With the arrival of fall, our farmers’ market is filled with new and exciting fruits and vegetables to build flavorful meals like this Fall Harvest Salad. Freshly-harvested components like roasted beets and butternut squash pair with shaved fennel and crisp sour apples. Toss these ingredients with a mix of tender lettuces and a bright vinaigrette, and you’ve created a mélange of fall flavor that is as tasty as it is nutritious.
Toss fresh baby lettuces from Paradise Produce with a flavorful array of fall fruits and vegetables, and you have a delicious fall salad.
When thinking of fall produce, nothing comes to mind like the earthiness of root vegetables. Delvin Farms‘ organic beets are harvested and bundled fresh, and the bright red globes grow sweeter when tossed in olive oil and roasted. Also, Rocky Glade Farm offers an array of sweet winter squashes that add bright orange color and sweetness to any fall harvest salad.
Organic beets from Delvin Farms grow sweeter when roasted.
Roasted Rocky Glade Farm butternut squash is a must for a fall salad.
For balance, toss in thinly-sliced fresh fennel and fall apples to brighten things up a bit. Fennel is a wonderful addition to salads and is available right now at the Colvin Family Farm’s booth. To add a bit of tartness and texture, organic Granny Smith apples from Rainbow Hill Farm are perfectly-crisp and sliced into matchsticks.
Anise-flavored fennel from Colvin Family Farms is sliced and added to the salad and the fronds make a delicious addition to the vinaigrette.
Visit Paradise Produce at the market this week and build your own custom mix of baby lettuces to form the base of your fall harvest salad. Choose from baby kale, peppery arugula, or a tender spring mix. Whatever flavors you fancy, Stacy and Sonia Geny will be happy to guide you as you make your decisions.
Adding spiced pecans to your harvest salad lends a toastiness reminiscent of fall.
A fall harvest salad would not be properly garnished without toasted spiced pecans and salty pumpkin seeds. Toss your pecan pieces in a mixture of salt, brown sugar, cayenne, and cumin and roast until fragrant. And with all the wonderful pumpkins available at our farmers’ market, pumpkin seeds are easy to find. Simply purchase a fresh baking pumpkin from Colbert Farm or Purple Tree Farm, roast the flesh for pumpkin bread or pie, and don’t forget to save your seeds to salt and roast for salads all season.
Fennel fronds and ground coriander make this apple cider vinaigrette a delicious addition to a fall harvest salad.
Finally, whisk together a snappy vinaigrette of apple cider vinegar, whole-grain mustard, and extra-virgin olive oil that’s lightly sweetened with Johnson’s Honey Farm’s clover or wildflower honey. And if you’re feeling extra frisky, toss-in a palmful of freshly-chopped fennel fronds, a pinch of ground coriander, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. You’ll be glad you did once you taste the first bite of this flavor-packed fall harvest salad.
Deep from the fields of our local farms comes the Invasion of the Scarecrows sponsored by Ford Lincoln of Franklin! On Saturday October 17, 2015, scarecrows as far as the eye can see will invade the Franklin Farmers Market to bring you the freshest local produce, locally-raised meats, artisan cheeses, pastured eggs, fresh baked breads, and so much more. Come witness this fun-for-the-family event and see the Invasion of the Scarecrows with your very own eyes!
To celebrate the season and the arrival of our new fall friends, we’re hosting a score of fun activities for you and the little ones to enjoy. We’ll have our annual FFM Pumpkin Patch provided by King Farm and Wilson Farm, Molly’s fall-themed face painting, kids’ games, Guess the Weight of our Big Giant Pumpkin, and photo opportunities at the White Rabbit costume tent and with our one-of-a-kind Market Scarecrow.
Finally, we would like to express our deepest gratitude for our corporate sponsor Ford Lincoln of Franklin for their support in this special seasonal event. So grab the family and don’t miss the Invasion of the Scarecrows October 17, 2015, at the Franklin Farmers Market. And while you’re there, don’t forget to shake the hand of the farmer…we mean scarecrow…that feeds you!
