I go to the market (outdoor market, Parisian style, not cute farmer’s market American-style) every Sunday, and sometimes on Tuesday or Friday if I’m home. I have a big wicker cart that I take with me as I make my rounds and fill up.
The cart holds way more than my dinky European fridge does, however, and if my DH has gone to the butcher or if we have leftovers we often find it a really tight fit.
The veggies are usually beautifully arranged and largely in season (although you find plenty of long-traveled stuff too). I usually go with one or two things in mind and then also add what looks good - but my eyes are definitely greedy, and sometimes I am forced to cook 2 or 3 things on Sunday just to reduce the volumes enough to get it all into the fridge. This time of year it’s easier - winter veggies are hardy, and in Paris outdoor temps are about equal to a fridge (with very little risk of freezing at night) so when it’s really bad the extras just sit outside.
This past Sunday at the market I bought a kilo of spinach (2.2 pounds) and about a pound of mushrooms which were earmarked for the lasagna that I finally made (I rarely buy mushrooms, and it turned out this was a TON of mushrooms. Lesson learned). I bought a cauliflower because I like it a lot and it’s one of the few veggies my husband really likes (and he is supposed to eat more fiber, so I am always looking for veggies he’ll eat). I bought a big sack of green beans because the organic stand was closing for the day and offered me a good price. I bought onions and shallots as usual. I bought a rutabaga. I bought a ton of carrots and a thing of celery and a black radish which I’d never tried (but I am jonesing for jicama and thought it might sub okay for it).
This week has been the typical race to eat it all before it spoils and then start the cycle anew. The spinach and mushrooms were washed and sauteed on Sunday to reduce volume. Since I had way too many mushrooms and some past-their-prime tomatoes I put about half the shrooms with the tomatoes into what I thought would be a pasta sauce but later converted to a delicous soup. I’ll have the last serving of that today for lunch. I also cut up a ton of the carrots and the celery and the radish. I made a bunch of the shallots into my new go-to dip. We’ve eaten the veggies w dip all week. Dip is almost gone, and I polished off the celery yesterday. I roasted the cauliflower on Sunday too - used a new recipe and I hated it. I typically roast the cauliflower in the oven with an onion or two cut up and curry powder on it, and it is great and easy and my DH absolutely adores it - but this saffron recipe was awful.
Still not touched are the green beans. And the root veggies I’ve had for 2 weeks now - parsnip, beets, jerusalem artichokes and the new addition of a rutabaga. I have a recipe I’ve been wanting to try for these guys roasted together but since they keep a long time in the fridge and I’ve had other stuff to eat I keep putting it off. I also still have another bunch of carrots (for a Marocain carrot dish I love).
My husband picked up another cauliflower for me (I’m making more dip tomorrow as we have many houseguests this weekend) and also a bunch of celery.
Writing this all down makes me hungry but also want to just hide out a little - so much to do!
