one local supper: June 25

Man oh man was this a good little meal. It was a solo meal- little boy refused to open his mouth to it (win some, lose some) and opted for a turkey burger instead- and Gary's been with his mom in pre- waiting, and post-op all day. She is just fine, thank you, and we're hoping/praying for a speedy recovery. So my local meal was for me alone, and frankly, I was happy not to have to share. On my last visit to the downtown farmers market, I bought a bunch of baby beets and baby carrots from the fine folks at Whitton Flower and Produce Company. Then little boy was sick, then we were out of town. Today we visited the mid-week market, so I had to use up produce, fast. I knew just what to do.

About 5 years ago the Dan Zanes family appeared in a thanksgiving Martha Stewart Living article. They live(d?) in a great Brooklyn brownstone and had the whole crew in for a typical beautiful/funky MSL feature. There was a fabulous roasted beet, walnut, and feta salad recipe (sorry I can't find a link!) that I made that year and have been making ever since. Then in March a really delicious grated beet and carrot salad recipe showed up at Chocolate and Zucchini. I combined the two in an incredibly happy marriage of whole roasted baby beets, baby carrots, arugula from my garden, and goat-feta. I used olive oil and a splash of local wine (that I don't like at all but will make great vinegar) for the dressing. (Really. It said of itself that it was "dry and fruity," but it made me make a face.) I'm thrilled to have a local acid, because the lack of one was really hurting me in this challenge.

And look what I found while I was trimming the carrots! A carrot man! I can almost see a little face. I love finding anthropomorphic vegetables (remind me to tell you about the dancing green onion man sometime)! This guy escaped the knife and is propped up on my butter dish on a bed of spices until he gets ready for the compost. I plan to keep him around until he's old and wrinkled and smelly. I was too tickled to top, tail, and roast him!