Monday Market Haul - 10/19/2015

Cucumbers, carrots, sweet peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, delicata squash, tomatoes, brussels sprouts, italian plums, honey nut squash

Fall has finally rolled around and stolen all the long, hazy summer days — as mournful as I’d like that to be, finding tomatoes at the market still has softened that blow considerably.

After being away for several weeks, I wasn’t sure what I would find this past Saturday. But even though I was completely bundled (since I have the cold tolerance of a small tropical bird) everything I could have hoped for was still available for the taking.

Here’s to October, the month of making crispy, crunchy salads to go with ALL of the roasted things.

Fall, keep it up and I might just change my mind about you.

---

Some Seasonal Market Haul Inspiration from the archives:

What I Really Eat: Roasted Sprouts & Squash

Spicy Delicata Hummus

Broccoli Cauli-rice Bake

Cauliflower Falafel

Cauliflower Tabbouleh

Stuffed Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken with Roasted Plums

Plum Cake

Monday Market Haul - 8/17/2015

zucchini, green tomatoes, poblanos, potatoes, blackberries, jalapenos, romaine, strawberries, cucumbers. parsley, tomatoes, blueberries, peaches

I don’t know what it is about August but you’d think I was about to walk the plank. I live as if the month is already over. Lamenting summers end even though it is very clearly still 85 degrees by 10 o’clock every morning. The days are still long and the berries are still flowing. There’s no logical reason for this behavior, I realize.

It probably only makes the month go faster as it is. Can you believe we’re already half way done with it!? I gotta snap out of it, and just live in the now and stop fast forwarding myself to the dreary dredges of winter.

Bring on the suntans, the tomato sandwiches, and the cold brew coffees --- must milk for all it’s worth!

And I’ll begin that by enjoying all these summer hauls since they are numbered. Tomatoes for days, zucchinis and peaches and romaine, oh my! Blueberries have already met their destiny in the form of scones which I will maintain were worth putting the oven on for, even though seriously it was basically 90 degrees outside. Potatoes found their way into my haul because I’ve been dreaming of Herby Potato Salad for days now. The green tomatoes should prepare themselves for a fry dip, because I have some serious eggs benedict plans for them. The peppers are soon to find themselves roasted, skinned, and swirled into greek yogurt for a saucy topping on tacos. Blackberries, because I have just not made enough sauce this season. Oh summer, please don’t end!

Milking, milking, milking!

Monday Market Haul - 8/3/2015

Cantaloupe, okra, mint, parsley, green tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, plums, zucchini, squash blossoms, buttermilk, romaine, eggs, blueberries

Here’s where I have my annual HOLY SHIT IT’S AUGUST freakout.

You’re welcome.

Every year with this. The countdown begins. I wistfully tick off the days and with much panic buy every berry, tomato, and summer squash and attempt to figure out ways to prolong and preserve all of them.

So basically my freezer is about to get hella full and I should probably figure out how to can. Priorities!

Monday Market Haul - 7/20/2015

corn, cucumbers, jalapeno, zucchini, heirloom tomatoes, chives, mint, baby heirloom tomatoes, raspberries, blueberries, apricots, peaches

I had my first tomato sandwich of the season on Saturday. The tomato was a perfect, perfect tomato red. Best of all, it tasted like a tomato. It really just needed salt and to be eaten like an apple. I did fuss over it a smidge more. I rubbed garlic on warm toast then schmeared that with butter, since I’m not such a mayo girl. Layered those perfect slices on top. Showered it with salt and pepper and lastly just a sprinkle of parsley, since I’m not such a basil girl.

It was something to be savored since I’m pretty sure I haven’t stopped thinking of tomato sandwiches since last October. Juice dribbled down my arms. I ate it standing over the sink.

I know what I’m having for dinner tonight. I know what I’m having for dinner the rest of the summer.

Tomato season has arrived.

Monday Market Haul - 6/22/2015

Lacinato kale, sugar snap peas, fresh chicken breasts, fresh eggs, sweet red cherries, rainier cherries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, sunflowers, radicchio, dill, green beans, rhubarb

My crisper drawer is bursting at the seams. I have almost every kind of berry there is, and two kinds of cherries, and all kinds of vegetables. Summer is motherfucking here and I am beside myself.

Nothing is more pleasant these days than being able to pluck fresh berries from the fridge and deposit them directly into my mouth. Fresh local flowers all over the house don’t hurt either. And I won’t be having a sad desk lunch for days to come with the array of vegetables I have at my disposal.

Summer is motherfucking here people and I plan to milk it for all it’s worth.

Monday Market Haul - 6/15/2015

(Shhh...I totally know it’s Tuesday)

rhubarb, baby carrots, snap peas, red russian kale, strawberries, garlic scapes, parsley, chive blossoms, freshly milled cornmeal, red spring onions, romaine

Lately the smell of rain has been getting to me.

It makes me nostalgic for my childhood home. When I used to sit at an open window and watch it come down in droves. When the sound instantly reminded me of this song. When getting a little bit wet from summer rain was a big “who cares?” Muddy feet were welcomed. Bonus points for freshly cut grass coming along for the ride.

Now, a true city slicker --- the slicker the city becomes, the bigger a grump I have the potential to become.

But lately, as long as I don’t have to deal with soaked shoes or wet rat hair, I find myself relishing in an afternoon summer rainstorm. Now, I crank the windows open, sit on the couch in the dusky grey light, and do things like write this post. I’m lucky enough to have two huge trees outside my living room windows. So the rhythmic sound of rain wafts through the open window along with the scent that it gives off when it hits organic matter like tree bark, it’s only slightly tainted by the smell of wet garbage.

Probably the best part about summer rainstorms is that in a split second they are gone. You experience them in all their fierce sudden glory and then just like that! Leaving only a few traces that they passed --- drips off the tree leaves and fire escapes, a puddle or two, a rainbow. The sun is out and shining, the birds begin chirping again and it’s like it never even happened.

But you’ll always have that smell, in the back of your mind, for the next time.

There’s this and many other things to love about summer, behold my market haul. I bought almost all the things. I did somehow manage to leave the place without buying a $12 box of cherries. I am relishing the fact that every time I open my fridge I can pop a perfectly ripe strawberry into my mouth. And guys, the things I did to my veggies this weekend...

Monday Market Haul - 6/1/2015

strawberries, buttermilk, spinach, asparagus, rhubarb, and dill

it starts with a crick in the wrist. the left one. the one nearly forgotten, was broken midair on a trampoline at age eleven. don’t think much of it.

the cat, hot and miserable, lays in the middle of the coffee table. somehow this is a respite, or probably, she just wants to hangout.

but then suddenly, too early for the sun to be setting, it gets so dark. it’s gloomy and a welcomed breeze sets in. the air becomes damp and heavy.

the cat disappears. under the bed --- just in time for the first lightning strike and rumble of thunder.

with a whoosh, the skies let loose and the sound is rhythmic and lulling and uncharacteristically pleasing in the moment. the allowance for a lazy sunday afternoon. wafting through the window, it would be nice if the air smelled a little less of wet garbage, and a little more like wet grass, and mulch, and wood. the way it did in the "old" days.

with a lovely, guiltless, dreary afternoon of really good television under the belt, dinner needs to get made. the chicken bought that morning is somehow rancid. partners in most things, hands are held in the evening’s drizzle on the stroll back to the market. in the moment, the lightning strikes far off in the distance don’t seem foreboding...

leaving the market with a fresh pack, the skies have erupted again. adult-like considerations are assessed. wait it out? are these shoes good for running? can these clothes get wet?

fuck it.

a frenzied four block dash ensues. and then maybe, just maybe, before dipping inside, a quick kiss is stolen in the rain.

---

what happened to summer? i promise it’s still here, just look at that market haul!

Monday Market Haul - 5/18/2015

Carrots, shallots, lilacs, lacinato kale, rhubarb, asparagus

It’s been about a year since I started looking into eating locally and seasonally. I don’t quite remember what started it all. Was it an article on supporting local organic farming? A TED talk on sustainability? What’s this C-S-A thing I keep hearing about? It may have been an impassioned archived blog post or two from the likes of smitten kitchen about the taste of an August tomato.

Although I hadn’t thought about it that way before, I knew exactly what she meant. Suddenly it all clicked. It all made sense. I had grown up picking summer tomatoes from my mother’s garden. I remember hauling zucchinis the size of my leg up the back lawn to the kitchen for dinner. I like to tell people I was eating kale before it was cool, because some of my fondest memories of summer dinner was eating wilted kale with garlic over pasta on the deck overlooking mama’s bountiful garden. Every year (still!) my mom and I get up early one morning in June, drive 45 minutes to a local farm and pick strawberries right off the vine. They're still warm from the sun and they taste like the absolute essence of summer. I already had all the puzzle pieces rolling around inside me, they just needed to click into place.

I haven’t looked back --- eating and cooking seasonally and locally has led me to gain new perspectives, forage a whole new life path, and help to solidify my passion in food. I couldn’t do it without having such lucky, easy access to one of the best farmers’ market in the city. So what I’m really saying is:

Happy 45th birthday GrowNYC! My life wouldn’t be the same without you!