It’s here!  It’s finally here!  My beloved summer Farmer’s Market opens in just a little over a week, and I’m positively giddy about it (in case you couldn’t tell).

Oh, I know it’s not going to have much to begin with…after all, the growing season here in New England isn’t really in full swing until much later in the summer.  It’s just the promise of the whole thing, the camaraderie of all the neighborhood folks enjoying the first warm mornings, the smiling faces behind the counters, and those first glimpses of what lies ahead.  It’s knowing that once the market starts, it rushes forward with each week revealing new surprises, right up until its slow and dignified wind-down with those last hearty greens and thick-skinned squashes of the fall.  The market season, to me, is cooking and eating bliss.  Let’s get on with it.

Meal Planning for May

WEEK ONE:

Thursday, 5/1: Sausage and pepper sandwiches, sweet potato rounds
Make it GF: omit the buns, and serve the sausage and pepper mixture over the sweet potatoes if you’d like.
Friday, 5/2: Fend night/Kids Cook
Saturday, 5/3: Vegetarian bibimbap and miso soup
Sunday, 5/4: “Picnic chicken,” mashed potatoes, broccoli 5.14 Quick Tip 1
Make it GF: Use ground nuts for breading chicken
Monday, 5/5: Cinco de Mayo, so we’re not going vegetarian tonight — Beef fajitas
Make it GF: Use corn tortillas
Tuesday, 5/6: Slow cooker — Ribs, cornbread, and warm vegetable slaw
Make it GF: Use masa harina in place of any flour in your cornbread
Wednesday, 5/7: Pasta with beets and goat cheese

WEEK TWO:

Thursday, 5/8: Grilled chicken sandwiches
Make it GF: Use leftover corn tortillas to make quesadillas or wraps
5.14 Quick Tip 2
Friday, 5/9: Fend night/Kids Cook
Saturday, 5/10: I’ve got a performance tonight, so I’ll make a lasagna that can be easily heated up
Make it GF: Use eggplant slices instead of lasagna noodles
Sunday, 5/11: Mother’s Day — I’m operating purely on intuition here, but thinking I won’t be cooking. 😉
Monday, 5/12: Carrot and broccoli risotto, salad
Tuesday, 5/13: Make-your-own panini bar
Make it GF: Serve sandwich fixings between slices of vegetables, on corn tortillas, or over a bed of greens
Wednesday, 5/14: Homemade chicken nuggets, vegetables

WEEK THREE:

Thursday, 5/15: DIY Salad night5.14 Quick Tip 3
Friday, 5/16: Fend night/kids cook
Saturday, 5/17: Local seafood from our farmer’s market! 🙂
Sunday, 5/18: Sunday roast chicken dinner
Monday, 5/19: Three-tomato pasta, salad
Make it GF: Use Jovial or Tinkyada brown rice pastas
Tuesday, 5/20: Taco salad
Wednesday, 5/21: Chicken spring rolls
Make it GF: Use rice paper wrappers

WEEK FOUR:

Thursday, 5/22: Lamb meatballs, pita, vegetables
Make it GF: Serve over quinoa instead of pita, or use teff flour to make flatbreads
5.14 Quick Tip 4Friday, 5/23: Fend night/Kids cook
Saturday, 5/24-Monday, 5/26: Memorial Day weekend, so I’m leaving it open to have space for celebrating with family and friends
Tuesday, 5/27: Pasta with pancetta and peas
Make it GF: Use Jovial or Tinkyada brown rice pastas
Wednesday, 5/28: Grilled pizzas
Make it GF: Make grilled vegetable pizza stackers by piling your sauce, cheese, and toppings onto slices of grilled eggplant and peppers

WEEK FIVE:

Thursday, 5/29: Citrus grilled chicken and rice
Friday, 5/30: Fend night/Kids cook
Saturday, 5/31: Tamale pot pie