It’s summer, when everyone in the Oldways Whole Grains Council offices slips out to the Copley Square Farmer’s Market, just a few blocks away, to enjoy the best of local foods. From May to November we savor the vegetables, artisan breads, ripe fruit and crafts that only a good Farmers’ Market can offer. Then we go into withdrawal for six months, when none of this is available to us.

Now all that has changed, with the opening earlier this month of the new indoor Boston Public Market, with more than three dozen vendors. It’s open sixty hours a week, all year, giving us a Foodie Mecca whenever the spirits moves us. I had to stop by and look for whole grains.

First stop, Mother Juice. As the name implies, they’ll throw all kinds of fruits and vegetables into their juicer and serve it up, but they also have some great whole grains. Since it was early morning, their Overnight Oats caught my eye first. Rolled oats, almond milk, dates, banana, topped with granola, almond butter, fresh fruit and coconut flakes, all for just $5.95. I knew I’d need to come back for lunch another day, though, when I spotted their grain bowls, with choices like the “Keen-Whaat!” (red quinoa with marinated kale, carrots, beets, scallions, avocado and ginger-tahini dressing) and the “Forbidden Rice Bowl” (spicy black rice, red & yellow peppers, spinach, scallions, cilantro, cashews, and tamari-lime-sriracha dressing).

A few steps down the aisle, I noticed that Inna’s Kitchen – “Jewish Cuisine from Around the World” – was giving its customers a choice of white or whole wheat Israeli pita bread. I stopped to question the young man at the counter. “What percent of your customers would you estimate choose the whole wheat pita when they order?” He told me that whenever people order felafel they nearly always ask for white pita – but when they order the shakshuka, shown here, most people ask for whole wheat. If you offer it, they will come.

The smell of fresh bread drew me over to Mamadou’s Artisan Bakery. Run by a family from Senegal, Mamadou’s offers crusty baguettes, sourdough, ciabatta, and much more. Although none of the loaves – even the Farmers Whole Wheat – is 100% whole grain, many of the breads include whole wheat in their ingredients, so we gave a happy nod to their stall as we continued our exploration.

We know the Bon Me Food Truck – they’ve partnered with us for Whole Grain Sampling Day. At Boston Public Market, they’ve come in off the street, with an outpost that offers the same “bold, fresh and fun Vietnamese cuisine sold in their five trucks and two other restaurants. All their rice bowls can come with either brown rice or white rice. They weren’t open yet, so we couldn’t ask about whether their soba noodles were made traditional-style, with buckwheat.

Siena Farms is our go-to farm at Copley Market. (One of the great fringe benefits at Oldways is an annual discount card for Siena Farms.) Chef Ana Sortun, wife of farmer Chris Kurth, is a WGC culinary advisor, and always a big supporter of whole grains in every form. Sure enough, we found local corn tortillas, made with heirloom corn, and a wonderful line of grains – oats, steel-cut oats and local wheat flour – from Aurora Mills in Linneus, Maine. 

It’s definitely time to get to the office, but I can’t resist one last stop, at Nella Pasta, where a big platter labeled “Ancient Grain Rigatoni” caught my eye. I love the back story of this place: two women (Rachel and Leigh) who both studied Italian cuisine in Florence, just blocks from each other – but didn’t meet until three years later when they worked in the same office and bonded over their love of food.

When I asked about their rigatoni, they told me it contains semolina, whole wheat, whole spelt, quinoa and buckwheat flour – and offered me a taste. I’m not much of a judge of uncooked pasta, though, so I opted to take home a quarter pound to get a real feel for it. We grilled a variety of summer vegetables to top the pasta, and it was indeed delicious.

I’d like to go back and try the Three Cheese White Bean Whole Wheat Ravioli Nella Pasta features on their website, too. It looks divine.

What are you buying at your local market? We love to hear about the grains that are available around the country, so add your comments here. (Cynthia)