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Local flavor

Unsure how to cook what you bought at the farmers market? Just ask ...

OXFORD — If you're an organic farm owner like Lucy Goodman, you probably know that garlic scapes are "all the rage on the east and west coasts."

But if you're an average shopper visiting Goodman's stand at the Oxford Farmers Market Uptown, you may not know what to do with garlic scapes—or even what they are.

(They're the flower stalks on a garlic plant that have a "smooth, velvety" taste, Goodman said, and they're in season right now, along with greens, radishes, strawberries and other produce items.)

For cooking help with garlic scapes and some of the market's other fresh, locally-grown products, we asked local vendors for some of their favorite recipes.

Garlic Scapes

from Lucy Goodman, Boulder Belt Eco-Farm, Eaton

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place scapes in roasting pan and cover. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle Kosher salt to taste. Serve as a side dish to any meat or as a vegetarian main dish.

Wilted Lettuce Salad

from Suzie Marcum, Salem Road Farms, Liberty, Ind.

• 2 heads leaf lettuce, washed and sliced into thin ribbons, crosswise

• 1/3 cup chopped green onions

• 3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

• 6 slices bacon

• 4 1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Put lettuce, green onion and boiled eggs into a bowl. Cook bacon until crisp. Drain bacon and pour off all but two tablespoons bacon grease from the skillet. Add vinegar and sugar to skillet and cook over moderate heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Stir in cream, salt and pepper and boil until slightly thickened. Pour hot dressing over salad and toss well. Crumble cooked bacon over top.

Strawberry and Spinach Salad

from Marcella Eberwine, Oxford

Salad:

• 1 bunch fresh spinach, torn in pieces

• 1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced

• 1/2 sweet onion, diced

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup vinegar

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 2 tablespoons water

• 1/2 cup oil

• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• Dash of pepper

Prepare and mix the first three ingredients; set aside. Blend the vinegar, sugar and water; mix well. Add the oil and the last three ingredients. Serve dressing on the side or toss all together.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2028 or e-mail asaunders@coxohio.com.

Oxford Farmers Market Uptown

The market, located at the corner of Church and Main Streets, is open from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturdays until November.

For additional information or to participate as a vendor, call (513) 523-2590 or e-mail oxfordfarmersmarket@yahoo.com.

More Farmers Markets:

The Hamilton Farmer's Market is open from 7 a.m. to noon Saturdays in the courthouse square downtown. Vendors will be selling produce, baked goods, flowers and herbs at the market on Saturday mornings for the remainder of the growing season.

Lebanon

Open through October from noon to 6 p.m. Thursdays, the market is located in a city parking lot at the corner of Main and Sycamore streets in Lebanon. Also for sale at the market: potted day lilies, hand-crafted soap, organic meats, locally produced honey, and homemade soups and pies.