A Market Fresh Dinner

Consider this an ode to the end of summer. The nights are getting cooler.  The sun is setting a bit earlier.  Summer is on it’s way out.  Soon the market will be filled with nothing but root vegetables.  Le sigh.

With all that in mind I decided to head over to the North York Civic Centre Farmers Market and pick up a few things for dinner.  I didn’t intend to have a fully market meal but everything at the market looked so great that my meal ended up coming together as I was browsing.

I picked up some Halloumi cheese from Monforte Dairy. I had Halloumi for the first time in NYC years ago and loved it. It’s a cheese with a higher melting point so you can pan fry it and grill it without it liquefying immediately on you. I put it in a hot skillet and fried it for about 2 minutes on each side. The results are a nice crispy exterior with a softened interior. So good!

I also bought a container of “everything” tomatoes which consists of about 5 or 6 varieties of mini tomatoes.  My favourite are the orange ones because they are so sweet but they are all so good.  I picked some basil from my herb box and tossed the tomatoes with basil, olive oil, salt and pepper.

To round out my meal I boiled some corn which I ate without anything.  Yes, I’m a corn purist.  If corn is good it doesn’t need butter, salt etc.  In fact, I pretty much never put anything on my corn unless I’m doing it cuban style. I also quickly sauteed the green beans in a bit of olive oil.  I don’t normally buy green beans at the market but I think I should do it all the time.  The green beans from the market taste completely different from the stuff that you buy at the supermarket.  These are crisp, sweet and really fresh tasting.  My new fave.

I have been visiting the farmers’ markets a lot this summer and have gotten used to buying my produce there and sampling the bounty that Ontario has to offer.  I will be so sad when the weather really cools down and I won’t be able to indulge in all my favourite Ontario produce.  Sure root vegetables are good too but you can’t really beat tomatoes, corn and berries.

I will definitely be whipping up a few more market meals before the summer ends.