Cheap cheap produce

Because I now have a job (woe! jk) that usually involves working Sundays (good thing = extra pay) I don't get to go to the farmer's market as often. I suppose I could go before I start work (market 6am, work 9am...) but I usually don't have the energy. So I go on my sundays off :) (Though I will probably start going before work starts. I need to get off my lazy ass.)

Anyway! Last Sunday I went, and I got a little excited about this bunch of beetroot.

This thing weighs a freaking ton and is about as big as two of my head. I was struggling to hold it up for the photo!

It cost me $3! 3!!! That's amazing. Loose beetroot (ie: without the tops, sold singly) usually costs from $4-$5 a kilo. I always bought those in the past because I was unaware that you could eat the tops (headsmack) and thus thought it would be a waste.

Except, now I don't know what to do with them. I was intending to juice most of it with carrots (yummm) but it's literally been pissing down with rain for a week and it's really not juice weather.

So now there are giant beetroots in my fridge waiting for me to use them. I am sure I will think of something :)

Also at the markets I went a bit crazy with the leafy greens. I bought a kohl rabi that had huge leaves, the beetroot greens of course, also a silverbeet and a bunch of kale (a different kind that I hadn't tried before - I prefer the curly leaved variety but it's still good). AND some dandelion greens because I like them. My fridge is full to bursting - luckily I can chuck it all in pretty much anything I cook because it all wilts down to pretty much nothing. I've been eating whole wheat pasta with sauteed random greens for lunches lately. It tastes good to me, and that's what matters.

The nicest thing about this market is that everything is organic - and works out to be so damn cheap! I literally filled an empty fridge for $23. That's one hour's work on a Sunday for me.

Go to your local farmer's market (they are everywhere - even in the middle of the city) to buy your fresh fruit and vegetables - it costs so much less than going to a supermarket, and the people probably picked it that morning or the day before - it hasn't been in cold storage for months before ending up in your fridge and on your plate.

Buckwheat spirals with kale and dandelion greens

At the farmers market last Sunday I also got some Kale and dandelion greens. I thought the dandelion greens were beetroot greens, but the guy told me what they were so I had to buy them anyway. He said people who like flavour use them as a bitter ingredient in salad :) I don't like salad very much so I went online to supercook.com (awesome website - you type in what you have in your pantry and it comes up with things you can make, it's a good way to stay on budget) and searched. The first thing that came up was this from the Martha Stewart website so I decided to change it (as I do) to make it vegan.

Mmm healthy. Haha no really, I really like kale. Tonight was the first time I ate it cooked - I've only had it in raw juices. It adds a nice flavour to fresh granny smith apple juice. :) Try it.

Buckwheat spirals with kale and dandelion greens

Serves 2

Ingredients

5 cloves garlic, crushed (I grate mine)

1 cup stock (I use Massel Chicken Style)

300g roughly chopped kale and dandelion greens (I had about half an half)

Handful of frozen peas

2 cubes frozen spinach (because more green is always a good thing!)

Tofu 'ricotta' (I made one recipe worth of the one in Skinny Bitch in the Kitch but you can use whatever one you like)

Pasta for 2

Method

1. Bring garlic and stock to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer for a little while.

2. Add all the green and cook until it's all wilted down. I can't remember how long it took - kale takes longer so you can put them in separately if you like.

3. Cook the pasta.

4. Meanwhile add tofu ricotta in little bits (couple of tablespoons at a time) until it looks like what you like. I added about 6 tablespoons worth. It won't go creamy though. (Unless maybe if you use silken tofu to make the ricotta...I used extra hard 'I'm a brick' tofu which didn't exactly have the consistency I wanted...)

5. Stir cooked pasta into sauce and serve at once :)

It doesn't look very nice in the picture but it was! We've been eating loads of beans and lentils lately so I thought it'd be a nice lighter change.

I chose buckwheat noodles because I was curious about what they were like. They were pretty good - a little grainy in texture though, but fine.

We washed it down with a hot cocoa made with almond and soy milk :)