I love my Saturday mornings. I naturally tend to wake up very early, and I love those few hours of productive alone time. One of my favorite Saturday morning activities is walking up to the Farmer’s Market. It’s even more fun now that it’s no longer cold/rainy/snowy/crappy in NYC as it has been off and on for the past 6 months.

Our CSA doesn’t start up for the season for a few more weeks, so I’m still picking out veggies. When I head to the FM I get what looks best. That’s it. As soon as I come home, I rinse, chop, and store the leafy greens. *After rinsing them, I stick them in a large (gallon-sized) bag with 1-2 folded pieces of paper towel. The paper towel will absorb excess moisture and the leaves don’t wilt. Leave the paper towel in until the lettuce is gone. It stays crisp for a week. I also chop up any other veggies… peppers into strips, onions diced, etc. I leave the fruit as is – it tends to get funky if you rinse then store.

Next, I try to get inspiration for some new meals to try with the ingredients. I say “inspiration” not recipes, because I dislike measuring and following recipes to a T. I’ll read through a bunch, then figure something out.

What’s great about the FM is that I know I am eating locally grown food. As far as I’m concerned, the fewer hands/machines my food touches, the better off I am. To find a Farmer’s Market near you, check out Local Harvest.