Need some new ideas for your upcoming summer picnics? Check out my Mediterranean Mushroom Salad Croissants over on The Mushroom Channel.

Mushrooms are the perfect centerpiece of Meatless Monday meals — particularly the meaty and flavorful fresh mushrooms now available at local farmers markets. And did you know that mushrooms are the only vegetable that provides Vitamin D? They also contain potassium, antioxidants and even protein. Morels, available locally for a very limited period in the spring, have an intense earthy flavor that is every bit as satisfying as a juicy steak — and that’s a good thing, as morels are about as pricey as a steak. Here in the DC area, they go for $20 a pint at the Mushroom Stand (Penn Quarter, Dupont Circle, Arlington farmers markets). I won’t depress my neighbors by mentioning how much I paid for them in Oregon. Regardless, they are worth the once- or twice-a-year splurge and make for an easy weeknight meal as they benefit from a very simple preparation with nothing more than butter, sea salt and a splash of wine. We enjoyed this with a salad of fresh herbs and Loudoun lettuce mix and a sourdough bread from the Penn Quarter farmers market.

To prep the morels, I swish them gently in a bowl of cold water before cutting them in half, length-wise, and rinsing gently under running water to remove any dirt or insects that may be hidden inside. Pat them dry and place on paper towels to air dry the rest of the way before cooking — cooking wet mushrooms can cause slimy or mushy results.

So far my son is about 50/50 on whether he’s in the mood to eat mushrooms, but an extra dose of grated cheese helps smooth the way. You can also make this with whatever kind of mushroom you have on hand when morels aren’t available — honey mushrooms are another favorite of ours.

Recipe: Egg Noodles with Morels

Ingredients:

• 1 pint morels, cleaned and halved (see above)
• 8 ounces wide egg noodles
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• sea salt
• 1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
• grated parmesan cheese, optional

Instructions: Cook egg noodles according to package instructions. While the noodles cook, melt one tablespoon of the butter in a large heavy skillet over medium high heat. Cook the morels in a single layer until edges begin to brown, about 8-10 minutes. Turn them only once while cooking. When browned, sprinkle with a generous pinch of sea salt, add remaining three tablespoons of butter and the wine and let cook a minute more. Remove from heat. Drain egg noodles and toss with the parsley. Gently fold in the morels and sauce. Garnish with parmesan cheese, if desired, and enjoy! Makes 4 servings.

The FoodieTots family participates in Meatless Mondays, cutting out meat one day a week for our health and for the environment. (When we do eat meat, we choose local and grassfed whenever possible.) Visit the Meatless Monday pledge page to learn more and sign up for weekly tips and recipes you can use to go meatless, too!

We were very disappointed to lose the mushroom vendor from our neighborhood (Del Ray) market this past year, especially as I had made such great progress the prior year in convincing my previously mushroom-adverse husband that they really weren’t so bad. So now to get our local ’shroom fix I have to head to one of the FreshFarm markets, which means Dupont Circle in the winter months.

The preferred choice of both the husband and my son are these cute, sweet little honey mushrooms. They require little effort to prepare, and for a really easy meal, I whipped up some instant polenta, with a generous touch of cheese, then topped it with leftover tomato sauce and sauteed mushrooms.

Quick and scrumptious, what could be better for a (meatless) Monday night?

Recipe: Polenta al Funghi (Mushroom Polenta)

Ingredients:

• 1 pint honey mushrooms
• 1 box instant polenta
• 4 cups water
• salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 cup pasta sauce

Instructions:

1. Bring water to a boil.

2. Rinse mushrooms and pat dry. Heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring only once or twice, until they begin to darken. Add 1 tablespoon butter to pan and remove from heat. Season mushrooms with sea salt and pepper.

3. Prepare polenta as instructed on package. When thickened, stir in 1 tablespoon butter and the cheese. Remove from heat.

4. Warm pasta sauce.

5. Spoon polenta onto plates, shaping a small well in the center. Top with a few spoonfuls of pasta sauce and scatter mushrooms over the top. Enjoy! Makes 4 servings.

It’s been a rainy spring thus far in the Washington area, and I keep reminding myself that April showers bring May strawberries, June blueberries, and so on. Cherry blossoms have bloomed, and bringing even more reason for cheer, April marks the first re-openings of our area’s seasonal farmers markets.

Last week saw the opening of DC Fresh Farm’s Foggy Bottom (Wednesday) and Penn Quarter (Thursday) markets, and this coming Saturday is the official re-opening of my neighborhood market, the Del Ray Farmers Market in Alexandria. Judging from the lines at Smith Meadows’ stand lately at our “secret” winter market, Saturday is sure to be busy so get there early for the best selection. Mr. Biggs has already been back with greenhouse-grown tomatoes that will help tide you over till summer. And for other markets in the area, Fairfax County markets open the first week in May and the Alexandria Upper King Street market doesn’t open until June. See the end of this post for a complete list of opening dates.

Opening Day Find – Morels! Last Thursday at Penn Quarter’s grand opening, I snagged some of the first morels of the season from the Mushroom Lady; they will be available in greater quantities in the next few weeks. There were plenty of fresh greens to be had, but no signs of asparagus quite yet. Last year’s apples and pears are on their last legs, but fresh strawberries are still a few weeks away.

As the market season kicks into gear, watch for new features here at FoodieTots, particularly for those of you in the Northern VA/DC area. In an effort to make room for new resources on the sidebar, I’ve moved and expanded my “Eat Local, Elsewhere” blog list to the “Locavore Links” tab up above. Check it out and let me know of other locavore bloggers I should be following. Thanks as always for reading, and stay dry out there!

Read on for the complete Northern Virginia Farmers Market 2009 Schedule…

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In my previous wrap-up of our vacation, I mentioned the fabulous North Portland coffee shop Random Order where we had locally-roasted espresso and pies featuring locally-grown ingredients. I have a few more food highlights to share from our trip to the Pacific Northwest, where everything is big and bold, from the mountains to the coffee, the produce and the rain!

We spent a rainy morning at the midweek Portland Farmers Market downtown. Located just a few blocks from my old alma mater, this relatively small market was still a total sensory overload. So much variety and unique items, such as the Picklopolis stand, fresh Columbia River salmon and one of my favorites, Rogue River Creamery cheeses. We only bought a few things for dinner that evening as we were headed to the Coast the next day, so settled on some glorious baby artichokes, padron peppers and morels.

We were also blown away by Hot Lips’ local berry sodas. The label even specifies the farm where the berries were grown. How’s that for knowing where your food comes from?! Hot Lips is a local pizza joint where my classmates and I, after turning in all the soda cans we could round up (Oregon’s refundable cans, the husband couldn’t understand why we had to save all our cans), would fork over our change for delicious pizza. Now they make this awesome soda and in addition to the flavors at market – blackberry, blueberry, marionberry, strawberry, each with just a touch of real cane sugar and carbonated water – they serve a black raspberry from the tap. Sadly, we didn’t make it into the store to try that one.

We also bought some fresh tamales, mine was artichoke and peppers, and devoured them right there in the rain, while the toddler made his way through a pint of blackberries.

That night, we simply steamed the artichokes, sauteed the morels in butter, and fried up the peppers according to the instructions provided by the vendor. Each was remarkably fresh and flavorful and a great compliment to my Dad’s spaghetti.

I’ll post a weekly Pacific NW feature for the rest of the month, so check back every Monday! And on tap for the remainder of this week, a special series on Preserving the Tastes of Summer.