Saturday Market

Today is Saturday which means farmer's market day. There is one in my neighborhood, but I decided to go to a different market a few miles away today because it is larger and runs year round. The one closer to home is still open, but I wanted to see what was going on at the other market so I could be prepared for when mine closes.

Anyway, this new market was great. They had a really wide variety. There were several stands selling fruits and vegetables, two selling grass fed meat, two selling cheese, a few selling plants and flowers, one baker and even one stand completely devoted to mushrooms. I got a lot of great stuff.

Here is my haul: lettuce, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, acorn squash, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, black eyed peas, heirloom tomatoes, sweet potatoes, garlic, pastured eggs and fresh mozzarella. I got all of this for about $40 which is definitely less than I would spend if I tried to buy the same stuff at Whole Foods. Also, the mozzarella was kind of an impulsive splurge. It was a little expensive at $7, but I really really love fresh mozzarella and I needed something to eat with what are probably some of the last tomatoes of the season.

And I know I've talked about not eating legumes but somehow still ended up buying green beans and black eyed peas. Well, as far as the green beans go I just really love them. They aren't as starchy as other beans and since I'm eating them in the pod I feel like the eat more like a vegetable than a legume. And as for the black eyed peas, they are one of my husband's favorite foods. He requested them recently so when I saw them at the market I figured why not buy some to make him happy. I don't think I've ever had fresh black eyed peas, so they should be interesting.

When I got home I fixed myself some lunch. I had sausage and butternut squash sauteed in butter with a side of kale chips. I steamed the squash first then just cooked it with some kielbasa. I seasoned it with salt, pepper, red pepper flake, and garlic. I cut the kale into bite sized pieces then roasted it with olive oil and salt and pepper for ten minutes at 350 degrees. I've heard a lot about kale chips recently but this was the first time I tried them for myself. They were absolutely delicious, like a really thin broccoli flavored potato chip. Ha, I guess maybe that doesn't sound terribly appetizing, but I promise they were really good.