To Market, To Market

There is a community market in the village near our neighborhood each Saturday morning.  One of our family goals this spring/summer is to buy local produce rather than purchase it at the grocery store.  We looked at getting a CSA box, but my husband and I decided it would be too difficult to meal plan without knowing what we're going to get until the day I need to go to the grocery store.  Also, while we want to try some new veggies, we don't want to get stuck with a box of something we discover we don't like. A good example of this is the Swiss chard someone gave us last summer. I thought it was very good, but my husband didn't care for it at all.

So this morning we walked down to our market to make our weekly selections.  We found strawberries, spring lettuce mix, spinach, baby garlic, sweet cherries, and hydroponic tomatoes.  We also bought some homemade rosemary apple bread.  I'm not exactly sure what we'll do with everything yet, but I do have plans for most of it.  Tomatoes, lettuce and strawberries are staples in our house, especially once it gets warmer.  We eat a lot of salads in the warm months.  I'm thinking spinach strawberry salad with poppy seed dressing for part of the spinach and strawberries.  I make several dishes that call for garlic and was told these baby garlic would work perfectly in the place of bulb garlic with the added benefit of not having to peel it.  I can slice them just like green onions.

I was really hoping to find asparagus.  We found some two weeks ago.  It might be getting a little late in the season for it now.  We enjoy it as a side, grilled or in frittatas.

So now I'm off to finish the rest of my meal plan for the week, incorporating in the wonderful goodies I found at the market.