Wednesday, July 22, 2009

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.

7 comments:

  1. Chop, chop set aside. Need I say more? Maga

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  2. May the goddess of bounty smile on you always.

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  3. Looooove Super King! A little bit further north, over on Fair Oaks in King Ranch, which is almost as great a store.

    But did you check out Super King's deli? Amazing Greek and Middle Eastern cheeses. Yum. I'm hungry.

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  4. Produce, yes. Meat, uh-uh. My worst dinner disasters (and believe me, I've had many) were the direct result of poor quality meat from Super King. (I will try those cheeses, however.)

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  5. AH--Thanks for the warning!
    ALB: will check out the cheeses--perhaps you should do a little wine cheese pairing on your blog
    M--thanks!

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  6. I've been trying to find a Tzatziki recipe that wouldn't intimidate me right out of the kitchen. Thanks!

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  7. Great, Sal-- I think it's really easy and if you let it mellow very flavorful

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