One thing I’ve learned from all my trips to the farmers’ markets is to ask the farmers what is the best way to cook their produce. They always have excellent ideas.
Today I cooked up some of my farmers’ market veggies – zucchini and fresh peas – for our dinner. I roasted the zucchini and barely boiled the peas. Both vegetables turned out really well.
For the zucchini, I slice them into 1/4 inch rounds. I put them on a cookie sheet and coated them with olive oil and sprinkled them with salt. Then, I cooked them for 40 minutes in a 400 degree oven, turning them once.
For the peas, I boiled a large pot of water while I shelled them. I blanched them for 30 seconds, drained them in a colendar, and rinsed them under cold water. I served them with butter and salt.
The pumpkin ate both veggies, but she preferred the peas, especially after I let her dip them into plain yogurt. This is a trick my sister taught me. Kids love to dip foods, and plain yogurt is the perfect food to them to use.
Which farmers market did you get the peas and zucchini at? Your zucchini is excellent! It really brings out the flavors.
In D.C., we went to the Eastern Market on Saturday and got corn and cantaloupe and zucchini too. I made a corn salad. It’s a Bobby Flay recipe. It’s supposed to be grilled in the husk, but I just boiled it for 4 minutes and cut it off the cob. You mix the corn with grape tomatoes, very thinly sliced sweet onion, blue cheese and a fresh basil dressing. It’s delicious! Of course my 21 month old would only eat it from Dad’s fork, but she had a few bites.
I got both the zucchini and peas from the North Market Farmers’ Market. That corn recipe sounds excellent! You’ll have to send me a copy. That is a great trick to get kids to try bites. I always offer the pumpkin a bite from my fork and usually she will eat it.
These are great. More simple meal and food ideas are always appreciated here.