Quick Bites on the Des Moines Dining Scene
Including my recent visit to the city's most non-frenzied farmers' market.
I was out of town last week (Iowa City!), and am heading out of town again (Jefferson!). Later this week, you’ll get a juicy review, plus I’m hoping to do a live chat. But while I catch my breath between destinations, I wanted to keep you in the loop about a few timely things (i.e., mark your calendars).
Winefest “Sips in the City” Ticket Giveaway
The odds of winning two tickets in the Sips in the City Ticket Giveaway are still incredible; at last count, you’re looking at about a one in 40 chance of winning if you enter. Find details about the giveaway—as well as info on the event itself—here.
Global Greens—Watch Them Grow!
Global Greens Farmers Market
1907 Carpenter Ave.
Open Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., May – October
I visited Global Greens International Farmers Market a couple weeks ago. Sponsored by the Lutheran Services in Iowa (LSI), this market helps immigrants and former refugees build small businesses through farming. I find it a wonderful alternative to the larger, overly frenzied markets downtown and elsewhere. (For more info, check out the piece I wrote about them last summer.)
All the produce on sale here must be grown in Iowa—meaning it’s all decidedly in-season and local. But here’s the deal: Because it’s early in the growing season, and the market’s wares cannot be padded with elsewhere-grown items, the selection was very select. Only a handful of produce vendors were present (versus about 20 or so when I went at peak times last summer).
Yet … go anyway. More and more vendors will be setting up each week. And even if there aren’t that many vendors, think quality, not quantity.
If you'll indulge me for a moment, the market brought to mind a pocket-sized marché I once stumbled upon in Tournon-d’Agenais, during a spring stay in southwestern France. It was a midweek affair, no more than a butcher’s van and a little produce truck—staffed by a lone woman selling nothing but radishes and tiny carrots.
They were the sweetest, best carrots I’d ever had. And the radishes were divine: bright and crisp, with just a hint of peppery bite.
Since then, I’ve always tried to find some of the growing season’s very first vegetables—they can bring all the wonder of spring to your table.
From the recent Global Greens market, I brought home some ultra-fresh spinach, as well as terrific radishes, plus some baby leeks, fresh dill, and garlic scrapes. I chopped the leeks and garlic scrapes and sautéed them a wee bit in olive oil, let them cool, then stirred them into softened butter with the chopped dill for a divine compound butter I used on vegetables the next few days.
I also picked up a little bag of cookies from Asma’s Kitchen, a Palestinian bakery. These are my kind of cookies: petite and not too sweet, they’re more about subtle and warm baking spices than sugar. According to her IG page, she’ll be at Global Greens all summer!
I hope to head to the market again this Saturday—if I do, I’ll tell you what I find.
P.S.: It takes time to check out the scene and report back—please help support my work with a free or paid subscription.
Let Beth Jackson Show You What to Do with All That Produce You Buy This Summer UPDATE: This has been canceled.
I’m pretty excited about the upcoming cooking demo and lunch on June 14 with Beth Jackson of Nourished DSM. She does beautiful things with vegetables, and I convinced her to host an event exclusively for my paid subscibers. Find out more.
As it turns out, this is a weekend with so many other things going on (including Father’s Day!). We decided to cancel this event. I’m looking at other possibilities for gatherings in the future. If you signed up for this event, you will be getting a full refund, of course.
And Don’t Forget the IWC
You know you can always find more to read with the Iowa Writers Collaborative, right? Check out the recent roundup of articles by professional writers from across the state.
Hi Wini! Looking forward to your Iowa City tip/s! We are headed there later this month. I already know my favorite haunts, but I’m also interested in reading about your suggestions. Take care!