Wednesday 12 April 2017

Bored of the same old foods? Visit Regina's Farmer's Market this Spring.

I hate to admit it, but until this month, I'd never been to Regina's Farmer's Market. 
It seemed like a good idea. I enjoy fresh, seasonal produce, and supporting local farmers.  But with markets generally open only on Saturday morning, I made excuses, thinking: 

"I'd rather sleep in." "I have to work out, and can't do both."
"Weekends are for relaxing and socializing, not work."
"If I go late in the morning, all the good stuff will be gone."
"It's so early in Spring, what farmer has fresh food to sell?"

Well, it was worth it. Even in early April, the Farmer's Market completely filled the Shriner's Hall - the main area upstairs as well as taking over more space downstairs, with many, many quality vendors. Here's what I came away with:

Bored of the same old foods? Visit Regina's Farmer's Market!



1. A bag of gorgeous mixed greens from Floating Gardens. Nine dollars seemed pricy, but the fresh, clean leaves are really packed in there, and you can make at least 9-10 salads from that one bag. Fresh herbs were also on offer. 

2. A bottle of Mango Cranberry Kombucha, a fermented tea drink by Crave Kombucha. I'd tried a ginger-flavoured kombucha from another brand before, and didn't care for it. This one is better, with extra sweetness from fruit juice working to cut down on the slight bite of the fermentation by-products. If you can't tell, I'm personally on the fence about drinking this stuff regularly. There's certainly health benefits, though. 

3. Red Lentil Flour from a lovely man who grows lentils, peas, spelt, and other grains in the province. I try to include beans, peas, and lentils in my meals several times a week, and was excited to try including lentils in baking, too. (If you have fresh or canned lentils, there's recipes at lentils.ca.) I made peanut butter chocolate cookies with the lentil flour, and they turned out great. 

4. Crunchy Peas, in Sea Salt and Lime, and Smoky BBQ flavours, from Zak Organics. These are such a perfect little snack! At first glance, I thought they were roasted chickpeas, which are so tasty. But these peas turned out great, too. Crunchy, perfectly flavoured, and nicely portioned. There's a couple more flavours I might try next time.  



Did I miss anything? One of my predictions was right... a few vendors had sold out within the first hour or two. But there was still plenty of good food to enjoy. 

Some vendors I walked right by, including the bakers, crafters, preservers, and cookie-makers, but a couple more whole-food vendors caught my eye, especially the fresh garlic and local beef. And I'll be sure to be back in the height of summer for fresh tomatoes and beets and other surprises. 


Starter Salad: mixed greens with sliced radish. I added a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette before devouring this plateful of freshness. 

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