Ratatouille

Whatever your relationship with this comforting French dish- whether it’s a simple dish you grew up eating, tried at a fancy restaurant, or just always been intrigued by because of the Disney movie- ratatouille is the perfect mid/late summer meal! It’s such a good way to use up the best of summer produce- tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, squash, onion, garlic, and herbs. Serve with some crusty bread, cheese, grapes and a glass of wine!

Ingredients

Vegetables

-1 large eggplant or 2 smaller eggplants

-2 or 3 heirloom tomatoes

-2 zucchini

-2 squash

Sauce

-1 medium onion, chopped

-5 cloves garlic, minced

-2 sweet peppers, red, yellow or a mix, chopped

-28 oz can crushed tomatoes

-2 tbsp sliced basil

-olive oil

-salt and pepper

Topping

-2 tbsp sliced basil

-2 cloves minced garlic

-2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley

-2 tsp chopped thyme leaves

-1/4 cup olive oil

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.

2. First, prep the veggies. They will cook more evenly if you slice them all about the same size, thinly sliced on a mandolin.

3. To make the sauce, heat olive oil in a large skillet. (If you have an oven-safe skillet, use it here, as it will skip using an extra dish later. If you don’t, you can transfer it into a baking dish). Add onions, peppers, and garlic and saute until they are soft. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add crushed tomatoes and basil, and remove from the heat. (At this point, if you are not using an oven safe skillet, transfer your sauce to a baking dish).

4. At this point, you can make another choice. Fancy style or country style ratatouille? If you want it to be pretty, layer your thinly sliced veggies on top of the sauce, alternating between veggies as you go. I personally was feeling lazy, so I just mixed my veggies into the sauce.

5. After your veggies are arranged nicely (or just mixed in), make your herb topping. Mix all ingredients of the herb seasoning together, and spoon over top of your vegetables.

6. Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Uncover, and bake for another 20 minutes.

Eat outside if you can, and enjoy the bounties of summer’s best offerings!

Pasta with Kale & Mint Pesto

A fresh way to use up a late spring bounty of kale. I used lamb for protein but you could use ground beef or even a vegetarian ground meat substitute. Serve with a greek salad!

• Kale & Mint Pesto Pasta

  Ingredients

  -1 lb pasta of any shape- I used penne

  -3 cups chopped kale

  -2 cups packed mint leaves

  -3/4 cup olive oil

  -1 clove garlic

  -1 lb ground lamb, beef, or meat substitute

  -1/2 cup crumbled feta

  Directions

  Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water until al-dente. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup cooking water.

  In a food processor or blender, pulse kale, mint, olive oil, and garlic until blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

  In a skillet, cook ground meat until browned. Drain if needed. Mix in pesto & cooked pasta + pasta water. Top with feta.

  Enjoy!

Introduction

Welcome to the first installment of “What the heck do I do with this food I brought home from the farmers’ market?” We’ve all been there- you either decided earlier in the year you wanted to eat healthier and signed up for a farmer’s CSA box, or something caught your eye on a stroll through the market- and now you have cooking anxiety. Every time you open the fridge- those salad turnips, the piece of pork loin, the shittake mushrooms- they mock you as they slowly rot, wilt, or otherwise quickly march toward decay. We get it. Sometimes when you shop at the market, you know exactly what to do with your purchases. You’re there with a purpose and a list. Not only do you need flowers and honey, but also you need carrots for that salad or stew you’re making. But other times, you may need a little nudge.

That’s why we’re here! We want to lessen that food anxiety so you can come home from the market excited to cook, and to not let anything go to waste. In the United States alone, people let around 92 billion pounds of food go to waste annually. Here at the Douglass Loop Farmers’ Market, we’ve already took the environmentally-conscious step of eating locally. Let’s not join the food waste statistic, and work together to make a difference for our earth!

This year, we are working on collecting the various recipes that have floated around in the brains of our farmers, volunteers, and customers, and sharing them on here. We are not professional bloggers, food photographers, or chefs. Just a bunch of people who all share the same mission and want to support the farmers’ market movement.