Farmer’s Market Haul
I am a regular at my local farmer’s market. I try to use seasonal produce and shop small/local, so it’s generally my first stop when meal planning. I went a little crazy a couple weekends and bought way too much stuff, especially when I am just feeding 2 of us, but I made it a mission to use everything we got before it went bad.
Pictured: summer squash, peaches, 4 cheese bread, black pepper parmesan bread, potatoes, shishito peppers, Bulgarian wax peppers, regular size tomatoes, onions, green onions, cherry tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, figs, basil (side note: the space print fabric is beeswax food covering cloths to replace plastic wrap)
Not pictured: arugula from the same market, eggs and garlic from a previous market
Key:
FM - Farmer’s Market. These are the items I bought at the market.
PS - Pantry Staple. These are things we keep in the house pretty much all the time. If we run out of it, we replace it immediately.
SB - Store Bought. These are items I bought specifically to supplement the ingredients and recipes I had in mind, based on what I got at the market and what staples or ingredients I knew we had on hand.
Not included in every list is salt and pepper, which I assume everyone has.
PS thin spaghetti (We always keep both a short pasta like shells and a long pasta on hand)
FM heirloom tomatoes
PS olive oil
FM basil
PS dried oregano
PS dried thyme
SB fresh mozzarella
Fig Vanilla Bourbon
FM bourbon (The bourbon I used this time specifically came from a vendor at the farmer’s market, but we do also keep some on hand as a pantry staple as well.)
FM figs
PS flour
PS baking powder
SB Greek yogurt (We use this often enough that it is more like a pantry semi-staple, but I did buy the yogurt this time specifically for flatbreads.)
SB goat cheese
FM arugula
FM red onion
Blistered shishito peppers
PS oil
PS salt & pepper
Grilled cheese (I ended up making this for 2 lunches)
PS mayo
SB brie
FM arugula
FM red onion
FM garlic (I almost always buy my garlic from the farmer’s market, but we always keep some sort on hand in general)
SB feta
PS olive oil
FM basil
PS pasta
Flatbreads
FM caramelized onions
FM roasted garlic
SB goat cheese
SB low moisture mozzarella (This is another semi-staple as we also use it to make pizza)
Breakfast Tacos
FM eggs (I always buy eggs from the farmer’s market, and if you do buy from the grocery store, try to buy the most expensive ones you can afford)
SB hard taco shell for migas (This is also a semi-staple. We tend to have some kicking around most of the time)
SB canned corn
PS canned tomatoes (My recommendation for a versatile canned tomato is the petite diced kind)
PS pickled jalapenos (another semi-staple)
FM peppers
FM red onion
PS cheese
PS sour cream
SB Greek yogurt
FM onion ash (see above recipe for onion ash)
SB corn tortillas (These were technically leftovers from a previous week, but this is not a typical pantry staple)
FM arugula
SB walnuts
FM garlic
PS olive oil
PS parmesan cheese
Caprese toast
FM black pepper parmesan bread
FM arugula pesto
FM cherry tomatoes
SB fresh mozzarella
Pickled Lemon Cucumbers - 1 part water, 1 part vinegar, pinch salt, boiled and poured into jar over cucumber spears
FM summer squash
FM cherry tomatoes
FM 4 cheese bread
PS cheese
PS bacon
FM onion
FM peppers
FM garlic
Egg toast
FM eggs
FM black pepper parmesan bread
FM pepper
FM onion
PS cheese
Poutine
FM onions
PS butter
PS thyme
PS sage
PS mustard
PS Worcestershire (we make our own, but we often have vegan store-bought as well)
PS veggie stock
SB red wine
PS balsamic vinegar
PS cornstarch
FM potatoes
SB cheese curds
PS canola oil
Nacho fries
FM potatoes
PS canola oil
PS Velveeta
FM salsa (The one we used happened to be homemade from previous farmer’s markers, but we also keep regular salsa as a pantry staple)
PS black beans
PS sour cream
FM onions
PS meat crumbles
PS taco seasoning
The 4 cheese bread was mainly for my husband and he ate it mostly as plain bread or toast with butter and salt plus as a dip for some Welsh rarebit he made. The peaches were also for my husband, which he ate for breakfast either in smoothies or with cottage cheese.
The only ingredient that didn’t end up in a recipe directly was the green onion. We cut off the dark green tops and added it to our stock bag we keep in the freezer. The bottom white and light green parts we put in a small mason jar of water and they’re currently growing more green onions.
I’m extremely proud that I didn’t throw anything away and I managed to come up with dishes for everything I bought. This was definitely a challenge, but I made so much tasty food. I highly encourage you to shop at your local farmer’s markets to find seasonal produce and support your local and small businesses.
