All year long, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, my town has a public farmers market 3 times a week. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Tuesdays are pretty sparse, both people-wise and product-wise. Thursday is the day I like to go because I can actually walk through the market without getting my toes run over by someone's shopping cart and there are plenty of vendors. Saturdays are pure chaos, with vendors hawking everything under the sun (it seems).
There's a vendor that has a huge stall and sells hundreds of one dollar items (your traveling dollar store). People sell clothing, plants, fresh fish, fresh meat, handmade designer ravioli, perogis, knock-off purses, oils, vinegars, honey, eggs, cheese, baked goods, in addition to fruits and vegetables (some exotic).
You can get ready to eat breakfast, lunch, snacks, and wonderful coffee. Some ready-to-eat stands are outdoorsy, some are brick and mortar. There's a B/M Spanish bakery where I always treat myself to a pastry called a casita ( I don't know if I'm spelling this correctly). It's a long cylinder of puff pastry, filled with a sweet cheese filling and dusted with powdered sugar. They are always warm when I get one. They cost $1.00♥
It's fondly called "the market". Everyone will know what you're talking about even though there are many seasonal farmers markets spread all over the metroplex. This one has been in the same location since 1905. Most of it is covered against the weather. But often (on Saturdays) it spills over. In winter, many vendors bring heaters.
This was my latest haul. There was even more but I had put some things in the fridge already when I snapped this picture. I actually went to the market for lemons for my iced tea. They never made the picture nor did the head of escarole.
From the fruit and vegetables in the basket, I've been feasting for a week. With the tomatoes, I always make Caprese salad, slicing up the tomatoes in a bowl, adding as much fresh mozzarella as tomatoes, a bit of very thinly sliced red onion, and a chiffonade of basil leaves. Salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. I eat that with a mini baguette, dunking it in the awesome juices.
I did add avocado (from the basket) to that Caprese salad one time. Another time, I smashed the avocado in my BLT.
I stuffed the peppers. I'll share that recipe with you. From the eggplant, I made caponatina. This is an Italian ante pasta. You eat it room temperature, spread on bread or crackers.
STUFFED PEPPERS: This is for 2 peppers. Wash the peppers, cut off the stem end. Remove all the veins and seeds from inside. Set aside. For the filling: ( I measure with my eyes, therefore, all amounts are approximate) I used 1 cup of cleaned and cut coleslaw from the supermarket salad section (contains just cabbage and carrots), 3/4 cup of unseasoned breadcrumbs, 1/3 cup of grated Romano cheese, 2 Tbs. of fresh or dried parsley, salt and pepper. Mix this all together and add 1 beaten egg and a drizzle of olive oil. If the mixture seems too dry, add a bit of white wine or chicken broth to it. Fill the pepper cavities with this mixture, press it down so you can get optimum filling into peppers. Put the stuffed peppers into a covered casserole with a bit of white wine or chicken broth in the bottom of the pan. Liberally sprinkle olive oil onto tops of stuffed peppers. Bake in 350 for 1.5 hours. To serve, drizzle with pan drippings.
