might grow in your backyard. They’re bred to be perfectly formed — so that they can make their way across the U.S. and onto your dinner table without cracking or breaking.

“For the last 50 or more years, tomato breeders have concentrated essentially on one thing and that is yield — they want plants that yield as many or as much as possible,” writer Barry Estabrook tells Fresh Air’s Terry Gross. “They also want those fruits to be able to stand up to being harvested, packed, artificially turned orange [with ethylene gas] and then shipped away and still be holding together in the supermarket a week or 10 days later.”

Yellows and greens dominate.

Estabrook, a freelance food writer whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times and The Washington Post, looks at the life of today’s mass-produced tomato — and the environmental and human costs of the tomato industry — in his book Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit. The book was based on a James Beard Award-winning article that originally appeared in Gourmet magazine, where Estabrook was a contributing editor before publication ceased in 2009.

Estabrook says the mass-produced tomatoes in today’s supermarkets lack flavor because they were bred for enduring long journeys to the supermarket — and not for taste.

“As one large Florida farmer said, ‘I don’t get paid a single cent for flavor,’ ” says Estabrook. “He said, ‘I get paid for weight. And I don’t know of any supermarket shopper who tastes her tomatoes before she puts them in her shopping cart.’ … It’s not worth commercial plant breeders’ while to breed for taste because their customers — the large farmers — don’t get paid for it.”

As a result, customers have become accustomed to the flavorless tomatoes that dot supermarket shelves, says Estabrook.

“I was speaking to a person in their 30s recently and she said she had never recalled tasting anything other than a supermarket tomato,” he says. “I think that wanting a tomato in the winter of winter — or wanting a little bit of orange on the plate … is inherent in a lot of our shopping decisions. We expect an ingredient to be on the supermarket shelves 365 days a year, whether or whether not it’s in season or tastes any good.”

Rogue lettuce

To be honest, I’ve never been much of a green thumb and now find myself giving advice to other frustrated “brown thumbs” who hold up tomato plants and ask “how do I make this grow?”

When I explain the simple process of planting and watering their new tomato plant I’m met with a blank stare followed by, “Is that it?”

Yep, pretty much.

During the past two springs I’ve watched tomatoes and herbs sprout in the pots on my deck from what looked like tired soil good only for hiding a warm-weather  squirrel nut buffet.

This year I was surprised again when I noticed that I had some green and red lettuce growing out of one of the larger pots — lettuce I had from a small pot last season apparently reseeded itself — rogue lettuce.

Much to my salad-eating happiness, the lettuce quickly grew from a tight, spiral-like bunch into a stalk of beautiful greens. The hotter the weather the bigger the plant.

Lettuce swirl

Regular watering inspired the lettuce to grow branches and literally turn into a bush.

The greatest part about this random, surprise plant — delicious salads picked fresh from the deck on a daily basis. Yum. I hope the lettuce grows long enough so I can pick my own tomatoes for a wonderful summer salad.

The lettuce wasn’t alone in returning from dormancy late in the winter — my oregano, sage and mint (of course) have all returned and are growing fast and furious.

I do love this time of year.

Mary helps a young customer with a Mothers Day project.

My farmer Matt Harsh — head honcho (with wife Mary) at Chesley Vegetable Farms — got his shot at stardom last week when he was one of several farmers invited to attend a town hall meeting with President Obama. Matt asked a question about farm subsidies — even though their farm doesn’t really benefit from federal subsidies. He also got in a plug for the Saturday market in Columbia Heights in D.C. For you late risers — that market is 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Go Matt!

For the record, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Matt this clean.

Rare and popular morels

Smiles. Euphoria. Near bodily and vocal paralysis. Gasps of delight. A reflection of fond childhood memories.

The source … the elusive and delicious morel — created by an unknown combination of rain and sun plus maybe a little lightning and a temporary aligning of planets.

Call me naive — but I was unaware that these hollow, honey-combed fungi found growing in an apple orchard could evoke so much happiness, create lifelong family bonds and yield so many deeply moving memories.

During the first two Saturdays of the Reston Farmers Market my farmer, Chesley Vegetable Farms, sold just enough of the tasty, earthy, meaty mushrooms to drum up a bit of hysteria.

When word got out that we were selling the hard-to-find mushrooms some of our customers charged our stand while others slowly approached, cautiously moving toward the morels as if they were a figment of their imaginations. Some picked up the box as if it would break of they dropped it. Others gently hugged it, transporting them back to a happy time and place.

The reactions were almost surreal.

Delicious and beautiful morels

Nearly everyone had a story about their relationship with morels — grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles and aunts, long-ago neighbors and … sacks and sacks and sacks of delectable morels. It made a mushroom special in ways I couldn’t have imagined.

One woman said she hadn’t had a morel since her grandfather died several years back. Sweet and sad.

A lesson in food love.

Cooking morels

I cut them in half and soaked them in salt water for about 8 hours (could be done overnight to get out the grit and cut down on the acidity). Then I just sauteed with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic. There are many tried and true recipes that call for cream, flour, frying etc. Here’s a website to explore – The Great Morel – but there are plenty more out there, too.

Portobello mushroom

After a hot summer, the weather has been consistently cold for the past couple of months — minus (so far) the massive snow we got in the Washington, D.C. area last year. But it’s winter so what can you do. Dance for snow!

On Saturday morning, I finally hit the Falls Church Farmers Market, one of the several year-round markets in the area and it felt good to wander around and peruse the offerings.

Despite temperatures in the low 20s everyone was in good spirits, and I procured a few good eats. Got some portobello mushrooms, yummy strawberry and greek yogurt from the Blue Ridge Dairy, along with some hot italian sausage from Stachowski sausage and some wonderful homemade pasta — pesto gorgonzola gnocchi, artichoke ravioli and linguini from Cavanna Pasta.

While I miss the fresh veggies, it’s definitely nice to get a few good eats that are made by hard-working local folks.

So now that I’m out of the cave, I’ll get up some regular posts with some good winter recipes. There’s still February ahead.

So many colorful choices.

The Reston Farmers Market is down to its last Saturday until May 2011 — it’s hard to believe how fast six months and many early wake-up calls have flown by.

Overall, we’ve had a great season at Chesley Vegetable Farms. We’re selling apples, tomatoes (no frost yet), all kinds of peppers and, of course, a variety of pumpkins.

I have been cooking a lot and will share a great roasted tomato soup recipe in this post.

First though I just want to say how impressed I am with Matt and Mary, the couple who owns the farm. They put in an endless number of hours — tending their farm and all the issues that go with that from weather to pests, their two cool, young kids (they are 3 and 1), working two markets, taking care of their workers and just everything else it takes to just well, live.

Not sure how they do it and then come to market with a smile on their face. Mary works with me, Tiffany, Perri and Oscar in Reston and Matt (Mary’s hubby) oversees a new market in Columbia Heights in Washington, D.C., that has been a huge hit with a younger crowd in the city.

Every week we have a contest to see who can sell more — Reston has won pretty much every week up until the past two. It’s great that they’ve have another outlet for their wonderful produce and have, along the way, made plenty of new friends downtown.

So during a short spurt of cool weather I made several soups, including this roasted tomato. I’ve never been a fan of tomato soup in a can and this homemade version will change your mind about tomato soup if you’re not a fan already.

A nice cheese sandwich would go nicely, too. I made my own croutons and usually have a small salad on the side.

This soup is vegan/vegetarian and is very easy to make. If you’ve got home-grown tomatoes floating around, give it a shot. Also, if you’ve got other veggies you want to add, feel free.

Roasted Tomato Soup

Serves 4 5 tomatoes cored (if you want) and quartered (use any kind you like)                                                                                                          1 large bell pepper (I used a red pepper but you can use any kind you like) seeded and quartered                                                        3 medium yellow onions, peeled and quartered                                                                                                                                         Some extra-virgin olive oil                                                                                                                                                                                      5 plump cloves of garlic, unpeeled                                                                                                                                                                fine-grain sea salt                                                                                                                                                                                                  2-3 cups light veggie stock or water                                                                                                                                                                 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and position two racks in the middle of the oven. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil and rub them down with olive oil.

Arrange the tomatoes, skin side down on a baking sheet. Coat the onion and pepper (skin side down) and put the garlic on the second baking sheet. I’ve put all of mine on one if they’ll fit. Give all the veggies a light showering of salt, then bake until the tomatoes until they start to collapse and the onions start to brown and caramelize, about 45 minutes. Turn the onions if they get overly dark on the bottom. Check the garlic, once the cloves are golden and oozy, pull them out of the oven.

Peel the garlic , dump all the roasted veggies into a big, high-sided bowl and puree with a hand blender. You also can pour it all into a conventional blender or food processor and work in batches if necessary.  Blend in a cup of stock and keep adding the rest 1/2 cup at a time until the soup is the desired consistency. That part is your choice. It can be nice a bit chunky or if you want a smoother soup, keep on blending.

Add paprika and a bit more salt if needed, adjust to your taste. Personally, I really enjoyed the addition of the paprika.

This recipe is from 101cookbooks.com, a great site for wonderful vegetarian recipes.

Enjoy!

Yummy kale.

My wonderful friends at Wisteria Gardens had some equally delicious greens at Saturday’s farmers market — all pesticide free. Yummers.

So I got a nice mix, including arugula for my daily salads, which include the veggies of the week — mostly several different types of heirloom tomatoes, onions and red peppers.

Then, there it was, that green I’ve heard so much about but, for some unknown reason, have avoided — kale.

Why would I avoid kale you ask? I dunno. Greens just aren’t my thing unless they taste delish in a salad. I grew up in the south with parents who were raised in the north, so I never had a mess ‘o greens put on my plate. A typical green veggie at my family table was usually  broccoli or lima beans.

So this week I decided to add the highly nutritious kale into my regular breakfast smoothie. Throughout the summer and into the fall I start the day with a base of non-fat yogurt and add the fruits of the season. At this point I’m down to a few leftover peaches, fall apples and well, kale.

Kale is an antioxidant and it’s loaded with vitamins such as beta carotene, vitamins K & C and pretty rich in calcium. It gave my smoothie a nice green hue and …  I couldn’t taste it. Yeah, I know but baby steps here. At least I’m getting into my diet.

So I guess now it’s time to expand my use of kale. I’ve heard lasagna with kale is great … Yum.

L.A. Times photo

I saw this story on an L.A. Times blog and think it’s a great example of people helping people. The bonus here is it’s in a healthy way — fresh, organic food.

Virginia Paca’s backyard garden is more than a feast for the eyes. It provides food for friends, for families on the economic edge, for the homeless at a Pasadena food bank.

When Paca, a Pasadena architect and garden designer, bought her Pasadena house two years ago, she decided to take advantage of its sunny backyard by turning it into an organic garden. After a year of experimenting with a few plants, she decided to triple the size.

The first beds to go in were tomatoes, eggplants and peppers. In between all the plants, Paca placed non-hybrid marigolds, which helped to keep pests away. After that came three varieties of squash, artichokes, cucumbers, watermelons, green beans and corn, all grown from organic seeds.

“When I started growing all this food, I knew it would be way more than one person could eat,” Paca says, standing amid a garden bed planted with eight varieties of tomatoes. “I read about people losing their homes and jobs in this economy, and one day, I was walking around the neighborhood, wondering what to do with the produce.”

A few blocks away, near Washington Park, she came across her answer: a building with a sign that said, “Friends in Deed, Food Bank today.”

To read the full story in the L.A. Times, click here.

Right now we’re selling nectarines, white and yellow peaches, tons of tomatoes including romas and heirlooms, zucchini, onions, hot and mild peppers, and melons — red and yellow watermelons and our mini-cantaloupes. We’ve also got some apples including the much-loved honey crisp coming in and surprisingly a few berries.

So I haven’t posted any recipes this summer because I’ve been spending my time slaving over a hot grill — cooking pretty much all of the above. Oh, I forgot our beloved fairytale eggplant as you see pictured. Why a fairytale because it’s a dream to cook. You slice off the top, cut it in half, put on some olive oil, put it on some foil on the grill and put them face down. The greatest part of this eggplant is that you can eat the skin because it’s not bitter. Yum. Double yum.

I’m also growing this eggplant on my deck and it has loved the heat — we’ve had a lot of heat — as the pretty eggplant in the photos demonstrates.

So each night I put together little foil packets of zuke, onion, and red potatoes and cook them up. I bought a tabletop gas grill early in the summer for this exact purposes, cooking veggies up. So far, so good.

The mentality I maintain is “keep it simple .” A grill, sliced veg and olive oil gets you pretty far.

So go pick up some veggies and enjoy!

By Vicki Needham -- Fresh cherries

Cherry season is here and I’m using cherries in a variety of ways, although I have to admit that sorbets and ice creams are the easiest and most fun.

What’s great about working at the farmers market is that folks have so many different ways they use cherries, just eating them right out of the container and spitting the pits at their siblings — by our younger customers, of course.

I do pit the cherries and toss them into smoothies or into plain yogurt and they add great flavor. Keep it simple.

Delish.

So far, I’ve made a cherry sorbet — so easy — and an ice cream, which isn’t difficult either. Ice cream can be as easy or difficult. There are recipes that easily mix up, need to be chilled for a short time and can be put into the ice cream maker. For others, you need eight arms but it’s always worth it.

Here are some recipes to choose from:

Cherry Sorbet

I buy a quart of cherries at the farmers market and pit them. It’s usually around 2 pounds.

I put them in a glass or other nonreactive saucepan, add water to cover, usually about 3/4 cup of sugar and 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice. I tend to use slightly less sugar.

I heat up the mixture until the cherries get soft. Shouldn’t take long, maybe 10-15 minutes.

Turn off the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Put cherries into a blender until smooth and add 1/8 tsp of almond extract.

Chill the mixture thoroughly then put in the ice cream maker.

I have added bits of dark chocolate and I can attest it’s sorbet I didn’t share. Yum.

Batch Family Mountain Cherry Ice Cream

1 1/2 cups of cherries (bing, lapin or sweetheart are great)

1 pint of whipping cream

1 pint half and half

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup of sugar (I was told the recipe wasn’t sweet enough but we put it over brownies and cookies so it was fine. You can add more based on your taste).

1/2 tsp vanilla

Optional

1/2 cup chopped raw almonds

1/2 cup shaved dark chocolate (or to taste)

Whisk whipping cream, half and half, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl until sugar is dissolved. Add cherries and stir. Chill mixture for 30 minutes in the freezer. Pour into ice cream maker. Run until mixture reaches milkshake consistency. Add almonds and chocolate until they’re mixed well into the ice cream.

Basic Cherry Ice Cream (from 101cookbooks.com)

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

1/4 cup honey (light flavored is best)

3/4 pounds cherries

3 TBS cherry liquor or cherry brandy or amaretto

Place cream, milk and honey in a medium saucepan. Stir to dissolve honey. Heat over low to moderate heat, stirring from time to time, until tiny bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Be careful not to boil.

Remove from heat and let cool five minutes. Add the chopped cherries and liquor. Cover and refrigerate until completely cooled.

Stir the mixture again to blend put into ice cream maker.