Why I love Farmer's Markets, and a Promise To Myself.

I completely adore Farmer's Markets. I will stop through one whenever I pass, regardless of if I need to purchase vegetables or not. Although I think it may be attributable to being a farmer in a past life, there are quite a few other reasons. Here's a few.

For starters, I love the smell of fresh produce. The fact that you can reach out and touch whatever is in front of you and not feel the waxy texture that store-bought vegetables sometimes take on is amazing as well. The products in front of you will sometimes still have a slight bit of dirt on them--letting you know that what your buying is fresh. Which makes everything you make with your purchases taste that much better, even if it's something as simple as a salad. (Who am I kidding? Fresh vegetables taste their absolute BEST in a salad.) Often, you are paying less for a tastier end result. There's a certain amount of possibility as well, in seeing a vegetable you have never seen before, and instantly wanting to figure out how to use them.

I also love the fact that I know exactly where my money is going. Almost all of the vendors are local, and it feels good to ensure that the money is staying in the area. This all has an environmental benefit as well--regardless of organic or not you are already being greener in visiting a farmers market because of the sheer fact that your food had to travel much less of a distance to get to you.

All of these reasons to love Farmer's Markets are solid enough to stop this list here--but my favorite thing hasn't even been mentioned here. It's the atmosphere. The fresh air, perfumed with whatever the vendor nearest is selling. The people, feeling much happier and relaxed than they would be in a traditional grocery store. Come to think of it, I can't remember ever having an experience where I ran into someone who was in a bad mood whilst at a Farmer's Market. And the vendors, who are so much more knowledgeable about what they are selling than your typical store employee. They are also willing to talk to you just for the sake of conversation--even if you are obviously not purchasing anything from them.

Yes. I love Farmer's Markets. And I'm not ashamed to admit it. =)

Now for the promises. I have neglected this blog, and my photography--and to the end of correcting that, I will post with pictures at least once a week from now on. I also will try to review at least one recipe from my most recent purchase, Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, at least every couple of weeks. (This way I will actually make stuff out of it, rather than just salivating over the recipes. =] )

I think that's all for now... Happy eating!

What's for Dinner?

Generally, I try to eat a vegetarian diet--both for moral and health reasons. However, as I've been transitioning to not eating gluten I've found it hard to stay away from meat due to sheer lack of options in the kitchen. This week I will not have that problem since through the kindness of a good friend I've amassed a large quantity of tomatoes, avocados, and peppers. It's going to be a week of fajitas and stir-fry's in my house, but tonight I had something quite different in mind.

Salad is the perfect dish when you want something tasty without the fuss of turning the oven on or dirtying lots of dishes. It's refreshing without the worry of a recipe, or finding specific ingredients. When I eat salad I generally skimp on lettuce and then pile other vegetables on. It's not that I dislike lettuce, more that I find other vegetables so much more flavorful. Tonight was no different--in fact I didn't even use lettuce at all. I had an overripe mango that I couldn't bear to waste, so Mango Avocado Salad seemed to be the perfect answer for that.

Mango Avocado Salad

Makes 1 meal sized salad or 4 side dishes

1 medium mango

1 avocado

red onion

handful of cherry tomatoes

red pepper

serrano pepper

cilantro

lime juice

balsamic vinegar

This recipe is another of few specifics-- it's very adaptable to your personal taste. The mango and avocado are the base of this salad, so you will want to have the most of those in comparison to the rest of your ingredients. Once you peel your mango, slice and cube it in around half inch pieces. To easily cut your avocado, halve it and remove the pit. Then slice your chunks before removing the peel. (Slice in cubes roughly the size of your mango pieces.) To remove the peel, simply push it inside out. All your avocado cubes should easily fall and you can adjust size from there. From this point on, it's all about personalization. I used roughly a third of a cup of chopped peppers and onions, and four thinly sliced rings of serrano, finely diced. I used more tomatoes than normal because I needed to use them up, and added about a stalk of cilantro at the end. To make the dressing, pour lime juice and vinegar in a small bowl, mix well, and drizzle over the top of your salad. Pictures of this will be added tomorrow.

What did you eat for dinner?

My first successful recipe

When I was younger I was a bit of an adventurer in the kitchen-- to the point where my family never really was able to finish a full serving of something I cooked. To this day when the words "Ginger Chicken" are mentioned around my immediate family they are met with chuckles and the occasional snort of laughter. I failed miserably at that recipe because of my tendency to cook by feel and not by recipe. (I was 12.) I have since learned to taste as I went along, and adjust accordingly.

My first real success in the kitchen came when I learned to make homemade salsa. Not a difficult recipe to be sure, but one that relied on getting the ratios and proportions correct for the taste to come out right. I bought the ingredients, and sat at the kitchen table and chopped, mixed, and experimented away.

The beauty of this recipe is that you don't have to use the same ingredients every time, and you can tailor it to your personal tastes. My absolute requirements whenever I make salsa is that I have to use cilantro, and a couple squirts of lime juice. For you it may be different, but this is my go-to formula.

Salsa

2 Roma Tomatoes (This is a personal thing--I like the texture of roma's the best.)

1 bunch of Cilantro

1 Jalepeno Pepper

1 Red Onion

1 Lime or Lime juice

I chop everything by hand and mix it together-- tasting as I go. You can toss eveything in a food processor, I just like the chunkier texture hand-cutting creates. Generally I don't add the entire pepper or onion, and a small handful of leaves from the cilantro bunch. The lime juice is

what I add last, and the proportion of tomatoes to red onion is roughly 2 to 1.

Once you are comfortable with the ratios of the basic recipe, you can experiment with changing the ingredients, or adding new flavors. Personally, I like to add mangoes and red pepper. You can also experiment with heat through adding different peppers such as serrano or cayenne peppers--or if your daring, try a habenero. The pictures I've added are from my most recent batch where I added mango, red pepper, and I substituted cherry peppers instead of tomatoes.

Cherry Tomatoes

Finished blend, pre-mixed.

Hello

My name is Hannah. This is my first real attempt at blogging-- you already know what this will generally be about from the 'About Me'. I promise you, try as I might I will not remain exactly on topic all the time. My life is so much more than the food I can and cannot eat, and if you can't bear to read about how excited I am to move forward with my wedding planning, (I'm super excited by the way!) or how difficult it can be to work through college; I suggest we kindly part ways here. However, if you are interested in riding along-- I welcome you.

Hannah