There were a few more stalls at our farmer’s market this morning. I’m still getting a feel for who is local and who is bringing in out of state veggies. I don’t want to be a food snob about it, but I’d rather buy from local farms and farmers first, the other markets next, and Whole Foods last. Once again, I only got veggies, but I think next week I might get some honey from a local apiary. In the meanwhile, here are this week’s purchases:
A huge bunch of collard greens (I have a ton of ham stock in the freezer, so I’m thinking I might cook these up tomorrow for lunches next week); more new red potatoes; another red bell pepper; more jalapeno peppers (salsa is cooking now); a couple of tomatoes; a cabbage (they were all so pretty piled up together); and a really lovely looking eggplant (veggie lasagna, I’m thinking). Total cost this week: $12.
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I have to get back to menu planning. I managed to use up all of last weeks veggies, but only barely. I left too much to the seat of my pants and wound up scrambling to use things at the last minute. Also, these few pounds I’ve put back on need to leave – again an area where meal planning will help. Maybe if I commit to posting them here, I’ll do better.
Another Tusdays with Dorie recipe is coming up. I think I’ll make it today while H is grilling steak for dinner.
I made the Cooks Illustrated “Nearly No Knead Bread” today and it turned out great. Now I’m going to experiment with freezing it, and making different sized loaves. This could become a weekly routine for me and would be much cheaper than the local artisan bread that I’m currently buying.
If anyone has a good recipe for a veggie lasagna, let me know in the comments. I want to make one next week and at the moment I’m planning on flying by the seat of my pants. Making it up as I go along seems to have worked well for me so far, but I’m open to anything.
I keep thinking about participating in the Kitchn Cure 2009 but then I realize it would be one more thing to have to keep up with and blog about. Still, it would be nice to get my kitchen cabinets cleaned out and organized and know where everything is.
Ok, that’s it for today’s miscellaneous thoughts. Stay tuned for more next week.
audrey
April 25th, 2009
Our farmer’s market hasn’t opened yet, which is just as well since it’s on Thursday afternoon and I can never go. (Since the CI offices are here in Brookline, though, I did once see Christopher Kimball there.)
You’re reminding me about a veggie lasagna from The Hay Day Cookbook, which I used to make a lot and haven’t made in a long time ( for no good reason)…eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, sliced fresh plum tomatoes, all the usual cheeses, and a thick sauce made with lots (I mean about four cans!) of tomato paste. Sounds iffy, but we loved it! I also found a good one on the back of a lasagna box once…sauteed mushrooms and zucchini in the sauce in place of meat (and then all the usual cheeses…)
It will be fun to see what you come up with!
Leslie
April 25th, 2009
I love the farmers market! I’ve recently started participating in a CSA and I’m scratching my head how anyone uses a big head of celery each week.
My veggie lasagna is kind of free form, depending the season and on what veggies I have. My preferred way is to use my homemade sauce (a version of Giada De Laurentiis’ tomato sauce), boxed lasgana noodles, roasted vegetables in season (usually mushrooms, asparagus, red peppers, zucchini). A winter variation is to make it with a bechamel instead of tomato, and add roasted butternut squash, caramelized onions and mushrooms. The cheeses are also negotiable and depend on the veggies, season and what’s in my fridge.
Betherann
April 26th, 2009
Those veggies look absolutely gorgeous. I’m quite jealous — our farmer’s market doesn’t open until this coming Saturday. I can’t wait!
Thanks for visiting my blog! Your comments are so encouraging and much appreciated.