bounty. so much bounty.

Many Saturdays in Chicago we would leash up the dog and walk to the Green City Market early in the morning. Generally, we would get there right before the crowds hit but after the stroller brigade had invaded. We'd find some choice produce - usually squash, tomatoes, some herbs, mushrooms, whatever looked really great and in season - and enjoy our picks. It was a lovely experience and a great tradition of summer that I relish.

This Saturday, we made it to our first Portland Farmers Market at PSU downtown. Oh. My. Goodness. It put the Chicago market to shame, and the Green City market is nothing to sneeze at. Granted, Oregon is one of the top food-producing states in the U.S., but wow. Everything I saw was beautiful, with many organic purveyors and some fantastic food stands. I barely resisted the urge to buy a FOUR DOLLAR artichoke, just because it was so pretty. I don't even really LIKE artichokes that much! It just looked like the world's most beautiful, edible cactus.

I took the opportunity to play around with a Composer Pro and funky lens from Lensbaby and try to get some serious food porn.

Not technically food, but if you've ever eaten a Pine State Biscuit, you know it's the business. They have a stand at the market. Giant cast-iron pots of boiling oil with fried chicken in them = awesome.

Real seafood at the market. 

Garlic scapes! Now that I know what to do with these, I want to get some next week.

STRAWBERRIES. We bought a half-flat. On Saturday. There are two small boxes left. Nom.

 Sauteed veggies from Verde Cocina. More on this in a minute...

Some sort of pretty flowers. There were two people, pulling all kinds of beautiful flowers from buckets and hand-tying bouquets. Lovely.

This woman is hand-pressing and grilling corn tortillas for Verde Cocina. I watched her for 15 minutes and wanted to hug her. I could write a huge post on my love of Mexican food, especially fresh tortillas, but another time.

Chilaquiles. Fresh tortillas, scrambled eggs, white bean salad, kale, sauteed veggies, and kicky salsa with a little crumble of cheese. The. Perfect. Breakfast.

We ended up leaving with the aforementioned strawberries, a microscopic bag of morel mushrooms, a pound and a half of English peas, some zucchini, and a bunch of basil. I decided to give risotto a try for the first time. Wow. Something I learned about risotto: Your patience will be rewarded! It was perfect, and delicious, and the sweet, fat peas were amazing in it with some lightly sauteed morels. Like heaven. 

Heaven, right here...

We had a balsamic-strawberry and arugula salad and some grilled baguette to finish off the meal. It was magical. Oh Oregon. Just when I needed that boost! Can't wait to see what I discover next weekend.