Farmer's Market

The other day my friend Jennifer took me to the farmer's market here in town. I have never been to a farmer's market before, and let me just say, I'm in LOVE!!! They have all different kinds of vegetables there!! And then of course a few different types of melons (since summer is just about over, the other fruits aren't in season).

The veggies taste so good too!! I sliced open an eggplant, and it's even different inside. You can actually SEE the difference between organic veggies and non organic veggies. Now I know you can also taste the difference too. The taste is so much fresher!

So for ten dollars, I got a basket of tomatoes, a basket of zucchini, a basket of bell peppers, and a basket of eggplant! Most of them are actually already used up! They were so good! I'll post some yummy recipes for a few too:)

For fifteen dollars a few days later I got another basket of tomatoes, a basket of onions (a free melon), a basket of huge bell peppers, a basket of jalapenos, a basket of yellow zucchini, and a basket of yellow squash.

Some things you can do with zucchini:
Zucchini bread
Creamy garlic zucchini (recipe below)
Sauteed zucchini
Grilled zucchini
Bacon and zucchini quiche

Some things you can do with eggplant:
Eggplant parmesan (recipe below)
Beef and eggplant lasagna
Roasted eggplant and chickpea soup

Creamy Garlic Zucchini
What you need:
Zucchini (I used 2 for my family of 3 eaters)
Sour cream (I also thing it would taste great with cream cheese)
Garlic (Lots and lots of it for that yummy garlic flavor)
Salt
Pepper
Thyme

Grate the zucchini and put it in the pan with some butter and let it cook a little bit. Add in the garlic (you could try about 1 TBSP of the jarred minced or about 6 cloves), the sour cream (I just eyeball everything, but if you want to measure it out, try 2 TBSP to start out with), and spices. Mix it well in the pan and let it cook until the zucchini is nice and soft. It kind of tastes like mashed potatoes. It's so yummy! :)

Eggplant Parmesan
What you need:
1 big eggplant
Tomatoes
Onions
Garlic
Salt, pepper
Oregano
Parsley
Tarragon
Basil
Sugar
Bread crumbs
1 egg
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
Spaghetti noodles

Slice up the eggplant and dip it into the egg (beaten of course). Next dip it into the bread crumbs (this is called a dredge). Bake in a single layer on a cookie sheet at 350 for 10 mins, then flip to the next side for 10 mins. Meanwhile, cook up the sauce and noodles.

I honestly have no clue how much of everything I use. I never use a recipe for my spaghetti sauce. But add together the sauce, tomatoes, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper, tarragon, basil, onion, and garlic (add the sugar in last, and only a SMALL amount of this. The reason for the sugar is to cut down on the acid from the tomatoes). If you don't make your sauce this way, of course use your own recipe. I don't like using jarred sauce, but if you want to, that would be okay too.

Next layer in a baking dish (glass is preferred) noodles, eggplant, sauce, cheeses, noodles, eggplant, sauce, cheeses. And so forth until you don't have anymore ingredients. This is one of my family's favorite dishes, so I hope that you enjoy it as much as we do!

If you have more recipes you would like to add, please list them below in the comments. If you WANT some more, ask in the comments and I'll try to find some and make a post about that too!