Winter Farmer’s Market Finds

Posted on by Sacha Cohen

Guest post by Carrie Madren

Some of the DC-area farmer’s markets stay open year-round, giving locals an opportunity to sample fresh winter vegetables. In season are apples (stored in cool temps), beets, cabbage, carrots, onions, parsnips, potatoes, rutabagas, sweet potatoes, turnips, and winter squash.

Among the best ways to prepare a cold-weather bounty is roasting it with savory dried herbs and spices, and with a flexible recipe such as the one below, you can throw together whatever vegetables you have on hand for a scrumptious side dish.

Roasted Winter Vegetables

6-8 cups winter vegetables: beets, carrots, onions, potatoes, rutabagas, sweet potatoes, turnips, winter squash (peeled and cut in 1-inch pieces or slices 1/2-inch thick)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp dried or 3 Tbsp fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, parsley, oregano

Directions: Toss ingredients together (keep onions separate, as they will roast faster; add them to the pan 10 minutes into the baking time). Spread in a single layer on greased baking pans. Roast in a preheated oven at 425 degrees until tender, about 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with roasted garlic sauce (see below).

Roasted garlic sauce: Remove loose papery layers from outside of a whole garlic bulb but do not peel. Slice off top of the bulb, exposing the tip of each clove. Place on a square of aluminum foil and drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil or just season with salt and pepper. Wrap tightly and bake alongside the vegetables until tender. Squeeze soft roasted cloves into a small bowl, mash with fork, and stir in 3/4 cup plain yogurt.

Serves 8
(Recipe courtesy “Simply in Season” by Mary Beth Lind)

Arlington Farmers Market
North Courthouse Road and 14th Street (courthouse parking lot)
703-228-6400 (George Parish)
Saturdays, year-round: 9 a.m.-noon, January-April

Bethesda Central Farm Market
Elm Street between Woodmont Ave. and Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, MD
Sundays, year-round, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

Clarendon Farmers Market
Wilson Boulevard and N. Highland Street, Arlington (Clarendon Metro Station)
703-812-8881
2-7 p.m. Wednesdays, year-round

Columbia Pike Farmers Market
South Walter Reed Drive and Columbia Pike (Pike Park in front of the Rite Aid)
9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sundays, winter season

Del Ray Farmers Market
East Oxford and Mount Vernon avenues
703-683-2570 (Pat Miller)
9 a.m.-noon Saturdays, winter season
pmiller1806@comcast.net

Dupont Circle FreshFarm Market
20th and Q streets NW
202-362-8889
Sundays, year-round: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Jan. 3-March 28

Eastern Market Outdoor Farmers Market
225 Seventh St. SE
202-698-5253 (Barry Margeson)
7 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, year-round

Kensington Farmers Market
Howard Avenue (Kensington train station parking lot)
301-949-2424 (Shirley Watson)
8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, year-round

Montgomery Farm Women’s Cooperative Market
7155 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda
7 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, year-round

Takoma Park Farmers Market
Laurel Avenue between Eastern and Carroll avenues
10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays, year-round

Organic Beer, You Say?

Posted on by Sacha Cohen

UPDATE: This event has been rescheduled for Friday February 12th!

Our friends over at The DC Green Connection are partnering with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and Peak Organic Brewing Company to bring you a special networking event featuring organic beer. Tim Adams, co-owner of Peak Organic (brewed in Portland, Maine), will give a short overview about their brewing process and talk about what makes their product organic.

Along with copious amounts of frothy goodness, you will be able to mingle with current SAIS masters students and alumni and explore topics ranging from Copenhagen COP15 outcomes to the latest initiatives in carbon financing and market developments on alternative energy.

The details:
When: Friday, February 5. Doors open at 5:00 pm. A short program begins at 6:30 pm. Doors close at 9:00 pm.

Where: Johns Hopkins University SAIS – Nitze Building (1740 Massachusetts Ave NW, Paul H. Nitze Building, Kenney Auditorium)

RSVP: To http://www.meetup.com/The-DC-Green-Connection or email dcgreenconnection@gmail.com

Price: $10.00 DCGC Members* & Students, $15.00 Non-Members (Includes 2 beer tickets).
(Non-member fee includes 2010 membership discount).

Details: Please bring an official ID to show the guard in the lobby where you will also register for the event and pick up your drink tickets.

More Info: Contact organizers Samit Shah (281.723.8190) or Monika Thiele (206.790.1769)

Local Restaurants for Local Kids

Posted on by Sacha Cohen

Guest post by Andrea Northup

Support locally-owned restaurants, the sustainable local food economy, and DC-area kids by participating in the DC Farm to School Network’s Local Restaurants for Local Kids Fundraiser on Friday January 22.

Select area restaurants will be donating a portion of their proceeds to the DC Farm to School Network, which works to bring healthy, local produce into DC public school cafeterias.  By simply enjoying a delicious snack, cocktail, or dinner at one of the great participating restaurants, you will help to improve access to healthy, tasty, and local foods in area schools.

DC Farm to School Network volunteers will be available at the restaurants to answer questions or chat with you about our work. For volunteer opportunities, contact Lauren@dcgreens.org.

Participating restaurants include:

Busboys & Poets, 5th and K Street NW (Mt. Vernon Sq. Metro); 14th and V Street NW (U St. Metro); 4251 S. Campbell Ave,  Arlington, VA.

Coppi’s Organic (from 6pm-11pm), 1414 U Street NW (U St. Metro)

Eatonville, 2121 14th Street NW (U St. Metro)

Bar Pilar, 1833 14th Street NW (U St. Metro)

Farmers & Fishers (All day!), 3000 K Street NW (Georgetown Waterfront—Foggy Bottom Metro)

Clyde’s, 3236 M Street NW (Foggy Bottom Metro); 707 7th Street NW (Gallery Place Metro); 5441 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD (Friendship Heights Metro)

PS-7 (Lounge from 4pm-2am), 777 I Street NW (Gallery Place Metro)

Bread and Brew (5-8pm in bar), 1247 20th Street NW (Dupont Circle Metro)

Cafe Saint-Ex, 1847 14th Street NW (U St. Metro)

ris (Proceeds from seasonal cocktail and appetizers after 4:30pm), 2275 L Street NW (Foggy Bottom Metro)

7 Local Organic Cocktails

Posted on by Sacha Cohen
organic martini

The always inventive mixologists at several chic DC-area hotel bars are shaking things up with cocktails that feature organic spirits, homemade fruit purees, and locally grown veggies and herbs. Here are our top picks:

1. Juniper at The Fairmont Hotel serves five “Going Green” organic cocktails featuring herbs from the hotel’s courtyard garden and regionally grown fruits. “Feeling Blue,” for example, is made with Blue Coat Organic Gin, courtyard grown cilantro, Virginia blueberries, housemade simple syrup, and club soda. There are also several cocktails made with honey harvested from the Italian honey bees that make the hotel’s rooftop their home such as the Bee-tini made with Belvedere Pomrancza vodka and honey mixed with fresh grapefruit juice, mint, and grenadine.

2. The mixologists at Bourbon Steak at the Four Seasons make many of their own bitters, tinctures, and syrups and grow their own herbs. The cleverly named “Not Tonight” features additive-free Hangar One mandarin blossom vodka, velvet falernum (a sugar cane-based liqueur), orgeat, fresh lime, whiskey barrel-aged bitters, and a chipotle tincture

3. Stop by Zentan at the Donovan House for an organic version of a Margarita.”The Scarborough Affair” is made with organic sage-infused Herradura Reposado tequila, house-made thyme agave nectar, house-made sweet and sour mix, fresh lime juice, St. Germain elderflower liquor, and garnished with a fresh spring of rosemary.

4. Start brunch off right with an organic Bloody Mary from Entyse at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner. This tasty version is made with Square One Organic Vodka, organic Bloody Mary mix (made from organic, locally grown tomatoes), Tabasco, Worcestershire, a pinch of organic black pepper, and garnished with organic celery, lime, and green bean. All of the cocktails at Entsye are made with ingredients from local and organic farms.

5. The Blue Duck Tavern at the Park Hyatt offers martinis that can be made with Square One Organic Vodka and your choice of a pearl onion, olive, caper berry or lemon twist garnish.

6. Keep the wolves at bay with the “Little Red Riding Hood” cocktail at the Quill bar in the historic Jefferson hotel. This glorious concoction features house-made hibiscus-pomegranate-infused vodka, Cointreau, Galliano, cranberry juice, and molecular yogurt-vanilla foam.

7. With arguably one of the best views in town, POV at the recently opened W Hotel has an artfully crafted cocktail menu courtesy of Sasha Petraske of NYC’s Milk & Honey.  The all-natural libations change with the seasons and are made with fresh fruit and vegetables.

Green Your Wedding

Posted on by Sacha Cohen

Guest post by Katie Martin of Eco-Beautiful Weddings

The first question we get from every bride that walks in our studio is: “How can I green my event?” They know it is our specialty and they know they want to go green.  However, they have found it difficult to find examples of how to make a wedding beautiful, fun, and interesting while keeping eco-friendly components.

The solution to greening your event is to make sure you work with the right vendors.  The wrong vendors are the ones that are simply in the wedding industry to make a buck.  Some wedding professionals are having a difficult time learning how to go green and it is up to you, the consumer, to educate them. Here are three questions to ask potential vendors:

1. Do they give back to the community or the environment?

2. Where are their supplies coming from?  For caterers, find out if their food is sourced locally. For florists, ask about where their flowers come from.  Remember, transportation is one of the major components of waste produced by a wedding.

3. Are they listening to you or greenwashing?  Be careful of those vendors that simply want you to sign on the dotted line. Ask your wedding professional if they have a green mission.  Also, if they keep trying to change the subject about eco-friendly practices, that’s a sign to keep walking.

Green Wedding Tips

  • Reduce the amount of out-of-town guests that will be traveling to your wedding.  Transportation is the biggest “eco-sin” when it comes to weddings.
  • Don’t serve red meat at your wedding.  Serve fish, chicken/fowl and/or vegetarian/vegan options instead. The amount of energy it takes to produce and digest red meat is staggering compared to the other options.
  • Choose décor and fashion items that come from renewable and free-trade and fair-wage resources.