Farmer's market

The farmer's market is no place for shopping lists. I steer Elijah's big, orange stroller past the colorful stalls and buy whatever strikes my fancy. Since just about everything looks amazing, I tend to patronize vendors who seem friendliest. Those who smile admiringly at Elijah or offer free samples get special preference. Yesterday's finds included: slender spears of asparagus, ruby-hued rhubarb, knobby fingerling potatoes, magenta radishes, plump tomatoes and two new additions to our herb garden, a perky spearmint perennial and a bitty green basil plant. I couldn't resist the thorny garden roses. They don't last as long as their grocery store cousins, but the intricate petal formations are much lovelier, and they remind me of the rose bushes at my childhood home on Harrison street.

After stuffing everything into the stroller, Elijah and I picnic with friends and dance to the live music. The toddlers play in the grass, vying for toys, pulling on tree branches and nibbling from each other's lunches. By the time we get home, Elijah is ready for a nap and I am ready to start cooking. This week, I decided upon a simple three course menu. For starters, I recreated an aspargus dish the chef from 160 Blue demonstrated at the market a few weeks back. After blanching the asparagus, I drizzled it with a citrus-shallot vinegrette and sprinkled on some mint leaves and crumbled feta. I served it alongside a few choice looking radishes and the result was met with Amiel's enthusiastic approval.

For our main course, I used a simple pasta recipe from Nigella Lawson's Forever Summer cookbook, Spaghettini al Sugo Crudo. She provides a lengthy explanation, but here is my abridged version. Place 2 pounds of fresh tomatoes in a bowl, cover with boiling water and let them sit for a few minutes. Drain them, peel them and scoop out the seeds (I didn't bother scooping seeds and it was just fine). Core and chop the tomatoes before brutally (her words) crushing them with a small clove of garlic, juice from 1/2 a lemon, 1 tsp sugar, sea salt, pepper and 1/2 a cup olive oil. Let the whole thing sit, covered and out of the refrigerator, for a couple hours. Toss in a bit of lemon zest and fresh basil. Mix with hot pasta. This was so delicious that Amiel and I dumped the leftover sauce into our bowls and slurped it up like soup.

Our dessert was a variant of Lawson's Rhubarb Fool. Coarsely chop a big bunch of rhubarb, mix it up with 1/2 cup of sugar and place it in a glass baking dish. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 45-60 minutes, until the fruit is completely soft. Since I made this early in the day, I reheated it slightly before serving it up with Vanilla Haagen Dazs icecream. Pure heaven.