Urban Harvest Farmer's Market & Central Market

Today, I went with my friend, Anne, on a pilgrimage to the Urban Harvest Farmer's Market and then to Central Market.  We didn't have any sort of plan in mind.  We just sampled items and bought impulsively.  It was liberating.


Urban Harvest Farmer's Market
3000 Richmond, Houston, TX
This location is open every Saturday from 8am-12pm 52 weeks a year.  You can email tyler@urbanharvest.org if you have any questions.  I did and he got back to me the same day.

This farmer informed us that every tent at the Urban Harvest Farmer's Market has to produce their own crops, meat, or product.  They cannot buy from another source, mark up the price, and sell it here, which is the case at MANY other farmer's markets, unfortunately.  Not all of the tents are organic, but they all post signs stating whether they are organic or conventional.

I bought onions and tomatoes from this guy.  They were only $4 per bucket; a deal, if you ask me.  These onions weren't here last week so I KNOW they are fresh. It's just about as fresh as you're ever going to get aside from growing it in your own backyard.

These are figs. $5 per basket or two baskets for $8.  I was intrigued, but I'm not really sure what to do with a fig so I didn't buy any.  I need to research some prep/recipe ideas and then I'll give them a go.



This lady made tacos using unconventional ingredients.  I tried the Beet Salad and the Cauliflower Ceviche.  I knew I'd like the Beet Salad, which I did.  But I was worried about trying the Cauliflower Ceviche.  I like ceviche, but I HATE cauliflower.  This woman's ceviche, however, was so delicious that I bought a small tub of it to take home.  I realized that cauliflower and I do have hope of a future together.

From left to right: Hummus, Carrot Dip, Cilantro Dressing, Beets Salad, & Cauliflower Ceviche.

Sinfull is a bakery that sells 100% vegan & organic cookies, pastries, assorted snacks, and fruit/vegetable juice blends.  They don't have their own stand-alone bakery but they outsource to other bakeries, coffee shops, farmer's markets, and grocery stores.  She offered samples of her juices.  I tried the watermelon juice first.  It was yummy and naturally sweet. Then I tried the green lemonade.  It was excellent and I bought a bottle.  The lemonade was not only tasty, but good for you too.  The main flavor is lemon, but there was also a hint of kale, apple, celery, & strawberry blended within it as well.  It was the kind of drink that, if you think about any one of the ingredients, you will taste that ingredient.  If you think of celery, you will taste celery.  If you think of apples, you will taste apples.  But you also always taste the lemon.

Some live music

This couple sells some very fine Extra Virgin Olive Oils from Texas Hill Country Olive Company.  I bought a bottle of the Terra Verde Garlic-Infused EVOO for $15.  Sometimes, when a flavor is infused within another product, you barely get a hint of that flavor.  The garlic flavor in this olive oil, however, was significant.  I can't wait to use it in my recipes at home.

Wild Flowers: $15 per bundle

Fresh Honey (with or without honeycomb) 
& beeswax candles.

I was super stoked when I spotted t'afia's executive chef and owner, Monica Pope, at the Urban Harvest Farmer's Market.  If you aren't aware, t'afia is undergoing a major transformation both menu-wise and architecturally.  They have been closed for nearly two weeks now and are set to open up on Tuesday, August 14th.

If you check out t'afia's website, you will get an eerie glimpse into the transition with no hint as to what's to come.

Houston Press interviewed Pope about the transformation, but mum's the word.  She wouldn't give anything away.

I spoke with her briefly at the farmer's market and told her I was excited for her.  She said she was nervous but excited too.  I wished her good luck and she said she would need it, much more than she thought she would.

Central Market HEB
3815 Westheimer Road, Houston, TX

Have you ever walked into a place and felt rays of sunshine and heard the Angels singing?  I did when I walked into Central Market.  The last time I felt that way was at the Whole Foods in Austin.

The word that kept ringing in my head as we were walking through the aisles here was "extensive."  They had an extensive variety of produce, meats, organic food, vegan food, international food, gluten-free food, trending food, food I've never heard of, beers, & wines.

Another cool thing about this grocery store, besides the wide selection of food, is the maze-like way that the grocery store is set up.  You start in the produce section, then weave your way into the meat and seafood section, then through the dairy section, then through the bakery, then to the prepared foods.  It's truly an adventure.  And the coolest part are the arrows that show you shortcuts to get back to a previous section. I wish I'd gotten a picture of them.

August is the Hatch Chile Festival

The theme of the entire grocery store was hatch chile peppers.  There were all kinds of foods flavored with hatch chiles.  I bought chicken breasts that were basted with a roasted hatch chile marinade.

                    Kit Kitchen

Anne introduced me to this concept.  The idea is to choose a recipe, pick the color-coded/pre-packaged ingredients, take them home, & cook a meal.  Those are the recipe cards in the picture to the right.





These are the Kit Kitchen 
Pre-Packaged Ingredients

Neat idea, right?

Bulgarian Yogurt

I bought one of these Bulgarian Yogurt jars.  I wanted to see how it compared with Greek Yogurt.  

I bought some coconut milk.  I recently went to a Thai restaurant with Anne and her husband and, for dessert, I ate coconut sticky rice with slices of mango placed on top.  I wanted to try and recreate it at home.

The caps on these beers are called PakTech Six Pack rings and are more eco-friendly. They don't get stuck around the necks of wild animals like traditional six-pack rings and they are made from a plastic that is more easily recycled.  I first learned of these when my husband and I went to Maui, HI.  We took a tour of Maui Brewing Company and they told us about the purpose and benefits of these can carriers.

The longest olive bar I've ever seen.  I couldn't even get a picture of the entire thing.  This is about 2/3 of it.

The Bakery

Just look at the creativity and color.

Macarons!  

These are the latest fad in desserts and I've been wanting to try one.  It tasted similar to a cookie with icing or jam in the middle.  My son is the pickiest eater in the world and he ate one and loved it.





I had such a nice time today.  I need to make this pilgrimage with Anne more often.  Next time, we'll have a plan.  :)