southwest vegetables

Recipe of the Week: “SOUTHWESTERN VEGETABLES”

Prep Time: 20 Minutes   Cook Time: 15 Minutes    Serves: 4 to 6

southwest vegetablesIngredients:    

2 tbsp olive oil
2 zucchini, diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 cup of black olives, sliced
1 green onion,chopped
1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp of prepared salsa ground
black pepper to taste
Chili powder, to taste
Ground cumin, to taste
Paprika, to taste
1 ripe avocado, peeled, seeded and diced

Preparation:  

1 – Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tbsp olive oil and heat to  “shimmering”. Add the zucchini and sauté until lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook,stirring for 1 minute.
Add the tomato, black olives and green onion and cook,  stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the cilantro and seasonings and stir to combine, Add the prepared salsa and cook until heated through.
2 – Just before serving, fold in the diced avocado. Transfer to a bowl and serve  warm  

Degustation:

These vegetables are great served with chicken or over quinoa, brown rice or pasta for a  vegetarian entree.
They also make a great omelet stuffer for a Holiday brunch!!  (Add a little cheddar for added flavor)

sweetpotatobeets

“SWEET POTATO BEET SKILLET”

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 45 Minutes

Serves: 4 to 6
sweetpotatobeetsIngredients:    
2 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 large fresh beet, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 thick slice bacon, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 large sweet onion, diced

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Toss the cut sweet potatoes and beets with olive oil and season with  salt and pepper. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake  until vegetables are golden, about 25 to 30 minutes, stirri.ng every 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet over medium-low heat, add the bacon  and render the fat until the bacon is crispy. Add the onions and season with salt,  and continue to cook until the onions start to caramelize and turn golden, about 10 minutes. Add the roasted sweet potatoes and beets to the pan  and stir to combine cooking another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the  seasoning, if necessary and serve immediately.

Degustation:
This is delicious served as is. Fresh sage can be added at the end for added  flavor.  It makes a great accompaniment to pork, poultry and beef dishes.  It is also a great side dish for Thanksgiving.

Non-Profit Calendar


11/01/2012 -> Y Reads

11/08/2012 -> Suncoast Humane Society

11/15/2012 -> Arts Alliance

12/06/2012 -> Care Givers

12/06/2012 -> Care Clinic

12/13/2012 -> Big Brothers Big Sisters

04/18/2013 -> Coastal Wildlife

stdavischeck

EFM Gives back to the Community

stdavischeckThe Englewood Farmers Market was conceived as a project by the community and for the community.

Beginning in October, the Englewood Farmer’s Market and EC4S will donate $500.00 per month for each of the seven months the market is in operation to St. David’s Episcopal Church located here in Englewood . The money is specifically designated to be used for their food pantry program that feeds hundreds of needy families each month. In addition, St. David’s also has a backpack program that provides two backpacks per month for around 60 children. The food is used on weekends by the children.
With the addition of their new Jubilee Center , St. David’s also offers shelter for up to 20 individuals a night when weather conditions turn severe. The entire operation is run by Pat Knox who performs an incredible job at St. David’s, day in and day out. She has compassion for those in need and realizes that especially when there are families involved it is critical that the children have enough food to eat.
A number of the EFM vendors will also donate food products to St. David’s at the end of each market. “It’s a great way to help and give back to our community by partnering with St. David’s Food Pantry” stated Don Musilli, Chair for EC4S. A special presentation to St. David’s Episcopal Church is scheduled at this week’s Englewood Farmer’s Market, 300 block of W. Dearborn St. , on Thursday October 25th at 11:00 AM. For more information please contact Mr. Lee Perron, Market Manager, at 941 548-7843 or @ lee.perron@comcast.net

Our donation to St. David’s Food Pantry is token of our appreciation for your support. Thank you Englewood for supporting and making our market a success.

bromeliads

Growing O new careers at the market

ENGLEWOOD — A former NASA engineer, a single mom, a botanist with a backyard full of bromeliads — all have found new careers and incomes at farmers markets.

Jason Mellica is a new vendor at the Englewood Farmers Market, which started its second season this month at Pioneer Park on Dearborn Street with great expectations and a full house of 52 vendors. A botanist and hybridizer, Mellica makes his own varieties of bromeliads. He has thousands of them growing in his Sarasota backyard. One of the hybrids is named Apollo’s Poetry — a green plant with purple designs. Mellica works at four markets each week and came to Englewood, he said, because: “I wanted to expand out to the south.”

bromeliads
Jason Mellica, a botanist and entrepreneur, sells the bromeliads he grows in his Sarasota backyard at the Englewood Farmers Market Thursday. He makes his own hybrids of plants and says the Englewood market was the right place to expand his business.
SUN PHOTO BY DANA SANCHEZ

Dawn Morris is the owner, producer, caterer, janitor and pickler for C & D Delights of Lakeland. She pickles asparagus, okra, green beans and Brussels sprouts, to name a few. She too wanted to expand into farmers markets beyond the Tampa area and is new this year at the Englewood market. “The reason we’re here is we’ve heard the community really supports this market,” Morris said. “When we hear that a market has a community that supports it, then we check it out. I don’t think it needs to be a big city to be a good market.”

Rod Duncan runs a booth selling puttanesca, marinara and other Mediterranean-inspired food for Joy’s Gourmet, founded by a former NASA engineer who turned his family recipes into a business bottling jars of fresh, drownedin-garlic sauces and spreads. Duncan has booths at four area farmers markets. “I’m a glutton for punishment,” he said. Maria Hallabrin of Overbrook Gardens in Englewood tried the sauce and said it was excellent.

Jon-Claude Stevens drives to Englewood each week from Port St. Lucie — “Yes, ma’am, every week” — to sell his artisan breads and rolls. Farmers markets are his only outlet for sales, and he has employees at 19 different markets around Florida each week. “This is one of my favorites,” he said. “The people are friendly. The location is perfect. Last year, business was very good.”  So what’s it like to work outside all day? “I love it,” Stevens said.

Christine Nordstrom is a single mom who gave up a retail “brickand-mortar” bakery to sell her baked goods at farmers markets. It allows her the freedom to be home when her kids get home from school, she said. “I didn’t see my kids for a year and a half,” she said. “Now I go to (six) different markets while my kids are at school. The weekends they’re with me, they go to the markets with me. They have fun.”

Don Musilli with the Englewood Center for Sustainability helps to organize the weekly markets, which are held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Thursday, except holidays, through April. “This market is run like a business,” Musilli said. “These are 52 entrepreneurs trying to make a living.” He cites, as an example, an executiveturned-lemonadestand-owner who runs a market business with the help of his homeschooled daughters. “There’s a story behind every vendor,” Musilli said.