farmersmarket365

Ok, so maybe they aren’t as scary as the woods in the Wizard of Oz but sometimes when I get all these veggies home I wonder, what was I thinking!  Because freezing isn’t the only thing I do with my purchases I thought it might be fun for me to share what I do with the food during the week.  My Sunday posting will be a kind of week in review giving you a general idea of just what my plans are.  I won’t give you every meal as that would both be tedious and a bore to read.  This week you’ll have to get your week in review on Tuesday as I thought of it on Monday but didn’t get to writing until today.  Though there will be a time a place for recipes, right now I’ll give you a brief overview of some of the dishes, the resource, and pointers.  I welcome questions and comments.

This week it wasn’t hard to walk away with more than enough veggies for meals; in fact my menu board simply says…veggies for each night.  With vegetable bins and counter tops now filled with eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, peaches, eggs, bread, arugula, and tatsoi (http://www.food.com/library/tatsoi-716) I can share with you my plan for the week.

Monday:

Breakfast– The tomatoes looked so good that I couldn’t wait and so after preparing my oatmeal I chopped one up and added it to the cereal.  Crazy I know but was pretty good- try it and let me know.

Dinner– A stir fry of tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and onions with pasta

•  To prepare, first I marinated the tomatoes in some blueberry balsamic vinegar.  I also cut the eggplant into ½ inch cubes, salted them and let them drain for about 20 min.*
• Sauté the onions, peppers and egg plant until soft, then add tomatoes.  Just before serving put the tatsoi on top and let it wilt, a bit of grated nutmeg should be added as well.
• Add the pasta to the stir fry with some grated parmesan cheese and a bit of olive oil.

Tuesday:

Lunch: A salad buffet

Using  a cutting board as a serving platter I fill it with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, arugula, hard boiled eggs, coleslaw (non mayo type) and micro greens.  As a dressing I might just use a bit of balsamic vinegar and olive oil or I might just add pickles to the mix and have the pickle juice be the dressing.  * It becomes a mini salad bar and we eat directly from it.

Wednesday:

Breakfast/Lunch : I’ll be busy working with tomatoes and eggplants today so I’ll have a bigger breakfast: a kind of opened  face egg sandwich.  Toast a piece of bread and place some cheese, a few slices of tomato, arugula or micro greens, and then an egg done to your liking.  I prefer poached or fried.  If I have an avocado I’ll use that instead of the cheese.

Dinner:  Steamed corn and tomatoes is our absolutely favorite summer dinner.  I might add some basil and or balsamic vinegar but most likely a bit of salt will do just fine.  We have found this summer that butter can be easily substituted for a combo of olive oil and hot sauce.  I keep it in a bottle in the refrigerator.

Thursday:

Dinner:  Eggplant casserole- I found a neat recipe in The Whole Foods Market Cookbook (you can find this at Whole foods markets or at Amazon.com) that calls for among other ingredients eggplant, orzo and sundried tomatoes.  As usual I don’t have two of the three ingredients so I am changing it up. There will also be more than what we can eat in one meal.  Instead of saving it for Friday, I’ll freeze part of it for the winter.

• Saute:  Olive oil, eggplant, onions, ½ a hot pepper until vegetables are soft.  Remove from the heat.
• Add: chopped tomatoes garlic and in place of orzo I might add couscous, but I am not yet sure.  Also add basil and tomato juice.  Note:  I don’t have tomato juice so before I chop the tomatoes, I will squeeze the tomato half into a sieve sitting in a bowl.  This will get rid of the seeds and let the “juice” collect in the bowl. I can then use that as needed.
• Place this mixture in a casserole dish, cover with dollops of ricotta cheese (make it look like pillows) bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.
•  Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 20 min. or until golden brown.

Friday

Today will be mystery day.  What we eat will depend on what I don’t want to carry into next week.  micro greens, tomatoes, lettuce etc. I’ll try to use in some fashion.  Cabbage stores easily in the bin for more than a week so I won’t rush to use it.  By the end of the day, I’ll be able to make my list for Saturday.

Note to self

• Salting and draining eggplant is what I have always done but I am seeing more and more recipes that don’t require it. I have done both and don’t notice a difference.  However I do feel the salting is important when I bread and bake the eggplant to freeze.  Something to research.
• Pickle juice.  When you use the pickles don’t throw out the juice. It is after all just vinegar some sugar and spices; makes a good dressing.   I have a bottle of pickle juice in my fridge that I just keep adding to and taking from.

Take home info

• I plan my week’s meals sometimes before the market, making a list of what I need, but sometimes I shop first and challenge myself to plan the week’s menu with what I have.  Sort of a weeklong Chopped competition.  Do what works for you.
• Everything is so fresh at this time of year; I don’t work too hard to create meals.  A light steam or sauté or even raw is the best way to get the luscious flavors of summer.
• When making a casserole or stir fry vegetables freeze a portion of it for later in the year.