Saturday at Eastern Market

As many of you should know, every Saturday hundreds of local farmers come together at Eastern Market in Detroit to sell their goods.  One of the largest farmers' markets in the nation, Eastern Market is open every Saturday from 5 am to 5 pm.  There is everything from summer squash to monkey bread to dried lavender and everything in-between.

Now, I have been to Eastern Market before but with no regularity.  This past Saturday was my first christening of the season.  Because I am baking all the time now and because I am a health-conscious vegan, eating lots of fruit and veggies, I am going to try and make going to the market on Saturdays a habit of mine.  I probably will not go every Saturday but I will shoot for every other.  My friend, Tyler, with whom I went to the Raw Cafe in Detroit, is a huge fan of the city and I know he would be game for any spur-of-the-moment Eastern Market runs.  I went with him this past Saturday.

We arrived at about a quarter to 8:00 and already there was nowhere to park.  We drove around for about ten minutes before we finally found a space.  We must have asked, like, six people if they were leaving and all answered, albeit politely, no.  I learned these market-goers mean business: multiple trips to and from their cars, bringing carts and trays with them, the works.

I brought my camera with me, super excited to take pictures that I could upload to my blog but be it the excitement of the market or my scatterbrained-ness, I forgot.  I did, however, manage to take pictures of my purchases after I got home.  That very same day I made pasta with the delicious, fresh, LOCAL ingredients I purchased: asparagus, zucchini, leaf lettuce, spinach, thyme.

 The asparagus and zucchini I roasted in the oven with a little bit of olive oil, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper.  I then tossed my pasta noodles right into the baking sheet to let them soak up all the flavor.

 

The lettuce and spinach I made into a salad to have with my pasta.

I also purchased a carton of strawberries from the market but they ended up being kind of tart.  They didn't even look all that sweet and juicy but because I was told at another farmers' market that strawberry season was almost over, I thought I needed to snatch some up.  I remember thinking at the time, though, that strawberry season was in June but I did not trust my own judgement.  As a result, I bought pre-season, sub-par strawberries.

Oh well.  Live and learn.  The strawberries will not go to waste though.  I made a sorbet and as I type this, it is in the freezer, freezing ;)