Today I was reading
The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market Cookbook when something occurred to me. Penne with arugula is so simple, and sounds delicious. Yet that isn't what I am thinking when I go to the market. I'm worried about getting enough vitamins and making sure there's enough potatoes so Sascha doesn't complain.
And therein lies the challenge.
It is difficult to be a broke ass gourmet, to say the least.
To so many people doesn't mean as much since for several generations we have been able to to just go buy food in the store with no regard to seasonality. It can hamper us in many ways, killing off the creativity that comes when you have few options and hungry mouths.
Sometimes I go to the market and I want more, more gorgeous tomatoes, more squash, more fruit. What the hell do I do with all this stuff?
Being reminded that fresh tomatoes taste amazing with white beans, that arugula is wonderful with penne, and that sweet potatoes are magnificent mashed with a hint of butter is what makes it all easier.
It is so easy to forget these sensibilities when unemployed thus faced with stretching both your dollars and your food. And there are so many people who never really knew that in the first place.
It doesn't have to be time consuming or expensive to eat well, because at the market you can find delicious treasures that cost less than the at the grocery store.
For those ordinary mortals who know next to nothing about eating seasonally and making a new & delicious meal every night there is plenty of help. Just remember that if a recipe or idea seems too easy, that just means it requires less work for you and allows more time for relaxing. fun.
The Ferry Building Farmers' Market
East Bay Farmers Markets
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