Cuisine – Marvellous Matakana market salad

Every Saturday is a new food adventure for regular visitors to the Matakana Farmers Market. Locals in the know are the early birds, arriving at the 8am opening time to nab the pick of the fresh produce, filling their bags and then chatting over coffee with friends. It was a rewarding surprise for all involved in the market, operated by the Brick Bay Trust for almost 17 years, to learn it was voted Most Popular Farmers Market at the 2021 Outstanding NZ Food Producers Awards.

There’s a huge variety of seasonal produce year-round, with each week bringing something new and exciting to try and buy. One of the great opportunities at a market is for visitors is to try new products like kombucha, fermented drinks like kefir and shrubs, interesting seeds and healthy freshly roasted nuts and butters. Also, delicacies like buffalo milk ice cream, farm-raised whitebait, paua, excellent sausages and creamy milk and eggs from truly organic farms.

This recipe was motivated after a recent trip through the market looking for a winter salad idea. My usual purchase of a bag of leafy greens has hearty greens such as rainbow spinach and kale in at this time of year. It’s a great place to start as two exceptional growers, Kauri Creek and Durham Farms, carefully select a super array of leaves and often include a few edible petals and herb flowers. Then I spied among the huge array of veggies brought to the market by the legendary Harry, some gorgeous chunks of sweet pumpkin and a bunch of fresh beetroot with huge leaves attached (they are not to be wasted – pop them in a stir fry or casserole). To make my salad really healthy and well balanced I purchased Whangaripo Buffalo Fresca – a fresh, sweet cheese that crumbles beautifully over anything from pasta and pizza to my salads. And the final touch was added with a pottle of Cobara roasted seed mix, and a jar of Wild Rimurimu kelp, sesame and hemp.

Matakana Farmers Market Winter Salad

400g pumpkin (Harry’s market vegetables)
2 tsp kelp, sesame and hemp seed (Rimurimu)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper
1 large beetroot (Harry’s market vegetables)
1 bag fresh mixed salad greens (Durham Farms or Kauri Creek)
3 tbsp mixed roasted seeds (Cobara)
3 tbsp Fresca cheese or feta (Whangaripo Buffalo)
1 tbsp balsamic glaze

Preheat the oven to 180C. Peel the pumpkin and cut into large thin wedges. Sprinkle the pumpkin with the kelp, sesame and hemp mix. Place in a roasting tray and toss in 1 tbsp of the olive oil, adding a little salt and pepper. Cook for 20 minutes until the edges start to turn golden. Meanwhile, cut the beetroot into quarters and stem or simmer until tender (about 15 minutes). Let cool a little, peel and slice each quarter into three or four pieces. Take a shallow bowl or platter and spread the washed and dried greens over the base. Lay the pumpkin slices and beetroot on the leaves so they are spread out evenly. Scatter the seeds over everything. Break the cheese into small nuggets and distribute them evenly over the salad. To finish, drizzle over the remaining olive oil, a little balsamic, and extra salt and pepper. Serves four as an accompaniment to chicken, lamb or steak, or as a lunch dish with seedy bread.

Lauraine Jacobs
www.laurainejacobs.co.nz/blog/