Yesterday was blazing hot, even at 10 AM. I wanted to be cautious about my fur clad companion in the heat, so after soaking him in a public fountain, twice (shhh don’t tell), I did only the most minimal farmers market visit, sticking to just the first few tables closest to the entrance. Despite my haste I still managed to grab a really stellar handful of loot.
Tomatoes that taste like tomatoes
It may seem like an obvious thing, but tomatoes don’t always taste like tomatoes. The ones we get in the winter are red and perfect looking, but often have no scent and very little taste. When summer rolls around the real tomatoes come out, delicious smelling and bursting with flavor. A tomato should make you salivate. Small ones like the Campari tomatoes pictured above are heavenly sliced in half and tossed in a salads. I used these in a quinoa salad, along with kale, cucumber, avocado, and basil.
Wild Strawberries
Bigger is not always better, especially when it comes to berries. These little wild strawberries taste like candy. I eat the majority of my fruit blended up in shakes for breakfast, but these little gems are too precious to be mashed up. I’m eating some at this very moment with heavy cream poured over them.
Squash Blossoms
These are baby zucchini and pattypan squash with their blossoms. The blossoms can be stuffed with a soft cheese like ricotta, battered and deep fried. Jamie Oliver lays the blossoms unadorned on pizza. Be sure to carefully remove the pistil (female) or stamen (male) when preparing. Read more about zucchini blossoms here.
