For the month of May it was undeniably purple!

I’ve still been enjoying my bi-weekly visits to the local farmers’ market and loving how simple a start it makes menu-setting for my weeks. If I had to state a downside, the only one I can think of is that if our plans get juggled and we push a day or two off, sometimes the produce just doesn’t last long enough! But, hey, it’s a smallish price to pay for just-picked goodness.

I’m even starting to make friends with a couple of the farmers!

As spring began we were excited to see more farmers showing up to the market and were looking forward to the variety the season would bring. I always seem to find new or uncommon things to try each time.

One week in particular I brought home tart plums (that we paired with boneless pork chops), purple beans that turn green when you cook them (well, mostly green, there was still a little bit of a brown tinge to it), and Norwegian purple potatoes (these are the ones with purple skin and white flesh, unlike the Peruvian purples that have purple flesh and skin–those I got later in the month). The following trip yielded some red noodle beans about a foot long, each, as well as some beautiful Japanese eggplant.

Of course it wasn’t all purple–there was plenty of greens, yellows and reds to be found.

What’s catching your eye at the market–farmer or otherwise–this season?