Farmstand corn crepes

Roadside farm stands are making a comeback. They’ve been around forever, though they’re more common in some places than others. Growing up in New England, I saw a lot of self-serve apple stands. Today, however, some of the farm stands where I live are edging close to being one-stop shops, with loaves of bread and balls of pizza dough — delivered by a local bakery — available for sale alongside the veggies.

If you have a stocked pantry and live in the neighborhood, a quick stop by your local farm stand on the way home might save you a trip to the store. From a farmer’s perspective, the potential benefits are also compelling. Selling produce at the edge of the field offers the shortest commute imaginable. You don’t have to pack and unpack a truck or deal with customers at the market, perhaps in the rain and wind. And farmers who do make the trek to the market can rely on their farm stands to unload unsold produce. Meanwhile, farmers who sell their produce at wholesale prices to stores, restaurants and distributors might find they prefer letting the produce sell itself.

My friend Josh built his family’s first farm stand five years ago on the road beside his field, and they were quite happy with the results. When COVID hit, the stand moved from being an experiment to a lifesaver. Sales shot up 500%, which more than picked up the slack from declining restaurant and market sales.

“People didn’t want to go into crowded stores or farmers markets, and the open-air, self-serve nature of a farm stand was really appealing,” he told me.

It all made sense. But to his pleasant surprise, farmstand sales have only continued to improve year after year. Most of their sales now come from the stand. He isn’t looking for new wholesale accounts and quit going to the market altogether.

We had this discussion in his barn as he trimmed garlic with a team of interns and employees. Somehow, the conversation turned to a meal Josh had recently made from produce he had snagged from the farm stand: sweet corn pancakes topped with fresh salsa and a side of potato salad. The general response to the meal boiled down to, “I was so full, but I needed to keep eating.”

My family reached a similar conclusion after a very enjoyable cooking session. I modified his recipe to make the pancake batter thinner, so the finished product was more like a crepe. It’s so much fun to work with the beautiful tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, onions, corn and cilantro that it feels more like hanging out with friends — old friends whom I haven’t seen since last year’s harvest.

Corn crepes

These light, delicate crepes go well with either sweet or savory toppings. For this meal, serve them with salsa and potato salad and garnish with meat.

Serves six

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 4 cups fresh corn, cut off the cob
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups buttermilk
• Butter for frying

Mix the cornmeal, flour, salt and baking powder. Add the oil, eggs, water, buttermilk and three cups of corn to a blender and liquefy. Combine with the dry ingredients and let sit for about an hour. When ready to cook, melt butter on a hot skillet and pour small crepes (about 4 inches across). Flip them when they start to bubble, about three to five minutes.

Fresh salsa

• This recipe is best with a diversity of tomatoes, as only summer can provide.
• Serves six
• 8 cups chopped tomatoes
• 2 cups chopped sweet onions
• 2 cups sweet peppers
• Hot peppers or flakes to taste
• Chopped cilantro to taste
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

Combine the ingredients and let

sit for about an hour.

Farmstand potato salad

A little bit Asian. A little bit German. A little bit of mayo. What else do you need? 

Serves six

• 2 pounds potatoes
• 4 cups chopped yellow onions
• Three cloves chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons mayo
• 10 slices bacon, cooked and
• crumbled

Cut the potatoes to equal size and steam until tender. Meanwhile, saute the onions and garlic in the oil. When the onions are translucent, add the soy sauce and lemon and simmer for five more minutes. Add the potatoes and stir to coat. Add the mayo and bacon, stir again and serve.