The new market will be in the parking lot of Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center.

A new Wednesday-afternoon farmers market will open for the season today at Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center.

This market will be open every Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. through Sept. 26.

Market organizers today will welcome Matt Lohr, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, to ring the bell at a special opening ceremony that begins at 3 p.m.

This market will allow customers to use their Visa, MasterCard or SNAP EBT cards to buy produce, just as the Spotsylvania, Fredericksburg and King George Saturday markets do.

For more information on all regional markets, click here.

Lately, there have been growing connections between the world of “gourmet” food and the fight against obesity.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been trying to revolutionize cafeteria lunches, and Alice Waters has been promoting gardens on school grounds.

But the fact remains that a career in food can lead to some unhealthy, cholesterol-raising and waist-expanding habits. That’s what cookbook author and food critic Peter Kaminsky found.

For years, Kaminsky watched his pants size rise with his status as a food writer. He joked when his doctor put him on Lipitor. He tried adding exercise alone to control his weight, but on the day he was told his life insurance policy renewal had been denied because he was at risk of developing diabetes, Kaminsky finally got serious.

His new book, “Culinary Intelligence,” is about the eating philosophy he adopted–one that helped him to lose 40 pounds, buy smaller clothes and get his life insurance renewed.

Culinary Intelligence is basically mindful eating, and its main aim is to break the spell many Americans eat under after years of being exposed to processed and fast foods that rely on high amounts of sugar, salt and fat to make us crave them.

Kaminsky cut out all things white–flour, sugar, potatoes–and started to focus more on whole grains and other whole foods.

But a lot of his method relies on maximizing what he calls “flavor per calorie,” or FPC in foods, without the use of unhealthy ingredients. Caramelizing vegetables, slow-cooking meats and using healthy add-ons like lemon juice and olive oil are basic techniques that he promotes to squeeze the maximum amount of flavor from our foods.

Kaminsky’s book is pro-home cooking–”Only cooking leaves you fully in charge of what you eat and how it is prepared,” he writes–but it also offers tips for how to maintain good habits at restaurants and on the road.

Kaminsky shares his own breakfast, dinner and lunch habits, sprinkled with stories from his food-writing career that readers interested in the big-time food world will enjoy. He ends the book with 14 recipes that follow his prescription for intelligent eating.

The book is sort of the professional eater’s follow-on to recent books about reforming the American diet, like Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food,” or even Mireille Guillano’s “French Women Don’t Get Fat.”

Because as Kaminsky learned, professional foodies do get fat–unless they use their noggins as much as their forks and knives.

What’s this all about? Click here for the introduction.

Cooking from a CSA box is the home cook’s version of being a “Top Chef” contestant.

You know you have a week’s worth of meals to plan, but you’re not sure what you’ll be working with until you get your delivery. The mad scramble to figure out what’s going on the table the night you bring that box home begins the minute you get it in your hands.

Instead of Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio, your family sits at Judges’ Table. If your dish is a stinker, they won’t ask you to “pack your knives and go.” They’ll just mindlessly toss pieces of your dish over the side of the high chair while smiling and laughing at you (So get a dog.). Hopefully this habit will end sometime during the teen years.

Here’s this week’s box:

Contents:

1 bunch pak choy (or bok choy)

2 bunches Swiss chard

4 white turnips

2 bunches radishes

2 quarts strawberries

6 eggs

4 pints sugar snap peas

1 $30 gift card to Blow Toad restaurant in Richmond

Pak choy (bok choy) and sugar snap peas

For me, this week was an instance where belonging to a CSA forced a new vegetable into my repertoire. I’d always read that bok choy, like other cabbages, had a lot to offer nutritionally, and I liked the looks of its unique texture–thick, crisp white stalks topped by dark leafy greens, with a contrast so stark the leaves almost look plastic. I just hadn’t seen fit to add it to my grocery cart.

A reader last week suggested that I check out the blog, “Adventures of the Kitchen Ninja.” The Vermont-based author offers a number of recipes, but also takes questions from CSA-ers wondering what to do with new items in their box. After reading through the suggestions (which I recommend), I decided to give their recipe for Vietnamese slow-cooker chicken with bok choy, a try. I had all the ingredients in my house, and anything that allows me to replace dinnertime-stove-stirring with naptime food prep is a winner in my book.

I served this over rice, and added some of the snap peas, washed and de-stringed, in the last few minutes of cooking. It was a nice combination of different flavors and textures. I recommend drizzling a little sesame oil over the final product once you’ve dished it out. I also enjoyed it as cold leftovers for lunch the next day.

The next night, I had my eyes on some of the chard. We had two mostly-used boxes of no-boil lasagna noodles hanging around the pantry, so I went for lasagna (recipe below). Lasagna, quiche, soup and pizza are a few of those go-to dishes that I’m thinking are going to form the backbone of my CSA cooking routine. They’re usually crowd-pleasers, often make enough to have leftovers and are great vehicles for just about any vegetable you want to get on the plate. Once you’ve made each of them a few times, you realize you don’t need recipes.

The snap peas and radishes in this week’s box made for some really nice salads, paired with the lettuce that has taken off in my garden. They also worked nicely in wraps with hummus and cheese at lunch time. Both add a distinct flavor and a welcome crunch. In fact, snap peas dipped in hummus are quickly becoming my new favorite snack.

If I hadn’t eaten all the radishes in salads and wraps, I thought about shredding them in the food processor and then whirring them up with some cream cheese, a handful of chives from my garden and a little salt and pepper for a sandwich spread. I’ll hold onto that idea in case I get radishes again this week.

As usual, the strawberries were no problem.

That left me with one bunch of chard and the turnips. I usually put turnips in very wintry dishes like stews and pot roasts, but it’s May, and I’m just not in the mood for that. When roasted, turnips are kind of like a more watery, less bulky potato. Their flavor is different from potatoes, and it shines through whatever seasonings you add to it a little more than potatoes would, but it’s still a nice starch.

On Sunday night, I decided to put the last bunch of chard to rest–along with some of the eggs–in another fritatta. I thought about my days studying in Spain and eating the ubiquitous Spanish tortilla over there–kind of like a thick omelet with sliced potatoes in it–and decided I’d try adding some roasted turnips to my egg dish, along with some diced, sharp cheddar cheese.

I thought the turnips were a decent potato sub, and I didn’t get any of those, “I’m so disappointed in you” looks from the judges, so it looks like I’ll be bringing my knives back for another week of cooking.

I’m just glad there are no Quickfire challenges in my house.

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Thanks to all of you who have offered comments, tips and suggestions in response to this blog. I wanted to share one comment in particular from a Spotsylvania reader who is also a member of the Snead’s CSA. Here’s how she used her first share, along with a nice recipe link:

We also joined Snead’s Farm and split our share with another family. We ate all of the strawberries by Saturday and all we have left (it’s Monday) is one onion and some asparagus.  The chard and onions I sautéed with some olive oil and butter.  Then, I mixed it with a sauce of caramelized white onion, honey, mustard.  We LOVED it!  The rest of the onion and chard went into a lasagna that I found on Pintrest.
Here’s the link…
http://www.heathersdish.com/1/creamy-kale-and-leek-lasagna/

All of the eggs were cooked up for breakfast one morning ( we are a family of 6, 4 of which are hungry boys!).  I love eating fresh and local and cannot wait until Wednesday!

Faith G.
spotsylvania, VA

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This week’s recipe: Chard and sausage lasagna

Ingredients

1 small onion, chopped

1 bunch Swiss chard, chopped

1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes

15 oz (more or less) ricotta cheese

about nine no-boil lasagna noodles

1/2 pound hot Itailan sausage

2 cloves garlic

parmesan cheese, to taste

shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)

salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Greese a 2-quart baking dish and set aside.

Remove sausage from casing and saute over medium-high heat until cooked through. Remove sausage from saute pan and set aside. Into those drippings, add the chopped onion, and cook until translucent. Add the chard in stages, and cook until wilted and the juices have evaporated. Lightly salt and pepper the chard with each addition.

Add garlic and cook another minute or so. Remove mixture from heat.

Spoon just enough of the tomatoes over the bottom of the baking dish to cover. Then reserve about the same amount of tomatoes to place atop the lasagna. Then add the rest of the tomatoes, plus the cooked sausage, to the chard mixture.

Taste your ricotta. If it’s bland, add salt, pepper and parmesan cheese to taste (Some fresh herbs, like basil, parsley and chives, would also be nice here, if you have them.).

Now you’re ready to assemble the lasagna. Place three noodles down over the sauce you spooned into the dish. Now add half the ricotta, then half the chard mixture, then another layer of noodles. Then the rest of the ricotta, the rest of the chard mixture and the final topping of noodles.

Spoon the reserved tomatoes over the noodles. 

Cover tightly with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil, add shredded mozzarella to top (if using) and bake another 10 minutes or so, until the mozzarella is melted and the whole dish is bubbly.

Note: If you are into crusty cheese, you could just add the mozzarella before you put it in the oven and leave the dish uncovered throughout the baking time. The cheese will turn black, but it’s good!

The Central Rappahannock Regional Library’s “Cultivating Community” program continues this month and next with a series of food-themed films shown at the England Run branch.

The series kicks off on Thursday (May 17) at 7 p.m. with a screening of the film, “Fresh,” a documentary about the back-to-basics movement to reform the country’s food system. A trailer for the film is included below. It features many of the superstars of this movement, including author Michael Pollan and Virginia farmer Joel Salatin.

Full information on the film series can be found here.

Additional films are:

May 31 – “Truck Farm,” about an urban farmer’s garden in the back of a pickup truck.

June 14 – “Farming Forward,” about the diversity of family farms in Minnesota.

June 28 – “The Egg & I,” a comedy about a couple of newlyweds who take on an abandoned chicken farm.

All screenings are free to the public and begin at 7 p.m.

Catching up on food news from the past week and other tasty happenings from around the region. Look for this  every Thursday morning. Submit events and other suggestions to efreehling@freelancestar.com.

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The Fredericksburg farmers market has launched a newsletter to keep people up to date on what’s new. Here is the first edition, with news on expanded First Saturdays markets, Mother’s Day gift ideas and other items.

A Wednesday farmers market will kick off next Wednesday at Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center. The market will run 3 to 7 p.m. every Wednesday between May 16 and Sept. 26.

A Spice Rack Chocolates boutique will open in early August next to the Starbucks in Spotsylvania Towne Centre. More information here.

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TAJ Indian Cuisine and Gunny’s BBQ have signed leases to open locations in Fredericksburg’s Greenbrier Shopping Center. Get more details in this post.

Poppy Hill Tuscan Kitchen in downtown Fredericksburg will host a fundraising dinner for Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Day May 19. Get details here.

This week’s review: Mary Washington Hospital food court

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Share ideas on using your CSA box contents with the Front Burner CSA Club. Read all about it here.

Onions are the go-to aromatic ingredient for starting good-tasting dishes in many kitchens. They’re also in season locally right now. In case you needed another reason to add them to your shopping list, nutrition columnist Jennifer Motl offers notes on their many health benefits here.

Katie Thisdell and her mom have taken on the challenge of working their way through Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking With Julia” cookbook. Each in their own kitchens on opposite sides of the state, they try a recipe at a time. Read about it here.

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Get a taste of life at Slow Grown Virginia, an organic farm in Caroline County run by a retired Marine and his family, in this story from the May Farm & Garden section.

Spotsylvania County-based Blue & Gray Brewing Co. has created a special beer for Capital Ale House’s 10th-anniversary celebration. The beer will be tapped for the first time tomorrow. Find out more here.

Does the idea of joining a community-supported agriculture (or CSA) program for your family’s produce appeal to you, but you’re not sure how hard it would be to go pick up, then plan meals around, all that produce every week of the growing season?

I had always been in that boat, but when my husband suggested last fall that we give the CSA at Snead’s Farm a try (as we wandered through Snead’s pumpkin patch with our toddler), I figured now was the time.

As we begin the CSA season, I’m bringing a new feature to this blog. The Front Burner CSA Club is intended as a place for folks participating in the various CSAs in our area to share recipes and other ideas for using the seasonal bounty that comes in each week’s box. It’s also a good place for those on the fence about joining a CSA to get a peek at what it entails before making a decision about whether to join one next year.

I’ll post here each Monday about the previous week’s box, how we’re using it and any other notes or tips from readers about this and other CSAs in the area. I’ll try to share a few recipes each week. If you are a member of a local CSA, please participate by leaving tips, recipes and notes about your own box in the comments, or e-mail them to me, and I might share them the next week.

It’s my hope that this will allow everyone to get new ideas on how to use local, seasonal produce.

Before we get started, here are a few resources:

Here is a list from LocalHarvest.com of CSAs in our area. It’s probably not comprehensive, because new ones pop up every year, but it’s a good starting point.

Here is a post from earlier this year about choosing a CSA for your family.

That’s our first box of CSA produce from Snead’s Farm. We picked it up last Wednesday. Snead’s is about 10 miles from my house, and we chose to join this CSA because we knew Emmett Snead and had always enjoyed going to his farm for things like pumpkin-picking and his asparagus festival. We got a discount for joining by Nov. 1, and shortly after we made that decision, we learned we were expecting our second child in late June. So we’ll be learning how a weekly trip to pick up farm produce fits into life with a toddler and a newborn.

In our first box:

2 bunches spring onions

2 bunches swiss chard

4 pounds asparagus

4 quarts strawberries

1 dozen eggs

1 $30 gift card to Fresca, a vegetarian deli in Richmond (luckily we are headed down there soon and can use this)

I’d done a basic grocery shop on Monday, but I’d held off on most of our meal planning until I got the box. When I got home Wednesday, I decided dinner that night would be a frittata with chard and asparagus, in which I also used one of the onions (see recipe below). I served it over lettuce from my garden.

I’m not much of a gardener, but I try to grow some edibles every year. This year, since I knew most of our vegetables would come from Snead’s, I decided to focus on growing enough lettuce to keep me from having to buy it. So far, so good.

The next night, we had hamburgers with roasted asparagus on the side (Toss in olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic. Sprinkle with parmesan. Roast at 425 for 10 min or so.) I caramelized a couple of the onions (with their greens) and served some of them on top of the burgers, and held the rest aside for pizza later in the week.

As for the strawberries (or “TAH-bays,” as my daughter calls them), the three of us somehow polished off four quarts in three days. I was thinking we’d need to make a sauce or something to use them up before they went bad, but apparently we were up to the task.

They were a popular breakfast item in yogurt and on cereal, and we finished most meals with them. They were also a good excuse to make a quick pound cake (I used this recipe because it was fast and I had the ingredients, but I didn’t love it.) for strawberry shortcakes. I thought about macerating some in sugar in the fridge, but these berries were so ripe they really didn’t need any added sugar.

In between the dinners, I’ve been using some of the green stuff in lunches. On Friday, I chopped a few stalks of asparagus into very small pieces, tossed them in lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and parmesan, then threw that mix into a wrap with hummus, salad greens, some of the caramelized onions from the fridge and a little cheese.

Saturday was pizza night, and I found that the caramelized onions, plus half a bunch of asparagus chopped into bite-sized pieces, went well with some Italian sausage atop our pie.

Sundays have always been a “use up what’s in the fridge” day in our house, and this week was no different. I made a soup from most of the remaining vegetables, along with a few other odd items laying about. Soup is a great meal for these kind of nights, and you shouldn’t feel like you have to follow a recipe.

I started by sauteeing two of the remaining onions (with their greens). When they got good and broken down, I threw in the second bunch of chard, which I had washed and chopped finely. At each vegetable addition, I added salt and pepper. After the chard cooked down, I added a little garlic, then the rest of the asparagus, chopped into almost pea-sized pieces. I poured in a carton of chicken broth and what remained of a can of crushed tomatoes that had gone on the previous night’s pizza. At the end, I dumped in a can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed) along with two links of the sausage leftover from the night before (chopped).

That leaves me with leftover soup, one onion and a half dozen eggs. That should serve us nicely until we return to Snead’s on Wednesday.

How have you been enjoying your CSA box this week? Which one did you join and why? Share your thoughts and tips in the comments section.

…

Recipe for this week:

Frittata with chard, asparagus and spring onion

Ingredients:

5 eggs

3 tablespoons parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 spring onion, with greens, chopped

one bunch Swiss chard, chopped (I cut off the dry ends of the stems, but I don’t see the need to separate the stems from the leaves, though they are tougher.)

1 pound asparagus, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 garlic clove, minced

Ahead of time (I did this during my daughter’s nap): Roast the asparagus at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper and any other preferred seasonings. It won’t have a lot of cooking time in the frittata.

To make the frittata:

Preheat your oven’s broiler.

Whisk the eggs, cheese, salt and pepper in a bowl.

Heat olive oil in a large oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Sautee the onion until translucent and beginning to brown, about 6 minutes.

Add the chard in three batches, sprinkling each new addition with a little salt before it wilts. Cook greens until all liquid has evaporated. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute. Add roasted asparagus to the skillet, and try to get all the veggies evenly spread throughout the pan.

Reduce heat to medium-low, then add the eggs. Stir to even everything out. Cover (A piece of foil will do if your skillet has no lid.) and cook the eggs until they’ve set on the bottom, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Move the skillet to the broiler and cook until eggs are set in the center, about one minute.

Serve immediately over salad greens.

Poppy Hill Tuscan Kitchen in downtown Fredericksburg is one of 20 restaurants around the country that will be hosting “social

Jamie Oliver

dinner” fundraising events in connection with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s “Food Revolution Day” on May 19.

Oliver, through his Jamie Oliver Foundation, conceived Food Revolution Day as a collection of events in the U.S., U.K., and Australia to raise awareness of the global obesity problem and funnel resources into food education in schools and other venues. Overall events include dinner parties, bake sales, cooking lessons and others.

Poppy Hill co-owner Ingrid Mahar said the restaurant was contacted by Oliver’s foundation, and will be the only restaurant in Virginia hosting one of the social dinners, the proceeds of which go toward Oliver’s foundation.

Instead of taking over the whole restaurant, the fundraiser is limited to one 10-seat table.

If you’re interested, you can book a seat here for $32. The menu includes an starter, entree and dessert, with drinks purchased separately. Mahar said she’ll be selecting a special wine list to complement the event, with organic and sustainable vintners featured.

The idea is to get a group of people who may not know each other, but who share similar interests together at the table. Mahar said the foundation specifically asked participating restaurants to keep prices reasonable to emphasize that local, sustainable, “real” food isn’t just for folks with a lot of money.

“We are beyond thrilled to be asked to participate, and for the money to go to such a great cause supporting global efforts with his foundation is really an honor for little Poppy Hill,” Mahar said.

The event will take place May 19 at 7 p.m.

Catching up on food news from the past week and other tasty happenings from around the region. Look for this  every Thursday morning. Submit events and other suggestions to efreehling@freelancestar.com.

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Farmers markets in downtown Orange and Mineral will open for the season this weekend. Find out more here.

Spending $10 of your food budget per week on local produce and food products could make a big difference in the regional economy. Read about the “buy-local challenge” here.

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Regina’s Pasta Factory, which was known for fresh-made pasta at locations in Dahlgren and Massaponax, appears to have closed. More here.

A bar, restaurant and night club that sells sushi and other fare is planned for 318 William St. in Fredericksburg, right next to Castiglia’s. Read about organizer Ryan Bullock’s plans here.

Right next door on William Street, the owners of Bistro Bethem are planning to open up a quick-service burger bar and lounge they’ll call Vivify. Learn more here.

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Baristas from around the region gathered last weekend at 25 30 Espresso to test their latte art skills. See a photo slideshow from the event by our photographers here.

A Stafford County resident is cooking for combat troops in Afghanistan. Read about Garrett Camacho here.

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The second annual BBQ Jamboree takes place Saturday at the Fredericksburg Fairgrounds. Head on over for a chance to sample barbecue from 30 cooking teams, including a Virginia cook who’s been successful on TLC’s “Pitmasters.” Read more about the event here.

Worms, compost and seeds were on-hand last week as the Porter Branch of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library kicked off its community garden, part of the “Cultivating Community” series the library is running through October. Read more about the event here.

Continuing our rolling list of farmers market openings for the season, you can look for the market season to begin this weekend in downtown Orange and in Mineral.

This year’s downtown Orange market has been renamed the Orange County Farmers and Artisans Market, because it will also include arts and crafts this year. Here are the details:

Where: Off Madison Road, at the shopping center across the street from Hardee’s, in front of Faulkner Hardware

Open: Saturdays, May 5 through Oct. 27, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

What: Goods must be grown or made in Virginia. Market will offer crafts as well as food this year.

Orange is also planning a larger food festival  Aug. 11 that will feature local-foods celebrity Joel Salatin.

Mineral‘s market will also open for the season this weekend. Here’s what you need to know:

Where: 81 Louisa Ave. in Mineral, across from the Little League field

Open: Saturdays, May 5 through Oct. 17, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

What: Fresh fruit, veggies, jams, flowers, plants, wine, honey, baked goods and local crafts on display.

For a full listing of farmers’ markets, click here.

Could Fredericksburg be on its way to status as a major East Coast destination for competitive barbecue?

James Sharon and Jeremy Bullock are working hard to try to make that happen, and you can gauge their progress by attending this weekend’s BBQ Jamboree at the Fredericksburg Fairgrounds. (more…)