Bountiful Produce

The goddess of bounty smiled on me the other day. I went shopping for a gumbo blowout, dragging a market flyer, skeptical of the prices advertised within and I discovered this place. Super King! I over did it, but who can resist peaches, cherries, strawberries and plums, melons for under $1 a pound? I threw in cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants, red peppers, string beans, lychees, fennel and then stopped with a realization: I didn't have to buy it all today. The store would be here tomorrow, and the next day.

But I still had to figure out what to do with all those vegetables.

Here are a two ideas that don't involve heat:

Cucumbers:
Peel, slice and cover with plain yogurt. Add minced garlic, dried mint, and salt to taste. Let the flavors marry, or at least co-exist peaceably. (Sorry. How many times has that joke been made?) You now have a fuss-free version of Tzatziki.

Fennel:
Trim off all the green bushy stuff and feed that to your rabbits. You will have a bulbous root. Trim off any of exterior layer that looks battered. Bisect, vertically. Now slice as thinly as possible. The root will be layered like an onion. Separate the slices, now you have half rings or circular slices.
Add salt, pepper, and olive oil. A little off-beat salad for an off-beat day.

Need 101 more ideas? Check out Mark Bittman's right here.