Down at the Farm(er's Market)

<

There are few things in this world that make me happier than going to the farmer’s market. In fact, a trip to the farmer’s market a few years ago was the thing that inspired me to learn how to cook. I took one look around me at all of the colorful and unusual vegetables (things like fennel, rainbow colored chard, lemon cucumbers, and striped beets) and thought, “I want to buy all of this stuff because it is so beautiful but I have no idea what to do with any of it.” Now, cooking is my favorite and most relaxing hobby. Today’s trip to the farmer’s market was very successful. Look at all that beautiful produce!

Sometimes I do buy veggies from the grocery store but in the summer I try to only cook things that I grew in my garden or bought at the farmer’s market. Food just taste better when it is fresh. A tomato or pepper that has just recently been picked and traveled a short distance to reach your kitchen does not even compare to something that traveled on a truck from across the country and then sat in the grocery store for days until you happened by and tossed it in your cart.

Tonight I will be using this delicious but strange looking vegetable, which is known as fennel. Apparently, not many people buy fennel. I know this because I tried to purchase it a few months ago at Harris Teeter. I couldn’t find the button for it on the U-Scan machine and asked for help. Three cashiers and a manager were consulted before they were able to find the right produce code for it and all of them had to ask me what it was. According to them, they had never seen any one buy it. Well, that is unfortunate because it is delicious and has many uses. It has a very interesting licorice flavor. It is delicious raw in salads but if you roast it slowly in the oven it becomes very sweet. Tonight, it will be baked with chicken, tomatoes, capers, and a pepper from my garden to make a Mediterranean style chicken dish.

These lovely eggplants and squash will be a side dish of some sort. Most likely a stewed eggplant and squash dish with onions, oregano, and a little cinnamon served over brown rice. This recipe has been book marked forever in a Greek cooking book that I bought and promptly put on the bookshelf, never to be seen again. That ends tonight.

These peaches told me that the only way I could possibly use them would be to bake a peach cobbler and serve with vanilla ice cream. Even though it would be much healthier to get eat them raw, I imagine they will end up winning in the end. I don’t have the will power to refuse a cobbler with farm fresh peaches :)