The Minneapolis Farmers’ Market has started a new “Little Locavore Club” to engage and educate children and families about nutrition and locally grown produce. Every Sunday I will present fun, interactive sessions with games, quizzes, taste tests and hands-on demos, with occasional surprise guests and puppets! You’ll learn nutrition factoids and preparation tips for the many kinds of fresh vegetables available at the Market, from Amaranth to Zucchini. Come see me live at 9.30am, 10.30am, 11.30am every Sunday at the Market Talk & Demo table, in the northwest corner near coffee/soda stand, office and restrooms. For directions and info on Mpls Farmers’ Market, see mplsfarmersmarket.com and MFM on Facebook.
Thumbs up for beet green roll-ups!
SUNDAY JULY 5: SUPER GREENS
The “Little Locavore” program started off yesterday with a focus on green leafy veggies and why they’re called “super food”. After the debut of the Little Locavore theme song, some charming volunteers helped me act out how Aunty Oxidant protects a vitamin-challenged person from the Free Radicals (boo, hiss!).
Then the kids made “inside-out roll-ups” with fresh leaf lettuce, beet greens, young mustard greens and napa cabbage. and blended up creamy low-fat herb dressing with fresh dill and parsley to go with the greens.
What did they think? “Yummy,” exclaimed Marie. “It’s really good,” said Delaney. “Eee-mmphh-oot”, said Cole, with his mouth full of beet leaf roll-up. Brian thought the white stalk part of napa cabbage was sweet and mild and but also liked the baby mustard leaf one. Of course, dipping veggies in a creamy dressing makes it much more tasty and fun.
Beet greens taste much like spinach but are less astringent — ie, more kid-friendly in its raw, super-nutritious form. Napa cabbage stalk is like sweet, less fibrous celery. I put it and the green leaf in many chopped salads. Young mustard greens are fantastic right now — mild and tender, with a little peppery finish. If you’ve never tried these, run out to the Market RIGHT NOW. They will only grow larger and more spicy each week, at which point you cook them instead of enjoying fresh leaves.
Inside-out Roll-ups are easy & fun snacks to make at home. Use fresh, washed green leaves as the wrapper for strips of bread, cukes, zucchini, cheese, meats, hummus etc. You end up eating more veggies than you might otherwise.
My Creamy Low-fat Herb Dressing (see recipe) was unanimously approved by our young volunteers and audience members. Use any green herb you find in the garden or market such as chives, dill, tarragon, basil, chervil, thyme, etc (except rosemary, too woody). Kids have a lot of fun snipping the herbs with scissors and manning the blender.
THANK YOU!! to our wonderful Little Locavores Eleanor, Brian, Marie, Monica, Delaney and her brothers Zach and Cole, as well as big locavores Cheryl, Sue and Susan.
Find me and the Little Locavores every Sunday at 9.30am, 10.30am, 11.30am at the Mpls Farmers’ Market cafe /Demo and Info Booth area, off north Lyndale Ave, on the northwest corner. That’s next to the coffee/soda stand , near office & restrooms and past the Roast Corn stand.
One Dish At A Time 