Funky foods await discovery at farmers market

• What: Vancouver Farmers Market. Find both strange items and a seasonal array of local produce, flowers, plants, baked goods, food, pet treats, and accessories for home and garden.

• Where: Sixth and Esther streets, downtown Vancouver.

• When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays, through Oct. 28.

• Information: Vancouver Farmers Market or 360-737-8298.

With a slight seafoody smell and a dusty pumpkin color, you might consider the lobster mushroom to be the orange sheep of the farmers market produce family.

Nestled in a bin at Rick’s Wild Mushrooms, near the usual array of booths at the Vancouver Farmers Market, the odd fungi can easily cause a raised eyebrow or a curious sniff.

But for those looking to try something different, they’re just the cap of a tasty new world of weird that stems from approaching the market with a careful eye.

“It tastes very seafoodish,” said Rick Pine, who owns the stand. “It’s actually a white russula mushroom that’s been attacked by parasites, which is what gives it the orange color and the flavor.”

The mushrooms are common in nearby mountain areas, such as Mount St. Helens, Mount Hood and Mount Adams.

But what do you do with them? Pine said he has the perfect recipe for lobster mushroom newbies.

“I like to sauté them with butter and garlic, put them in a white cream sauce, then add bay shrimp and fettuccine noodles,” Pine said. “It makes a wonderful shrimp fettuccine.”

And if that’s not your thing, a little googling will turn up hundreds of recipes for the funky fungi.

“Some people even put them on pizza,” Pine said.

Some years you’ll find a more unusual array of items than others, said Jordan Boldt, the market’s executive director, of vendor offerings.

This year hasn’t been the biggest for weird vegetables, but heading into fall there’s sure to be some interesting squash popping up in bins at various stands.

Liz Schober, her mother, is also a fan of greens. She had a quick recipe for chard, a vitamin-rich red and green vegetable that she admits doesn’t really taste very good raw.

“A lot of people blend chard and put it in soup or smoothies because it’s so nutritious,” Schober said. “It’s kind of like putting wheat grass in things.”

Chard smoothies are great, she said, because they hide the taste but still give you the health benefits.

To start, stick a bundle of chard in the blender with a little water and mix it until it’s close to a liquid. Then add one mango, one cup of raspberries or blueberries, some ice and a few splashes of apple juice and blend the mix again and it’s ready to go.

Her mother likes to use the pickled barbecue garlic in a smoked salmon pasta dish with peas. And she uses the stand’s pickled spicy Italian garlic in soups and lasagne.

“Somebody said the Italian garlic was like pickled pizza,” Berry said. “I thought that was funny.”

As for the okra, a lot of people eat it straight up as an appetizer, but you can also chop it up and put it in salads.

“I had one guy that said he grilled it and it was good,” she said. “Although I’m not sure I’d try that.”

Pickled asparagus and pickled green beans? Those are also good as snacks, in salads or chopped up.

“The asparagus is actually great in Bloody Marys, too, instead of the usual celery,” Berry added.

Want something more substantial? Little Farms has you covered if you want to try a goat burger or goat chop.

“People used to turn their nose up at goat until we started sampling it,” said Renee Cote-Kreinbring, co-owner of the farm. “Now they like it. We sell quite a bit. Our goat pepperoni pretty much always sells out early.”

For those new to goat, Cote-Kreinbring recommends starting off with goat chops or ground goat. “It’s like deer but without the gamey flavor, or like really lean beef,” she said. “It also has 30 percent less fat and cholesterol than chicken.”

Goat chops are made just like pork chops. Cote-Kreinbring likes them with a little olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and grilled for about three minutes on each side.

Ground goat is good in burgers and spaghetti sauce, she said.

If you look carefully, you’ll probably find a host of other unusual items amid the more standard bins of green beans, onions, lettuce, tomatoes and potatoes. And most vendors will be more than happy to give you advice on how to cook them, the market’s Boldt said.

“There are a lot of interesting new things out there to try if you just look,” he said.