My Farmer's Market Inspiration

Saturday morning we headed to the farmer's market before our busy weekend had started. I was inspired by all the beautiful colors of veggies, fruits and flowers that were available this time of year. After talking to some of the farmers about their favorites, I packed up a variety of new veggies that I hadn't tried before. Part of healthy eating is exploring new flavors, keeping an open mind and not being intimidated by new things. If you have never cooked something before, ask! I received lots of tips on the farmer's favorite way of preparing some of these varieties.


As you can see from the pictures, I went home with blue potatoes, pattypan squash, golden beets, a rainbow of various other larger beets, red lettuce, turnip, a rainbow of carrots, a variety of plums (from Niagara)and our favorite local honey (Lavender Hills).



So this week I will be trying lots of new recipes, but also really keeping it simple. On saturday we were heading out to a BBQ, and I was bringing a salad. I made the salad from the red lettuce, red onion, peppers, cucumber and the golden beets (these I peeled and boiled in a salted water like you would a potato - they were tender in about 10 minutes or so, but a larger beet would take longer). I cooled the beets, sliced them and put them on the salad. They looked beautiful! I also ate the rest of them while they were still warm with a pat of butter - the flavor was amazing. My little guy shared them with me.
I made a simple dressing for the salad - olive oil, balsamic, salt, pepper, honey.
It tasted great and looked colorful. I look forward to more fresh produce today!