Spirit Rock is committed to providing guests, retreatants, and staff with delicious, nourishing meals sourced from local vendors and ingredients. Join Chef Collins as he explores the Marin County Farmers Market to prepare the November 2024 featured recipe.

Mid-October was a great time to visit the Marin Farmers Market, where we experienced the vibrant transition from summer to fall in the harvest. At Full Belly Farm, our crew picked up end-of-summer cherry tomatoes, bicolor corn, and okra, which we sautéed together with some miso and butter for the next day’s market menu. We also sourced fresh Coco Nero shelling beans from Star Route Farms. (Fresh shelling beans are a lot of work, but their rich texture and flavor make the effort well worth it!) We then cooked these along with dried beans from Iacopi Farms and created an herb purée of cilantro, parsley, and shallots for our beans and greens dish.

For more fall flavor, we got some beautiful ruby red pomegranates and red walnuts from Feather River Farms, green beans from Full Belly, and spicy arugula from Star Route Farms which inspired our November recipe of the month: Quinoa Salad with Pomegranate, Roasted Walnuts, Green Beans, and Arugula. We also gathered apples and pears from Michelle at Rainbow Orchards, plus some berries from Ortiz Farms for a sweet breakfast treat.

The giant pumpkins you see are Muscade de Provence, from Feather River, and the potatoes from Anabelle at Star Route are so fresh you can rub the skin off with your fingers! We boiled them with herbs and garlic, let them cool overnight, then roasted them with rosemary and onion the next day. We wrapped up our market trip by picking up our dried pasta for the month from Mill Valley Pasta Company and grabbing a treat from Fire Swamp Provisions.