BY JULIA WAYNE
When it’s hot out, the last thing I want to do is cook from scratch. I find that the ingredients I buy at the farmer’s market are generally eaten in exactly the same form in which they were purchased. So, when I want a composed meal, I want someone else to do the cooking. Enter two local companies which deliver gourmet meals featuring locally-sourced food: Eat Local and Got Soup
Greg Conner started Eat Local in response to the frustration he felt about not being able to find fast, locally-sourced meals while working as a financial consultant. Rather than indulging in preservative-rich meals which would make him feel sick later, Greg dreamed about organic, delicious meals preserved only by nature’s natural preservative: freezing. With a kitchen based in Burien and outposts in Queen Anne and downtown Seattle, Eat Local features numerous dishes created using only the freshest local ingredients, with products frozen immediately after completion. Additionally, they sell products from popular local farms like Golden Glen Creamery, Bluebird Grain Farms, and Thundering Hooves.
Although menu items taste best when reheated in the oven, all of them are microwave safe and many taste great leftover and served at room temperature, such as the popular Coronation Chicken and the newly developed Bluebird Grain Emmer Salad. Items are available in compostable containers, or in a glass container, with a refundable deposit. Products are available for delivery all over the country, whether you send it to a neighbor as a thank you gift, or to your overworked, underpaid best friend in Philadelphia, as a reward for being awesome.
When the urge for a comforting bowl of soup strikes—perhaps during our next unseasonably cool evening—look no further than Got Soup. With a rotating weekly menu and organic ingredients sourced from four market tents away, Jerry Baxter’s soup company couldn’t get any more local or delicious. Each week, he features four or five soups (which are frozen for convenience), with at least one vegan and one vegetarian option (however, he always has an inventory of leftover soup options and likes to hear your seasonally-appropriate suggestions). Favorites include Chicken Vindaloo, Northwest Chowder, and Genovese Minestrone with pesto. Soups are available at eleven Seattle-area farmer’s markets and by delivery.