Another fantastic farmers market at Trout Lake this weekend we were lucky the rain held off until Sunday. I was in a bit of a hurry this week as I was doing biodynamic craniosacral therapy taster sessions at our local community garden, but I managed to fill my bilum (beautiful, highly expandable handcrafted market bag from Papua New Guinea) to bursting with all kinds of goodies to get me through the week.

When we first arrived in Vancouver in 2008 the farmers markets were quite a different story–we couldn’t afford anything–even the eggs were excessively expensive at that time–it made me very sad. Now I find that the best place to buy eggs is at the farmers market, not only are they cheaper than the so called ‘free range’ eggs sold at supermarkets, but you can meet the people who are taking care of the chickens as well. I also really like that the market has expanded the grass-fed and free-range local meat and many of the vendors are very affordable.

This week I only had $60 to spend. $11 of that went for 2 dozen eggs from my favorite egg guy (I’ll see if I can get a photo next week). I then made a beeline for Gelderman Farms and got a couple of juicy pork tenderloins, bacon and some delicious spicy Italian sausages. They use celery juice for their natural bacon and don’t put any wheat fillers into their Italian sausages which is just perfect for our grain-free diet.

I was especially delighted to find a vendor at the end of the market selling asparagus! Yum. So I got me a bundle of those as well as some cilantro and parsley. The parsley I have made into an herbal tea with rose-hips and tulsi to help detox my kidneys. Parsley has a very powerful action on the kidneys and mine need all the help they can get right now.

When I got home I defrosted one of the pork tenderloins in a marinade of pomegranate kombucha. I must recommend making a Chocolate Walnut Torte before making this meal because I used the same dried cherry compote as a glaze for my pork loin that was used as a topping for the torte.

After quickly searing the pork tenderloin in my cast iron pan, I coated it with the dried cherry compote and tossed in the asparagus. I also added the kombucha to deglaze the pan and put it in a 350 degree oven (or thereabouts) for around 10 – 15 mins (depends on size of pork tenderloin how long you want to cook it–the kombucha will keep it juicy if you leave it in a bit long).

In the meantime I chopped up some of the cilantro to add to a batch of saurkraut I’d made from cabbage and carrots I got from the Nat Bailey Winter Market, and tossed it all together with some olive oil and a touch of salt. This made a delicious salad that is also helpful for digesting the pork. (My Korean friends swear you must eat pork with kimchi to aid digestion–saurkraut works just as well).

When the pan came out of the oven I tossed the asparagus with the remaining chopped walnuts I had left over from the Chocolate Torte and added some parmesan and prosciutto from our local Italian grocer.

Now this dish may not look all that flashy but the flavors really came together in a most tantalizing way. The cherry compote had a touch of cardamom which went well with the pomegranate kombucha, the cilantro kraut salad added in a perfect tangy-ness and the asparagus just loved the crunchy addition of walnuts and prosciutto. I am drooling just thinking of it 🙂 Once again a practically all-local dinner.