What’s Cookin’? – Smithtown
By Nancy Vallarella
Farm Fresh Fare
Now is the time to eat for the season. Here on Long Island, we have the good fortune of gathering local bounty from land and sea. Fresh fruits, veggies, fish and wine with a little extra virgin olive oil and nuts are heart healthy and can lead to an approximate 30% reduction in heart attack and stroke according to the Journal of Medicine. When quoting science, it may not sound appealing or delicious but the good news is that it most definitely can be. Here’s how:
Go visit your local farmstand or Farmer’s Market. Inspiration abounds there. On a recent trip to the King’s 
Thera Farms Boston LettucePark Farmer’s Market, I found my muse in Thera Farms (Ronkonkoma) hydroponically grown Boston lettuce. Grown in nutrient rich water all year round the deep green, dirt-free leaves make a the perfect wrapper for your favorite summertime ingredients.
My mission thereafter was to fill my fresh green lettuce wrappers with colorful, no cooking required goodies. Beets! - The magenta beauties sitting on the table of D & J Organic Farms (Yaphank) caught my eye. To complement the sweetness of these organic beets while adding some hearty texture, I chose D & J’s peppery baby arugula. No ah hah moment required to see where this was going - beets, arugula… goat cheese!
;)
Coach Farm (Pine Plains/Hudson Valley) treks their goat milk products to the Kings Park Farmer’s Market every Sunday. Their artisanal goat cheese has the perfect consistency to crumble onto a salad or add to recipes for just the right amount of tasty creamy goodness.
The prospect of making a beet and goat cheese salad with raw beets seemed a bit challenging and not necessarily appealing to the masses. There is the unfortunate loss of some enhanced sweetness due to the lack of caramelization by not roasting the beets. On the plus side, there was no loss of nutrients through the cooking process. My answer to the no cook requirement was to peel and thinly slice up the raw beet. I julienned the beet with a fantastic julienne tool found at Sur La Table in just a few minutes. Then I added a dressing containing vinegar to marinate the julienned raw beets.
Vinegar breaks down the protein in the beet and tenderizes it. For the dressing I choose the most full of flavor ;)
local oil and vinegar option available. Eileen Sanger Profit from The Crushed Olive of Stony Brook and author of The Infused Palate helped me pair The Crushed Olive’s Favolosa Extra Virgin Olive Oil with their Cranberry Pear Balsamic Vinegar. The Favolosa Olive oil is imported from Chile. It is quietly spicy, grassy and herbal. It finishes with a slightly peppery kick. The Cranberry and Pear Balsamic Vinegar is white which does not discolor the vegetables or the goat cheese in the dish. The cranberry and pear flavor is the perfect complement to the plain goat cheese.
A few more ingredients went into the mix: toasted pine nuts, dried sweet cherries and diced avocado were 
added for texture and enhanced flavor and… VIOLA! - Farmer’s Market Veggie Cups were born. This farm fresh fare was taste tested at the Kings Park Farmer’s Market last Sunday. The overwhelming response was, “WOW!”, “DELICIOUS!” and “AWESOME”! I doubt anyone one was thinking about all the health benefits they were getting with each bite.
Find the recipe for Farmer’s Market Veggie Cups/Wrappers on Smithtown Matters Food and Restaurant Guide or www.facebook.com/chef.noko.wcs.