Farmer's Market and Ceviche

Well, I was right about it being a strange spring for things farmery. The market, overall, was mostly full of ready-made things like sauces and soaps and whatnot. But there were, even on that rainy opening day, more than a few edible bright spots. First, pain au chocolat from Scholar's Inn made for a yummy portable breakfast and several dogs who wanted to be my close personal friend. Second, garlic bulbs (like a large scallion with a bigger bulb and garlicy scent) from NuJac that were turned into a super-tasty quasi-ceviche yesterday (recipe below). Third, according to the owner of Hickoryworks, the proprietor of NuJac is a microbiologist who grows cool stuff for fun. That's just neato. Fourth, oyster mushrooms. Fifth, plenty of good bread things from pastries to baguettes to tarts. Sixth, it turns out that Nicole Anderson's market niche is gluten-free baked goods. They looked and smelled yummy, but I'd just finished afore-mentioned p.a.c. Asparagus was abundant and it looked like several varieties of squash were doing well, as were the flowers and herbs. Not bad for the not high season. Especially when you can turn it into tastiness like this:

Ceviche
This recipe is partially stolen from, sorry, inspired by this month's Gourmet, but mostly based on what I had lying around and what I picked up at the market. This is for roughly two people as an appetizer (with leftover salsa).

2 ears of corn
8 large scallops

2 medium tomatoes (medium to me is tennis-ball sized), seeded and diced
Garlic bulb, plus about two inches of the pale green stalk, chopped finely
1 serrano chile, seeded and minced
Juice of one lemon
Juice of one lime

1 avocado, pitted, peeled and sliced thinly (1/4 to 1/2 inch thick)

First, grill the corn. While the corn is grilling, then cooling, mix together all of the vegetables and the juices except the avocado. When the corn is cool enough to handle, slice the kernels off of the ears and add it to your vegetables. You can refrigerate at this point or not. I prefer the taste of room-temp tomatoes, so I didn't. Then, grill the scallops. You aren't going to be doing the classic ceviche "cooking" of the scallops in citric juices, so grill it to your desired taste. To serve, arrange your avocado slices on two plates (half on each). Place the scallops around, spoon the "salsa" over. You could also add greens under the avocado and turn it into an actual salad. Enjoy.