To Market, To Market, for Patty Pan Grill

Special to Seattlest by Ann Janikowski

With all the fresh fruit and produce at the Ballard Farmer's Market, it’s easy to overlook the other perks stemming from such a pipeline of tasty ingredients--street food!

After stocking up on our greens for the week (and falling prey to the hunger that often accompanies grocery shopping), we scouted out a stand with the steadiest stream of customers, in this case Patty Pan Grill. Since closing the doors to their brick and mortar locale earlier this year, the owners have been focusing on the captive audience found at farmer's markets and the formula seems to be working.

By virtue of its ingredients, the tamale with grilled vegetables ($6) was a nice diversion from the standard hot dogs and crepes. The masa was firmly packed with bits of corn and tomatoes, and the grilled vegetables were a nice mix of zucchini, greens, carrots, beets, rhubarb and onions (no doubt inspired by their fellow vendors). Admittedly though, we regret having passed on the tomatillo salsa--though the veggies kept a firm bite (hard to do after they’ve been sitting on a grill in a heatwave), their stand-alone flavor was a bit lacking.

Nevertheless, the veggie quesadillas were also a great choice. Packed with the same combo of vegetables as the tamale dish and melted with monterey jack cheese inside a sundried tomato tortilla, we found that it paired perfectly in the heat with a cup of ginger mint iced tea (though at $1.50, we just wish there was more of it).

You can find Patty Pan Grill at the market every Sunday, along with recipes for their quesadillas. And by the way, it’s National Farmer's Market Week, so be sure to visit your local market and then vote for your favorite!