This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UVM chapter.
As Vermont’s fleeting scenery slips through our soon to be frostbitten fingers, the Northeast’s land swells with produce. Due to the unseasonably warm weather, you can expect this season’s crops to be as plentiful and savory as ever. They’ll be harvested until the first frost, so be sure to get these products locally while you still can!
- Apples: I’m not telling you anything you don’t know here. The word immediately provokes images of endless orchards looming with McIntosh, Golden Delicious, and Honeycrisp apples. Make sure to get yourself to one of Chittenden County’s orchards to grab a bushel or twelve, where you’ll also find fresh apple cider, pies, donuts, and even cider slushies. Here’s to you, Johnny Appleseed. Find your closest orchard here!
- Arugula: Replace your nutrient-less iceberg lettuce with “Salad Rocket”. This leaf will take your salads, pizzas, and pasta sauces to a whole other level. Teeming with minerals, vitamin K, and phytochemicals that have been shown to combat cancer-causing elements, arugula should take its place as a staple item in your diet. Not to mention, its peppery kick will have you hooked. At this Saturday’s farmers’ market (City Hall Park, 8:30-2p.m.), keep your eyes peeled for Arcana Gardens and Greenhouses’ arugula and assorted greens.
- Beets: This tasty root vegetable will be around until the snow starts to fall. With their earthy taste and rich purple color, beets are both exquisite in taste and looks. Even beet shoots can be thrown into a salad or stir-fry for some extra vitamins! Duino! (Duende)’s Duende Salad comes with mixed greens, local house-pickled beets, carrots, whipped VT goat cheese & toasted walnuts tossed in their orange blossom vinaigrette.
- Kale: The newly named “superfood” of our generation is literally loaded with vitamins. Rip the leaves right off the stem, add some olive oil and salt, toss it in the oven, and you’ve got a healthy, delicious, and crunchy snack! Jennifer Aniston thanks kale for her svelte shape in “Meet the Millers”, and Holly Madison has said, “I love kale. It makes me poop.” Riveting, Holly. City Market carries local kale, and Stone Soup offers a delectable steamed kale in their hot plate section.
Assuming you reside in Burlington, consider yourself lucky. I found it considerably difficult to pick just a few local items, when the options are endless. Overcome your childhood fears of oddly colored vegetables; your parents made you eat them for a reason!
Photo sources: http://www.foodspotting.com/pl… ; http://www.citymarket.coop/mar…