Welcome to The Midwest Seasonal

It all started with napini.

NAPINI: the flowering tops of overwintered kale. A little like broccoli, a little like cabbage... a little unique. Great stir-fried, steamed, roasted... but not an ingredient that folks know a whole lot about.

Luckily, our local producer of the stuff has a wonderful team of market employees and volunteers who can articulate and educate about the entire variety of produce on hand.

CUT TO: the following week. I'm on the phone with my mom in Southern California, and I'm describing the frittata I made with napini. I explain that it's the flowering tops of overwintered kale. She exclaims, "The farm near our neighborhood has tons of that! But they don't sell it."

​

They don't sell it because the education opportunities for their customer base isn't well-established.

​

And suddenly, the idea for The Midwest Seasonal was born. Part cookbook, part sourcebook for delicious local food, and an opportunity to offer the same sort of education my local farmers can offer me. 

How does it work?

​

The recipes in The Midwest Seasonal are organized by:

1. Season;

2. Main ingredient(s);

3. Type of dish.

Though I'm based in Central Illinois, most of the crops I'll be writing about are available in farmers' markets across the country - so no worries if you are not Midwestern yourself! Each recipe will also include information about where I procured the ingredients, though this information will only be directly usable by people in my local area. Additional posts will be categorized by topic and by season.

​

You will enjoy The Midwest Seasonal if...

​

...you like to cook.

Restaurant chefs often buy direct from farms. That is part of the secret of fine dining! Just by building relationships with your producers, you can increase the quality of your cooking through sourcing the best possible ingredients.

​

...you like to eat.

Do a taste test. Get something from the supermarket, and the same thing from the Farmer's Market. You can draw your own conclusions, but the care that small, local farms take with their products is tastable.

​

...you like to learn.

I love to learn, and I love to share my learning. I'll mostly send out recipes, but every now and then I'll post a profile of a fun ingredient, an interview with a farmer, or some other content to help you feel more at home with your local, seasonal produce.

Over time, I hope that you'll take the information you learn here out into the world and share it with your families and friends. Thank you, and enjoy The Midwest Seasonal!