This Saturday's South Anchorage Farmers Market will turn into the Great Salmon Grill-off, with visitors eating and voting.

Trout Unlimited Alaska is hosting a Savor Bristol Bay event Saturday at the market. It will include filleting demonstrations, a salmon cook-off and tasting, and fish art and T-shirt printing for children.

Chefs from the Bear Tooth Theatrepub & Grill, Sack's Café, Jack Sprat and the Bradley House will grill up freshly caught Bristol Bay sockeye salmon, give away samples and allow the public to vote on the best recipe. The cook-off and tasting is 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with the winning chef announced around 1 p.m.

The event, which is 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in conjunction with the market's regular schedule at the Subway/Cellular One Sports Center at the corner of Old Seward Highway and O'Malley Road, is designed to highlight the value of Alaska's Bristol Bay sockeye salmon fishery. Officials say Bristol Bay salmon contribute more than $400 million to Alaska's economy annually, and the conflict between the fishery and the proposed Pebble Mine has been ongoing.

Later this summer, Savor Bristol Bay events are planned in Seattle and Portland.

For those looking to bring some fresh fish home, Arctic Choice will be at the market with fresh king and sockeye salmon, sablefish, halibut fillets, cod, rockfish, side stripe shrimp, spot shrimp and razor clam meat. Other items in the coolers include halibut cheeks, scallops and king crab.

And in the garden side of the market, Mark Rempel says summer is really coming on. "The fields are turning from brown to green with the blessing of great sunshine and some water," he says. "That means that the variety of available vegetables is increasing." Rempel will have snow apple turnips, lettuce, bok choi, arugula, spinach, basil, radishes, rhubarb and several greens.

Other vendors at the market include:

• VanderWeele Farms, which will have red oak, bibb, lollo rosso, green and red leaf lettuces, along with bags of russet potatoes.

• Glacier Valley Farms will bring hanging strawberry baskets and tomato plants.

• Country Garden Farms will have sod.

• Rise & Shine Bakery will be back with plenty of bread options, including, toasted walnut, Parmesan cheese and roasted garlic, dark chocolate and cherry, Alaskan potato sourdough and Alaskan barley. The potato sourdough is made with Valley potatoes, while the barley is grown in Delta Junction.

• French Oven Bakery will bring bread and Bolillo rolls, which is a Mexican bread similar to French bread.

• Bearsden Gardens will be featuring lemon basil, a fourth variety of basil it is bringing to the market. It will also have pineapple sage, cilantro, rosemary, thyme, oregano and other herbs.

• Grey Owl Farm will have a variety of perennial plants, including, pixie lilies, ligularia, Johnson's blue geranium, creeping phlox and Karl Forester calamagrostis grass. It also has a few annuals remaining.

• Red Beet Bistro will bring Rhubarb cake; mint almond muffins and fresh mint vinaigrette are new items to look for this week

At the Anchorage Farmers Market on 15th Avenue and Cordova Street, expect Prince William Sound seafood and increasing Valley produce.

Alaska Seafoods plans to have Copper River king and sockeye salmon, along with halibut, oysters and salmon soil made by the Copper River watershed project. Salmon soil is made from typical salmon waste and is excellent for gardens.

Sarah Bean of Arctic Organics says they'll have some new items this week including sorrel and other herbs like lovage, sage and marjoram. Other items of interest include arugula, greens mix, spinach, tat soi, pac choi, mizuna, radishes and scallions. They will have a few hanging baskets, fertilizer blends and apple trees ($50 to $100) that are hardy for Alaska.

Other vendors include: Johnny Moose Farm, Turkey Red Café, Sedovitsch Farm, Matanuska Gardens, Bushes Bunches, L&R Greenhouses, Floirponics, 3 Bears Farm and ACAT.

Duane Clark and Alex Davis will both return to the Center Market at the University Center Mall again Saturday. Clark will have grass-fed beef cuts, along with honey made in Big Lake and Alaska seafood - shrimp, scallops, rockfish, sablefish and halibut. Davis will have organic rhubarb, bunched beet greens, leaf lettuce, eggs, cuts of pork and maybe some rose petal jelly.

Dannon Southall at 10th & M Seafoods says there is a good selection of Alaska fish in the stores. He says sockeyes and kings will be in the store, both available in fillets or headed and gutted; the kings are $9.95 per pound (H&G) and $15.45/pound (fillets). 10th & M also has halibut, cod ($5.95/pound), rockfish ($7.95/pound), Prince William Sound side strip shrimp ($9.95/pound), clams ($6.95/pound) and oysters ($10.95 per dozen).

This week's recipe features some items from the market and some from the store for a unique spring taste.

Orange, radish & cucumber salad

3 large navel oranges

1 small bunch radishes, thinly sliced

1/2 large seedless cucumber, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon freshly chopped mint

1 teaspoon olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Peel oranges; remove and discard white pith. Separate oranges over bowl into sections, reserving juice.

Place orange sections and 2 tablespoons juice in a serving bowl; gently stir in radishes and next 3 ingredients. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Yield: 4 servings.

Source: "Farmers Market Cookbook: A Fresh Look at Local Flavor" by Southern Living (Oxmoor House, $29.95)

Where are the markets?

Here is a list of local markets:

Saturday: Anchorage Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., 15th Avenue and Cordova Street; South Anchorage Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Subway/Cellular One Sports Center at the corner of Old Seward Highway and O'Malley Road; Anchorage Market and Festival, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Third Avenue between C and E streets; Center Market, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., University Center Mall; Spenard Farmers Market, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Spenard Road and 26h Avenue.

Sunday: Anchorage Market and Festival, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Third Avenue between C and E streets.