We decided not to get a CSA share this year because we were really missing waking up early and heading to the farmers market during the weekend. There are so many farmers markets in the Twin Cities (more than 50!) and we’ve been trying new ones a few times a month.
When we were in Santa Barbara on vacation a few weeks ago, we went to the best farmers market we’ve ever been to. It was amazing and now I want to live there, but this weekend we tried the Downtown St. Paul farmers market and it’s a close second.
VIP treatment for these veggies at brunch: in the new market basket we bought in Santa Barbara and hanging out on a chair!
My plan of attack at a farmers market is to see what looks good and figure out the weeks meals off of what we buy. We wound up with zucchini, summer squash, cherry tomatoes, basil, fingerling potatoes, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower and eggs that were allegedly laid the day before.
There is a 100% chance I will at some point in the week throw some veggies into a pasta dish for an easy weeknight dinner. And that is exactly what this Farmers Market Summer Orzo dish is; something I threw together that wound up looking pretty and tasting delicious.
Farmers Market Summer Orzo
Ingredients
1 cup dry orzo
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 large zucchini
1 large yellow summer squash
1/2-1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 handful basil (10-15 leaves), chiffonaded
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Garlic Salt, Pepper to taste
Directions
1. Cook orzo according to package, set aside. Try to do this while you are preparing all other ingredients so it doesn’t get too cold.
2. Chop zucchini squash and yellow squash either in half moon shape or circle shape (try to get them all the same size)
3. In a large skillet, heat up 1 tsp of olive oil. Saute squash until it is fork tender.
4. Chop cherry tomatoes in half, roast them in the oven on 350 for about 7-9 minutes, throw them in the skillet.
5. Add cooked orzo and peas, garlic salt and pepper to taste and stir.
6. Finish with basil and parmesan cheese.
See, really easy. This tasted really good with the orzo, it made the flavors of the veggies stand out a bit more than typical pasta. But overall, just take whatever you find at the Farmers Market (or store, or even your freezer), saute it up, add some pasta and boom: dinner.
This also works really well with pesto stirred in. Not that we had the exact same thing (plus broccoli and pesto) two nights later or anything….
Lots of Dishes 