The Market for Every Diet

That's what I'm talking about.

The weather forecast promises the arrival of summer, just in time for this week's Markets! And summer's arrival means it's time to break out the barbecues and bikinis. Well--at least the barbecue. But, if you were indeed thinking bikini this summer, have I got a Market for you.

Some parents and I were shivering poolside for morning swim team practice, swathed in blankets and nursing coffees, while we abused our children by making them actually get in the darned water. And the topic of diets came up. One woman was reading the latest book, a modification of the meat-and-non-starchy-vegetables "paleo" diet. She assured me it was an "easy" diet, one the whole family could try without too much effort. I took a quick look at its anti-sugar and anti-grains stance and handed the book back. All I know is, when I die, they will find me with pasta in one hand and bread in the other.

If you do hold with the "caveman"/paleo camp, you believe human beings' bodies function best on a hunter-gatherer, non-processed diet. We have a Market for that.

Two If By Sea

Your PALEO shopping list:

Fresh/frozen salmon
Pastured beef
Pork
Chicken
Sausage
Farm-fresh eggs
Salad Mix
Broccoli
Asparagus
Spinach
Kale
Cucumbers
Tomatoes


Strict paleo dieters lay off the dairy products, but if you lean Atkins-ward or modified paleo, you know cheese, butter, yogurt, and milk are fair game! Add in:

Golden Glen's Cheese Curds and Flavored Butters

Blessed are the cheesemakers! May I personally recommend Golden Glen Creamery's Cheddar with Sun-Dried Tomato, Samish Bay's Ladysmith with Chives, and Tieton Farm & Creamery's Feta, made with goat and sheep's milk? If you can't have crackers with your cheese, make sure the cheese is good enough to eat on its own!

Then, clear on the other side of the spectrum, was the book I read that compared the human digestive system to that of our closest primate cousins. It concluded that, based on our teeth types, length of gut and so on, we were made to eat mostly, vegetarian. Vegetables, fruits, insects, other plants. Of the primates, our innards bear passing resemblance to a Capuchin monkey's. Therefore I give you the

CAPUCHIN MONKEY Shopping List:
Blueberries
Strawberries
Raspberries
Cherries
Tomatoes
Sugar Snap Peas
Snow Peas
Broccoli
Asparagus
(any bugs you happen to find on the ground--no charge!)

Less strict Capuchin-Monkey-dieters can add in anything remotely vegetarian. If it were me, I would throw in some of La Pasta's Whole Wheat pasta, which Dmitri explains is not as chewy as the not-terribly-yummy whole wheat pasta found in stores because his is fresh. He also offers Roasted Bell Pepper Pasta, and Lemon with Cracked Pepper. Mmmm... if you're doing carbs, make them worth it.

And finally, if you've decided to ditch the bikini and the diet, there's always a scoop of Scout Mint at Molly Moon's. This, if you can believe it, was a "kids scoop"! Note the size of the Thin Mint cookie slab my twelve-year-old scored.

The Non-Dieter's Diet

Something for everyone. Enjoy the sunshine and have a happy 4th!