Start out your Farmers Market season with a recipe that will take you through every week of the year. Toss roasted Spring veggies like asparagus with this before serving, dress those fabulous summer greens for a garlic festival on your tastebuds, use it as a marinade for poultry or beef before roasting or grilling. Going fishing? Try poaching your tender light catch in this savory liquid.

Great Garlic dressing for early greens and spring veggies

6 tablespoons olive oil
10 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons apple cider
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 350°F. Toss oil with garlic in small baking dish. Cover dish tightly with foil. Bake until garlic is golden and tender, about 45 minutes. Cool. Squeeze garlic from skins. Reserve oil.

Transfer roasted garlic to food processor. Add honey, vinegar, cider and mustard and blend well. With processor running, slowly add reserved garlic oil. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.

Garlic is a bulbous plant of the genus allium. There are around 500 members of the allium genus which includes other well known plants such as leeks, shallots and onions. Alliums are in turn part of the Alliaceae family.

When buying garlic, make sure the heads are dry with plenty of paper covering. If you can see green shoots then the garlic is probably too old and/or wasn't dried properly. Garlic that is far too old will crumple under the slightest pressure from the fingers.

Garlic can be used in many ways - raw or cooked, whole, crushed or sliced. Raw garlic is stronger than cooked, minced garlic stronger than sliced. Roasted whole garlic has a totally different taste from crushed raw garlic. Think of surface area of your tongue when considering garlic for flavor in a new recipe. The smaller pieces will cover more surface of your tongue giving a greater impact than using larger pieces. For subtle flavor toss in one whole clove and remove before serving.

For garlic lovers; Hudson Valley Garlic Festival.
A two day festival at Cantine Field in Saugerties, NY.

Of course we suggest visiting the festival after your morning trip to the Kingston Farmers’ Market on Saturday!

White turnips can be treated as a radish and eaten raw for crunch and a mild flavor. This recipe is a good example of texture nuance of white turnip and red radish.

Committee chair Jacki suggests adding more pickle juice for a better texture.

3 pounds yellow skinned potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1⁄2 pound white turnips, peeled and thinly sliced
4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled, yolks and whites separated
1 bunch red radishes, thinly sliced
1⁄2 cup Spacey Tracey sweet pickles, finely chopped (about 8 small pickles)
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
2 tablespoons sweet pickle juice
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1⁄2 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup buttermilk

Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling water until just tender. While potatoes cook make the dressing. Drain the potatoes when tender.

Mash yolks in medium bowl. Add dry mustard, prepared mustard and pickle juice. Add mayonnaise, sour cream and buttermilk and blend until smooth.

Mince egg whites. Add whites, turnips, radishes, pickles, celery and onion to potatoes.

Pour dressing over warm potatoes and toss gently. Season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool.

Photo courtesy of David Oroszi.

TIPS
-Look for radish bunches that have crisp green leaves
-Roots should be hard and solid
-Look for smooth unblemished surfaces
-Avoid soft or spongy radishes

The Kingston Farmers’ Market is the premier place to buy your local greens. After spending the morning choosing just the perfect leafy combination you’ll want to keep your purchase lively until you choose to wilt them!

-5 pounds braising greens (any combination of kale, tatsoi, spinach, mustard or collard greens will do, ask our farmers what’s new and add a new green to your repertoire!)
-1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil
-3 teaspoons cumin seeds
-3 large shallots, sliced
-3/4 cup julienne strips peeled ginger
-1  small dried red chile, broken in half (or for a spicier end result chop the chile into fine pieces)
-1 teaspoon Roasted Garlic dressing (week 1 recipe)
-Salt and pepper

Wash and pat dry the greens, discarding the tough stems and chopping the tender stems and set aside, then roughly chop the leaves.

Heat the oil in a large, wide pot over moderately high heat until it shimmers, and add the cumin seeds. Cook, stirring, until the cumin is fragrant, about 1-1/2 minutes. Add the shallots, ginger, and chile, and cook, stirring, until the shallots are translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the stems of the greens and salt to taste, then cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the greens and cook, tossing occasionally with tongs, until just tender, about 2 minutes. Add dressing during the last few minutes of cooking. If you want the pepper to be subtle you will want to remove and discard the chile before serving. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 6-8

TIPS
-Avoid keeping your greens in the apple bin, apples can turn those bright greens into unsightly brown overnight!
-Refrigerate greens in a crisper
-Rinse, pat dry and roll in a paper towel placed in a Ziploc bag for up to a week

The Kingston Farmers’ Market proudly offers Ground Turkey from Northwind Farms

Richard & Jane Biezynski "Northwind Farm", Tivoli, NY
Free-range poultry, pasture-raised beef and pork.

-1-1/2 pounds ground turkey
-1/2 cup finely crushed tortilla chips (crush in a processor, but better yet give the kids something to do and place the chips in a zip close bag and let them crush away with a mallet)
-2 large Portobello mushrooms, gills scraped, mushroom caps and stems diced
-1 large egg, beaten
-6 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
-1 tablespoon chili powder
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon ground cumin
-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
-1 cup chunky salsa, homemade or store bought
-1/3 cup canned black beans drained and rinsed
-1/3 cup fresh corn kernels
-1 small peach diced

Pre heat barbecue (medium-high heat). Oil grill racks.
Combine turkey, crushed chips, beaten egg, mushrooms, 4 tablespoons cilantro, chili powder, salt, cumin, and pepper in large bowl.
Form 6 patties, each about 3 1/2 inches in diameter.
Mix together salsa, corn, beans and peaches and remaining 2 tablespoons cilantro in small bowl. Set aside. Grill burgers until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Divide among plates. Spoon salsa over burgers and serve.

Makes 6 servings.