YOU CAN BUY exotic sausages and fancy buns, but to truly gild the grilled lily, you simply must lay out a selection of fine mustards, relishes, and pickles. At her Pickle Jar company, owner Alima Lopez understands the joys of tasty culinary trappings—particularly those of the fermented kind. Gleaning produce from her Santa Fe home garden and other local sources, she first experimented with food preservation, and then discovered the benefits of pickling, which adds digestible, enzyme-rich probiotics to a piquant mix. Her mantra—small-batch, raw, cultured—celebrates her love of local, healthy produce, with a focus on the yum. Gussy up that picnic plate with her regularly changing flavored mustards, including red chile honey, fermented red currant rosemary, fermented whole grain, green chile coriander, and turmeric garlic (each from $6). Toss her Lemon Thyme Turnips ($12) in salads, into wraps, and on falafel. A shot of her Garlic Ginger Lime or Dukkah brines will get your gut going, along with your taste buds.
Read More: Choose an unfamiliar ingredient on your next farmers' market trip.
Purchase Pickle Jar preserves at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market and Albuquerque Downtown Growers’ Market.