Living in the high desert during a drought can make having large gardens a challenge. Fortunately, we still have many local farmers that have managed to survive, and – luckily for me – they bring their produce to the growers’ market for sell, no matter how meager the crop might be. Since it’s just Bobby and me, it doesn’t take much to stock the crispers for a week. When I need to, I supplement the market with what I find at the co-op and “a little” from my own garden (if you can call it that). So what you see is last week’s bounty. Not in the picture are about 8 more tomatoes.
So what did I do with this produce from the growers’ market? Here is last week’s meal plan.
The tomatoes provided us with
- a nice salad of sliced tomatoes, strawberries, fresh basil (from my garden), and feta cheese, as well as
- a pasta dish of linguine, chopped fresh tomatoes, lots of fresh basil, a little onion and garlic (got to have that!), and some cheese, topped off with a touch of olive oil and red wine vinegar.
The eggplant was used to make the Baba-ghanoush from What’s Cookin, Chicago? YUMMY!
Those sweet little carrots were sauteed in a touch of butter with salt and pepper. We could have eaten them raw – they were SO good – but they were just as delicious cooked a bit.
We’re still working on the radishes. I love radishes but Bobby’s not too crazy about them so I’ve been using them sparingly in salads. No complaints yet! I was tempted to make a radish ice cream – I know – a WHAT? I saw it done on Iron Chef America and the judges loved it, so why not? Maybe the next batch of radishes.
I almost forgot the squash. I love these Magda Hybrids. They are a little sweeter and nuttier than other summer squashes and have become our favorite. So I sliced this one up with the ONE yellow squash from my little garden, added some chopped, fresh rosemary, truffle sea salt and pepper. It was wonderful if I do say so myself.
Well, it’s time to head back to the market. I wonder what they’ll have this week. Looking forward to another delicious meal plan.
I love seeing stuff like this. I see I am not the only one who hit the market this week. Lol! You got some great stuff. I bought too much and now have to figure out what to make with it all. We got tons of hot peppers, no clue what I am doing with them yet. So glad to have another foodie friend.
I love farmer’s markets! There’s something so real and down to earth, no pun intended, about them. It’s like another world in the middle of the big city. My kids have always loved going to farmer’s markets. When they were young we would buy veggies that could be eaten raw, a loaf of fresh bread, homemade cheese, and even fresh squeezed juice and head for a park and picnic on our purchases. They still remember those times as the best of times. My son has been a regular with the pistashio lady for years. She misses him when he goes too long between visits. I love your recipes that make the most of the fresh veggies rather than cover them up. I love the photo too, Bobbie. It’s lovely.
Thanks for sharing your story! and for the nice comments. -:)
Thank you MJ for highlighting/linking to my site for the baba ganoush recipe! Hope you liked it! 🙂
I certainly did like it! It was great!
If I do make radish ice cream and it’s edible, you better believe it will be posted! -:)
I love the farmer’s market! Can’t wait to see your radish ice cream 😉
Sounds like you made some great dishes! I’m looking forward to going to our farmers market tomorrow.