On Saturday mornings I treat myself.
In the winters, I make bakery runs. In the summer, I visit farmers markets.
I love waking up early on Saturday mornings. Neither of us can sleep in anymore, anyway. I enjoy a cup of coffee, take the dog on a walk, and head to a farmers market during the opening hour.
My favorite low-key market near us is the Midtown Farmer Market in the Longfellow neighborhood. This year it’s located in the Moon Palace Books parking lot instead of the lot near the YMCA. I kinda love the vibe.
Moon Palace is a really cool independent bookstore with a cafe that serves breakfast, homemade pizzas, salads, and wings . I appreciate that if you are a vegan or vegetarian, there’s some type of equivalent you can order, e.g. cauliflower wings, vegetarian sausage, and vegan cheese.
This farmers market isn’t super big. For me, it’s easy swing by and grab basics, like veggies, bread, eggs and a jar of pickles. One of my favorite farmers market food vendors Akshay Paatram sells Indian food in generous prices and portions. For about $6, you can enjoy a big serving of whatever curry she’s offering. Each type we’ve tried whether paneer, peas, or eggplant has tasted good. Add a mango lassi or pakora with chutneys.
I wrote about Akshay Paatram in this post from last year.
Kabomelette is the other food vendor I’ve always seen here. I was in the mood for a veggie + cheese omelette. For $8 they made me an omelette with hashbrowns. There’s a selection of hot sauces and ketchup at their stand. I took the meal home to eat along with a drink from the Jajja stand. The employees were so engaging I bought a couple of “wellness” tonics.
The ones I chose contained ingredients I recognized like like ginger juice, pineapple juice, lemongrass powder, and turmeric so we considered them a refreshing beverage.
Over Memorial Day weekend, we bought a new charcoal grill that was on sale at Costco. Jake especially has been having a lot of fun learning how to use it.
The bell peppers are from the grocery store (haven’t seen them yet at the farmers markets), but the broccollini is local.
This weekend we’re going to grill broccolini again – simply toss it in olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Grill until the stalks are tender and the leaves crisp-up like potato chips. Feel closer to God.
Northeast Farmers Market
I visited the Northeast Minneapolis Farmers Market for the very first time this weekend.
In a nutshell, I loved it!
Compared to the Minneapolis and St. Paul farmers markets, it’s smaller but offers a great selection of produce vendors and other things like prepared food, coffee, tea, bread, etc.
I bought some kale and more broccolini from a couple different produce vendors and loaf of ciabatta from Xiong & Xiong Pastries.
For breakfast, I ordered a honeydew bubble tea ($5) from Thirsty Dragon. It tasted so refreshing and not too sweet – I don’t even like honeydew melon and I would order this again. The only challenging thing was trying to drink the tea before the paper straw got too soft. Still, I admire their thought for the environment.
The breakfast bowl ($10) above is from Reverie Mobile Kitchen. Reverie serves vegan food. I appreciate food vendors that are ready to serve savory breakfasts upon opening. I wake up hungry and love eating savory foods that might not be considered traditional American breakfast foods right away. Cheese curds or curry at 8 am? Yes, please!
I had a difficult time choosing between dishes like cauliflower tacos and nachos with cashew “cheese” sauce. The breakfast bowl I ordered combined cooked kale and asparagus on top of crispy fried potatoes and a creamy green sauce. I may have tasted garlic and smoked paprika; it was all together so flavorful and satisfying. The bubble tea and breakfast from Reverie is a combination I will return for.
There was also a vendor selling fresh, vegetable spring rolls, two for $5.
I haven’t tried many local food trucks – at work, I get a short lunch in which I don’t have time to wait for a meal. However, I would love to visit more on evenings and weekends. Feel free to share any thoughts below on farmers markets and food trucks.
Such fun markets you have in your area!!!
I want to get better about going to the farmers market this summer. I went to the downtown St. Paul one a few times, but it wasn’t my favorite in terms of food vendors. I also don’t have a food truck friendly lunch, but I just see that as a way to save money
Eating out at lunch can really add up – most meals from trucks will cost at least $10-15+. The St. Paul market downtown has amazing produce, but I agree- not a lot of food vendors serving meals which is why I don’t go often.