“Shake the hand that feeds you,” advises Michael Pollan in his latest book, In Defense Of Food (The Penguin Press, 2008). “As soon as you do,” says Pollan, “accountability becomes a matter of relationships” not “regulation or labeling.”  In the wake of the recent beef recall — the largest in history — many of Pollan’s readers may just follow his counsel.

 

In recent years, official stamps such as “certified organic” and “USDA inspected” have become synonymous with “healthy” and “safe,” marking for consumers “the best” choices at the supermarket. But knowing just a few basic facts about your food — who grows it; where it grows; and how it grows — information obtained from short conversations at farmers’ markets, may be a more dependable food-safety system: Remember, it was organic, pre-washed bagged spinach grown on mega farms that sickened hundreds of people with E. coli in the fall of 2006. While much of the public panicked, boycotting the contaminated green at supermarkets and restaurants around the country, patrons of local farmers’ markets resumed shopping as always, purchasing spinach if they so desired without thinking twice.

 

This past Sunday, while I didn’t get to shake the hand of Andrea Peterson, the woman who grows the delectable arugula I’ve been purchasing each week at the San Clemente farmers’ market, I spoke with her over the phone. I had retrieved her number that morning from Alicia Weyeneth, a long-time stand worker, who encouraged me to call, assuring me Ms. Peterson would answer — would love to answer — all of my questions.

 

Had I not taken Pollan’s recommendation to heart, and simply placed my produce in my bag without exchanging more than a few words, I would have walked away content with my purchases but still unconscious of where and how my greens had grown. From my brief conversation with Ms. Peterson, I learned that, in addition to a variety of baby lettuces, this Fallbrook farmer grows bananas, mangos, guavas, cherimoyas and sapotes; and that her rapini originates from Italy, its seeds brought to her by two customers wanting her to grow it; and that on her 15-acre farm, she also runs a charming bed and breakfast; and that several high-end restaurants in San Diego and L.A. purchase her prized greens year-round.

 

Over the phone, Ms. Peterson explained that her farm, perched in the hills seven miles east of Oceanside, keeps cool in the summer and relatively warm in the winter, allowing her to grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Though “the spring has been consistently cold,” she said, and “some of the lettuce has just been sitting in the ground,” she expected normal growing conditions to resume by the end of the week.

 

Currently, Ms. Peterson’s market offerings include arugula, tat soi (an Asian green similar to bok choi), rapini (broccoli rabe) and baby lettuce. During peak season, however, the stand abounds with beans, strawberries, squash, cucumbers, oranges and wild honey.

 

Before hanging up the phone, Ms. Peterson asked me how I planned to cook the rapini I had purchased. When I told her I had no plan, she prescribed a simple recipe passed on to her by the Italian customers who had given her the rapini seeds. “Boil a pot of water,” she told me. “Place the rapini and pasta — linguini works well — together in the pot. Meanwhile, brown a lot of garlic in olive oil. When the pasta finishes cooking, drain it, and toss the mixture with a good cheese such as Romano. Season it with black pepper.”

 

With my mouth watering, I hung up the phone. I could hardly wait for dinner, only six hours away. I began mentally preparing: I would cook the rapini with a package of Delaney’s Culinary Fresh red pepper linguini — a frequent Sunday purchase — and toss it with sautéed garlic and grated Parmigiano Reggiano, two staples in my kitchen.

 

Sunday evening, my husband and I relished our rapini-linguini dinner. Though I hadn’t shaken a farmer’s hand that morning, I had come close, and with her greens the star on our plates and her idyllic farm the center of our conversation, Ms. Peterson may as well have been joining us at the table.

  

Peterson Specialty Produce

Blueheronfarmbandb.com

San Clemente Farmers’ Market

Sunday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

200 Avenida Del Mar

 

Rapini, also called broccoli rabe is an Italian favorite. Sautéed with garlic and olive oil, rapini makes a wonderful topping for bruschetta or a spicy addition to grilled cheese. It has tender stems, small florets and ruffled leaves.

 

Rapini-Linguini

Serves 4

 

kosher salt

2 bunches or 1 lb. rapini (Peterson Specialty Produce)

1 lb. fresh linguini (Delaney’s Culinary Fresh)

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

red pepper flakes (optional)

¼ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano, plus more to taste

fresh cracked black pepper

 

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a big pinch of kosher salt.
2. Roughly chop the rapini. Add the rapini and fresh pasta to the pot. Cook for two minutes. Scoop out a ½ cup of the cooking liquid. Drain pasta and rapini, but do not rinse.
3. Meanwhile, place the garlic and olive oil together in a sauté pan over medium heat. When the garlic begins to sizzle, watch closely. After 2 or 3 minutes, add red pepper flakes to the pan and turn off the heat.
4. Place the pasta and rapini in a large bowl. Add the grated cheese, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the garlic-olive oil mixture to the bowl and toss. Taste, adding reserved cooking liquid a tablespoon at a time if the mixture is dry.
5. Serve pasta, passing more cheese on the side if desired.