Private: Blog & Recipes Archive

If you’ve been following along, you know I love arugula. Ellen had lots of fresh arugula at market this past weekend and I was able to snag two bags! Ellen suggested making an arugula pesto, which I of course had to try, and the results were *fantastic* to say the least. I usually only eat arugula as a salad (this is my go-to recipe with the red onion and apple!), so this was a nice change.

The most popular kind of pesto, or most commonly heard of, is probably basil pesto. It’s the only kind of pesto I’ve tried making before and love it with some green beans and cherry tomatoes fried up with chicken, BUT there are so many different ways to make pesto! You can use garlic scapes, cilantro, fennel, red pepper, sun dried tomatoes… the list continues!

Keep in mind I’m no chef, but I made my arugula pesto using arugula (of course), pine nuts, parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic cloves, lemon juice and salt. I’ll link an exact recipe here for you, but I did add more garlic and played around with the olive oil a bit until I got my desired consistency.

If you’ve tried making a basil pesto before, the process is very similar. Someone suggested using walnuts instead of pine nuts for this pesto because the walnut flavour blends better with the arugula flavour, so I’ll have to try that next time! But, the results were wonderful.

I haven’t eaten it all yet, but so far have enjoyed some topped on fresh eggs and mixed with some skyr (similar to strained yogurt if you’re not familiar) for a sandwich spread! I’ll definitely be trying it as a pasta sauce, and on pizza this weekend! Elgin Harvest won’t be at market this Saturday, so we’ll have to scrounge up some pizza ingredients and make do ourselves until Cindy is back on June 5th!

Let me know if you try making pesto of any kind, and share your results! It’s an easier process than most people imagine, and if at first you don’t succeed: simply try, try again.

Here’s a few things to keep an eye out for this weekend! There will be plenty more!

Monforte Dairy is BACK! They were a last minute addition to Market last weekend, but will be back again this coming weekend and moving forward. How exciting!

Wandering Bee will be back this weekend with fresh flowers! They had to take a week off last weekend as there weren’t enough flowers ready for market, and we’re so excited to have them back again!

Things are slowly wrapping up with seedlings from some of our vendors. There will of course be plenty at market this weekend! But ask your farmers when the last chance will be to pick some up.

Orchard Hill Farm has romaine and red butterhead lettuce this week, as well as pok choi, endive, baby fennel, and lots of new soups (Asparagus & Herb, Arugula & White Bean, Spring Greens & Pork)! Next week, we might be spotting some zucchini!

The Whole Grain Hearth will have their popular Bacon and Cheddar Loaf available this weekend! This one goes quick.

Helm Baked is featuring their gluten free butter tarts! Flakey pastry filled with buttery brown sugar goodness.

Have you tried Greystead Gardens‘ Dehydrated Garlic and Onion? They’re perfect for quick dishes to add a ton of flavour with minimal effort! (My kind of ingredient!)

Vaka Chocolate is also back at market this weekend with their incredible vegan chocolate!

It’s BBQ season, so make sure to stop by at Carver’s for some bacon and sausage, and Blanbrook for some bison burgers and steaks! And have you tried BBQing fish before? Now’s the time to try!

This is the list, folks! See who you can find at the Farmers’ Market this Saturday, May 29th! Click on their names to find information on pre-orders and to learn more about their farms and businesses!

• Greystead Gardens, fresh produce
• Janssens Farm Fresh Produce, fresh produce
• Orchard Hill Farm, fresh produce
• Sungold Market Garden, fresh produce
• Thames River Melons, fresh produce
• Entangled Roots, seedlings
• Blanbrook Bison Farm, bison products
• Den Besten’s Rainbow Trout Farm, fresh smoked trout products, and fresh eggs
• Carver’s Natural Farm, chicken and pork products
• Lynch Maple Farm, maple syrup and products
• Monforte Dairy, locally produced cheeses
• Morsels, fresh baked goods
• The Whole Grain Hearth, fresh baked goods
• La Houlette de Vie, fresh baked goods
• Helm Baked, gluten free baked goods
• Harvest Moon Trading Co., preserves, granola, mustards, and more
• Pillitteri Estates Winery, VQA Ontario Wines
• London Brewing Co-Operative, organic craft beer
• Wandering Bee Flowers, fresh cut flowers
• Vaka Chocolate, ethically sourced and produced vegan chocolate

Check out their websites for more information about their products and to see what’s in season/currently available!