Sunday, July 31, 2011

Farmer's Market Eating

Hey gang!  I had a really nice weekend, and I hope you guys did too.  Upon reflecting on the weekend, I'd say there was a common theme- picking up Farmer's Market/local food, and EATING it!

Saturday morning I joined some friends at a new-to-me Farmer's Market- The Mathews Farmer's Market.
Matthews is a little town located on the south east side of Charlotte. 




This Farmer's Market, is on the smaller side, but upon closer inspection, the stands had everything you would need at any large Farmer's Market, bread, herbs, tons of veggies, fruit, flowers, even goat cheese.



We only lasted about a half hour outside in the nearly 100 degree heat before taking cover in a local coffee shop (I had iced coffee, not hot!). 

I made out well at the market though, check out my loot!



I ended up with a variety of green beans, assorted colored cherry tomatos, a green and yellow cucumber, a cool looking eggplant, two golden zuchinni, and some goat cheese.

Since I had almost two pounds of beans, I figured I should have some of those for dinner Saturday night.  I also decided to try my hand at something that had intimidated me forever- cooking shrimp at home!

A while back my mom had brought me some local Hilton Head shrimp and put it in my freezer for me.  I decided last night was my night to use it, and decided to make lemon pepper grilled shimp with my steamed beans.  I marinated the defrosted (precleaned) shrimp in lemon juice, olive oil, lemon zest, salt and pepper, and a little red pepper flake.



Then I skewered and grilled em up for about 2-3 minutes each side.





Ok, I admit it, this was riduculously easy.  Why I've been fearful of cooking shrimp at home, I don't know!
Paired with my Farmer's Market green beans (with a little butter, lemon, and salt), this was an excellent dinner.



Today I pretty much followed the same formula as yesterday.  After running some errands, I stopped by a local stand to pick up some awesome summer peaches.



I was only home about 3 minutes before this happened.



HEAVENLY!

There may be some peach pie or cobbler in our future if I can restrain myself from eating all the fresh peaches!

I also noticed some corn while at the peach place and ended up with 6 ears of corn since they sold them in bundles.

I knew I wanted corn for dinner, and also decided to make a black bean burger salad to go with the corn.

I actually made my own black bean burgers with some leftover canned black beans I had in the fridge.  I sauteed red and green pepper, onion, and some cumin and chili pepper in a little oil.



I added the cooked onions and peppers to a food processor with the black beans, some whole grain bread ends and supplemental bread crumbs to bind.


Pulsed it a couple times, but not too much because you want some texture in the consistency.
Then I formed patties (I made them little- slider sized) and cooked them in a little oil in a pan.


I melted a little cheddar on each, and put a few on a salad consisting of:
Romaine
Spinach
Roasted Red Pepper
Farmers market tomatoes and yellow cucumber
freshly cooked corn
tomatillo/green salsa


With an extra ear of corn on the side.



I'm kind of a corn snob.  I firmly maintain that the best corn anywhere is from a little farm stand called Pelloni's in the town where I grew up.  It's so buttery and sweet and delicious, I've never tasted any other corn as good.  This corn was pretty darn good though, and it came from a South Carolina farm.  I will be back for more!

Have you been eating local this summer?




6 comments:

Danielle said...

Looks delicious! We tried out the Huntersville farmers market since it's right around the corner... it was teeeeeeeny tiny (but it's the only place I've found Asian pears). Guess we'll either have to drive down to Charlotte or up to Davidson. Can't beat local produce though!

Null said...

Great haul! Everything looks so fresh and colorful.

Too funny you were afraid to cook shrimp. I think that's one of the easiest things to make. My hubby is allergic to shellfish, so I save them for quick single-girl dinners when he's away.

Black bean burgers on the other hand scare me. I always end up with a blackbean hash as opposed to a nicely formed little patties. You have good technique.

Brittany (A Healthy Slice of Life) said...

I have been eating local, and the peaches I've been munching on are amazing!

I'm glad you conquered shrimp- they're so easy and quick- I love 'em!

Katie @ Legally Fit said...

That shrimp sounds amazing! I love shrimp (having it for dinner tonight actually!)

I haven't been to a Farmers Market yet this season- I need to rectify that fast!

Lindsay said...

Girl, I LOVE the Matthews farmers market! I was, at first, fooled by the size as well... but like you said, there's everything there you could possibly want.

Also, I recognize those peaches! I just found out about that Peach Stand when we moved last weekend. I've been THREE times since!! They have SUCH amazing stuff. :)

Hilary said...

Farmers' market eating is where it's at! I try to eat locally whenever possible, and it's SO easy all summer long. Last week, I made a small batch of dill pickles with dill and cucumbers from my local market, and of course, I am downing as much local fruit - mainly peaches, cherries and berries - as possible!

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