The Color Purple

Do you like purple? You should. At least when it comes to vegetables and fruits, because, believe it or not, they have high nutritional value. Anthocyanins, the pigments responsible for the purple color, are a potent phytonutrient in the flavonoids family that have potential disease-fighting benefits. The Ballston Farmers Market has a great selection of purple-hued items such as purple cabbage, purple cauliflowers, and blueberries (considered one of the most concentrated natural sources of anthocyanins). Soon it will also have purple corn on the cob! Visit us at Welburn Square in downtown Ballston (Arlington, VA) on Fridays from 11:00am-3:00pm.
Source: Farmers’ Markets Today, May/June 2009

Exquisite hand grown chocolate from Fleurir

How can you hand grow chocolate? Turns out Fleurir has a way to do just that and do it beautifully. A new vendor at the Ballston Farmers Market, Fleurir brings exquisite hand crafted confections made with the finest locally sourced ingredients coupled with artisan techniques to produce exciting, refreshing, and contemporary chocolates. It is not just food, it is also art!

Oven-Fried Pork Chops That You Can Easily Make At Home

I found this recipe at http://www.porkchoprecipes.net/ and tried it at home with the grass-fed pork I bought from Buffalo Ridge Farm on the Opening Day of the Ballston Farmers Market. The result is quite successful (as you can tell from the photo). One thing to keep in mind is, due to its lower fat content compared to conventional meat, grass-fed meat should be cooked for less time and at a lower temperature. I have adjusted the original recipe to reflect this healthy feature of all natural grass-fed pork. Try it and you will love it!

Ingredients:
4 trimmed pork chops.
1 medium egg.
1 cup of breadcrumbs.
3 tablespoons of soy sauce.
1 tablespoon of water.
½ teaspoon of garlic powder.
Pinch of ground ginger.

Preparation Instructions:
Beat the egg, soy sauce, water, ginger and garlic powder together in a pie plate.

Sprinkle breadcrumbs on waxed paper.

Dip the pork chops into the egg mixture, then breadcrumbs; coating evenly on each side.

Arrange in single layer on greased jelly roll pan.

Bake at 300°F (175°C) for 25 minutes.

Turn and bake for another 20 minutes until the chops are tender and no longer pink.