BOUNTY

I mentioned earlier in the weekend that the Farmer's Market was a trap. This time of year it truly is for me. I go in with a list and an intention and then pass the booth of fresh corn and all that intention and list making is tossed out with that silly baby and the bath water. I've been buying tomatoes from this one booth now every weekend for the last three weeks. It's run by a young Pentecostal family. They have boxes of what they call seconds that are half the price of the others. This means that the tomatoes aren't pretty and have some bruises. The woman and I swap tomato stories. She's up to her eyeballs in canning. Her husband always tries to get me to buy a whole box load of tomatoes, but I just can't commit to that kind of commitment. My freezer is only ye big.

The market is full of beautiful bright colors right now. Cantaloupes and watermelons. Tomatoes and peaches. Every kind of squash and eggplants. The find this Saturday was bright orangey red Turkish eggplants. They were not on the list, but they were too enticing to turn down. The corn was not on the list either, but it's so cheap right now and I've become addicted to that moc-polenta. I also ended up with a bag of okra. I think that just jumped in all on it's own because I honestly don't remember buying it.

I chopped up the eggplant and okra, tossed it with garlic and olive oil. Threw in some basil and oregano from the garden and roasted them in the oven along with my tomatoes. The Turkish eggplants remind me of a pulpier tomato. It has almost a bitter earthy taste and mixes well with the sweet corn of the polenta.

Yes, the market is a huge trap, but it's a trap I don't mind getting caught up in again and again and again. And who knows? Maybe next week I will buy that box of tomatoes.