Saulters in the {BIG} City: Farmers Market, take II

As I said in the last post, I'm trying to get most of my food from the farmers' market these days. I really look forward to heading there first thing Saturday mornings and taking in the sights and sounds. It’s really nice to talk to the people that make your food. I had a brief but interesting conversation with two farmers about the French and how they love their radishes. Of course I bought some, and then pretended to be fancy while eating them with just some butter and flakes of sea salt. Not my favorite vegetable, but pretty good!

Probably my favorite thing I made this week was pesto. Now I have a tiny basil plant on my porch, but it’s not quite big enough to make a whole batch of pesto. But I was really in the mood for pasta, and since tomatoes aren’t in season I had to come up with an alternative – spinach! I grabbed my bag of greens from the market, toasted up some nuts, and then spun those around in the food processor with some EVOO, garlic, lemon juice, and a bit of parmesan cheese. Not only was it the vibrant green of Spring, but it tasted pretty good too! I mentioned it’s not tomato season yet, but I couldn’t resist buying one of the local Mennonite’s hydroponic tomatoes to toss in with my pasta. It was quite the meal!

Fresh Pesto!

Pardon the mixed noodles ... I was almost out.

My stash from the market

Stuart and I also decided to join a “porkshare” program from a local butcher. They butcher (sustainably raised) hogs from across the state, and then divide them up into cuts, and/or process them into delicious bacon and sausage. You pay a flat fee for about 12 pounds of meat, and you can decide how often you want to order from their menu that changes monthly. I was pretty excited to get this edition, though I haven’t quite figured out what to do with the pig’s foot?? If you know, please tell me.

That's a lot of meat!

Hmmm ...

This may be too many strawberries ... but probably not. I'm going to freeze some for the winter!

Then finally, what I’ll call a “Market Frittata”. Sometimes when you have a few random ingredients and don’t know how to put them together, it’s just best to get eggs involved. I made this a few days ago to get me through the week’s breakfasts. I used to be intimidated by making frittatas, but they really aren’t hard at all. It goes like this:

Vegetables, sautéed or roasted (or not, depending on how crispy you like things)

8 eggs, beaten, with salt/pepper mixed in, and cheese if you like

You’ll want your oven preheated to about 350. Cook the veggies first in an iron skillet, then pour the egg mixture over the top. DON”T touch it. Let it sit there until the sides start to solidify, then pop it in the oven until the whole thing is set. Probably about 15 minutes.

It can stand alone as a meal, but obviously is better with some crusty whole grain bread and fresh fruit!