Summer's bounty at the table

Image via Wikipedia

The produce I bought at farmers' markets last week continues to pay dividends.

This morning, I warmed up grilled eggplant and squash left over from Sunday dinner, and assembled a sandwich on fresh, 100% whole-grain bread, with hummus, low-fat cheese, eggplant, squash, sliced heirloom tomato and arugula, and ate grilled green tomatoes and kimchi on the side. Magnificent. 

 

Last night, I made a salad of market arugula and red-leaf lettuce, adding cucumber from the garden. 

I managed to harvest a dozen ripe tomatoes from my garden, and many more cherry tomatoes, but others were eaten by squirrels or a rabbit I see in my yard. I've brought in green tomatoes and the ones that haven't ripened on the counter after a week to 10 days are grilled or breaded and fried.

I've been eating sweet, bicolor Jersey corn, too, right after they are steamed or right out of the fridge the next day. When they are good, they need nothing, not even a sprinkling of salt.

I wonder if a town near me has a farmers' market today?

More good food at Costco
 

I picked up a few things at Costco in Hackensack on Monday -- the same few things I buy consistently because of their quality and price.

Two 28-ounce loaves of 100% whole-grain bread -- wonderful fresh, great toasted -- are only $3.99.

Three quarts of pure, organic carrot juice are $6.99 -- or $2.33 each -- about 50 cents less than when this Bolthouse Farms item first appeared.

Delicious organic spring salad mix from Earthbound Farm contains U.S. lettuce, arugula, radicchio, frissee and other items. A pound is only $4.59, a price you can't beat elsewhere. You can use this in sandwiches or make a week's worth of salads.

I bought blueberries from Michigan for the first time, two pounds for $5.49 ($2.75 a pound). It's hard to compare them to Jersey blueberries in terms of price, because the Garden State fruit is sold by volume (pint, quart) for some reason. How much does a pint weigh? I saw South Jersey blues for $3 or more a pint at farmers' markets last week.



Post script: A pint of blueberries weighs about 12 ounces, according to the Internet research I did this afternoon.