Rough Draft Atlanta is partnering with Community Farmers Markets to let you know what’s in season at your local market. Each week, we’ll share a list of ingredients that are farm fresh as well as a couple of recipes including those products that you can try at home. 

Here’s what we’ve got for you this week: It’s spring launch week! Starting this weekend, find more farms and vendors than ever before at your local farmers market. You’ll find strawberries, peas, kale, collards, lettuces, cabbage, carrots, spring onions, garlic chives, fennel, bok choy, microgreens, radishes, spicy mustard greens, mushrooms, herbs, bread, pastries, eggs, meat, pecans, honey, edible flowers, and various flower bouquets.

Atlanta non-profit Community Farmers Markets (CFM) has been building community through farmers markets since 2011. Operating five weekly outdoor farmers markets and seven farm stands at MARTA stations is one of the strategies by which the organization addresses food access in Atlanta. CFM also offers educational programming in the community, financial incentives to make local food more affordable, and professional development for small businesses. See you at the farmers markets!

Here’s a list of recipes including these delicious ingredients that you can try at home.

Spring Rolls with Strawberry Ginger Compote.

Spring Rolls with Strawberry Ginger Compote Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1 bag spring greens
  • 1 bag sunflower pea sprouts
  • 1 bag of mint
  • Quart of strawberries 
  • Rice paper
  • Rice noodles
  • Fresh ginger root
  • Blood orange
  • Vanilla extract 
  • Sugar
  • Salt 

Directions:

  1. Boil enough water to cover vermicelli rice noodles. Once boiling, add noodles and stir every 30 seconds or so, so that rice noodles don’t stick together. 
  2. Once noodles are tender, dump out into a colander and immediately rinse thoroughly with cold water until the noodles are no longer hot. Set aside.
  3. Onto the compote! Chop strawberries into halves or quarters, depending on the size of strawberry. You want distinguishable chunks in the sauce. 
  4. Grate 1 TB of ginger. Slice blood orange in half. Toss strawberries and grated ginger in a pot and squeeze all of the blood orange into it. Add 1/4 C of sugar into the pot.
  5. Turn stove to medium heat and stir once. Let sit until it starts sizzling, about 1 minute, and stir again. Do this intermittently until the liquid from the strawberries becomes sludgey, but you still have some strawberry chunks in there. 
  6. Turn heat off, stir in a pinch of salt and 1 TSPN of vanilla extract. Let compote cool down. Set aside.
  7. Pull out any pan or plate (with walls) bigger than the width of the rice paper. Pour enough water to submerge the rice paper in. Luke warm water works best. Submerge paper and leave it in there for just a few seconds. 
  8. Gently pull rice paper out and spread it out on a flat surface. You want to work fairly quickly for the next steps because the paper gradually gets stickier to work with! Add rice noodles, pea sprouts, greens, & mint into the center. Gently grab the bottom of the paper, pull over and then tuck under ingredients, then fold sides over and roll up. 
  9. Use compote as dipping sauce or drizzle on top. 
Soy-Glazed Radish Pod Fried Rice

Soy-Glazed Radish Pod Fried Rice Recipe

Ingredients:

  • Radish pods
  • Collard greens
  • Sugar snap peas
  • Garlic
  • Sesame oil
  • Soy sauce
  • Turmeric 
  • Salt
  • Pepper 
  • 1 tsp safflower oil

Directions:

  1. Gather any veggies you see ripe and ready – the joy in this easy fried rice is the soy glaze, which can apply to almost anything! 
  2. Have some rice cooked and ready to go on the side, and prepare your vegetables by roughly chopping or cleaning off stems. Set these in the bottom of a cast iron skillet or wok – something with a nice seasoning on it is helpful if you’re able. 
  3. For every big handful of vegetables (radish pods in this case), add a touch of sesame oil and a full tbsp of soy sauce. Cook on a low heat, slowly, and stir often. You’ll get the soy to caramelized and impart a sweetness to the otherwise savory dish. 
  4. Set these aside for the moment. In the same pan, cook down some garlic in sesame oil (until it just starts to grow golden brown), add your rice, and then turn off the heat and fold in your soy-glazed veggies. 
  5. Season to taste with soy, salt, turmeric, and pepper. 
  6. Add some chopped sugar snap peas for a crisp, juicy sweetness. Experiment, get creative, and enjoy! 

You can also find the recipes for Spring Rolls with Strawberry Ginger Compote and Soy-Glazed Radish Pods Fried Rice on Community Farmers Markets Instagram.

Sammie Purcell is Associate Editor at Rough Draft Atlanta.