Inventory Reduction Weekend
Plus, don't miss this week's peak season market schedule (the last of July — eek!)
Inventory Reduction Weekend
I took a rare weekend farmers market break. Part of it was getting back to normal after I got my second COVID booster shot last Wednesday afternoon; I highly recommend you do this out of an abundance of caution, and also recommend you don’t make any big plans for the couple or three days following, just in case. Part of it was the crappy weather, which made me not want to drag myself outside when I wasn’t in tip-top shape.
But the other reason was that, having already been to three markets by Wednesday, I’d developed a little bit of a surplus that rather urgently needed to be whittled down. The main results are in the photo above: a split pea soup, a puréed soup made with zucchini and a bunch of stuff that needed to be used, and a ratatouille (the French vegetable stew made with eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, onion and red peppers).
More than 90 percent of the ingredients were local (haven’t seen celery or red peppers in the markets yet). The soups were made with homemade chicken broth.
That zucchini soup is kind of a “what’s in the fridge” classic, as you can see in the above photo Along with the green and yellow summer squash, this is loaded up with carrots, celery, tropea onion, English peas, carrot greens and fresh basil. Just imagine how nutritious this adds up to be.
The above is what all those veggies look like after they’ve been simmered and hit with the immersion blender.
I made a smaller nick in the fridge load this morning with these open-faced toasts (tartines, if you want to get all schmancy). That’s Publican Quality Bread (Chicago) Spence Sourdough topped with horseradish chive havarti from Stamper Cheese (Chicago), shishito peppers from Froggy Meadow Farm (Beloit, Wisconsin), Australian bacon from Finn’s Ranch (Buchanan, Michigan), and sautéed red peppers (grocery store).
Having thinned the herd, I’ll be back out there supporting our local farmers starting tomorrow. You can too. Here’s the weekly Chicago region farmers market schedule.
This Week at Chicago Region Markets
This is the last weekly farmers market schedule of July. Where did this month go? What’s happening?????!!!
OK, got that out of my system. We are nearing peak local season; with sweet corn starting to flood in, can field tomatoes and melons be far behind? But just a reminder that time flies. Even if you’re not a farmers market regular, this is the time to make at least a weekly visit. You do not want to miss out on this stuff.
Here’s your handy guide.