What am I supposed to get at the market?”
At this point in the year, your roommate has bought everything
he sees on the shelves at least once. Unable to think outside the
frozen-meal box, he’s panicked and phoned you for help.
Because today is Thursday, he picked the right time to get tired
of supermarkets. Tell him to pick up some aluminum foil and meet
you on the corner of Westwood and Weyburn: it’s
Farmers’ Market day. Hang up before he has time to be
skeptical ““ there are free samples involved. He’ll love
it.
At this time of year, vendors start offering summer fruits and
vegetables at affordable prices. Fruits are best enjoyed raw, but
oven-roasting vegetables brings out their flavor.
When you arrive at the agreed-upon corner, your roommate
isn’t there. Find him at a fruit stand, marveling at the
miracle of hybridization that brought apriums into the world.
“It’s like an apricot and a plum mixed!” he
rejoices. “I bet that’s what a liger would
eat!”
Teach him how to select good ones; stone fruits like apricots
and peaches should be brightly colored, firm with a bit of give,
and free of bruises and soft spots.
While your roommate engages the vendor in a debate about
“Napoleon Dynamite,” start looking for vegetables to
roast. Baby vegetables are usually more tender than their
fully-grown counterparts, and since they’re already so small,
you won’t have to cut them up much before cooking them.
Asparagus spears should be slender, almost spindly, and the tips
should not be wilted. Summer squashes, like patty pan and
crookneck, are best when they fit easily in the palm of your hand:
the seeds won’t have formed yet, and the skin will be thin
and ““
“Braiiinns!” bellows a familiar voice.
Notice your roommate balancing a cauliflower on his head.
Perfect! You were looking for cauliflower anyway. The one standing
in for your roommate’s actual brain (wherever that may have
disappeared to) looks good, with healthy leaves and very few dingy
spots. Buy it.
Seek out sweet white corn with straight rows of small kernels.
Don’t be afraid to peel back the husk a little bit to peek
inside.
Lastly, pick up a bunch of baby carrots not much longer than
your index fingers.
At home, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet
with aluminum foil. Grease the foil with oil (butter will
burn).
Pry your roommate away from his bag of apriums long enough for
him to help you rinse your purchases, cut away the leaves, and hack
the cauliflower into small pieces. Corn should remain whole and
unhusked. Arrange it on the greased baking sheet. If you like,
sprinkle half a teaspoon of salt and pepper over it all.
Roast the vegetables for 20 to 25 minutes until a crispy brown
tinge appears on the asparagus tips and cauliflower florets.
You won’t find anything like it at the supermarket.
E-mail Raab at lraab@media.ucla.edu.