What's Cooking?: 8 Ball Squash

I've been checking out the local farmer's market most Saturday mornings after my Weight Watchers meeting. This past weekend I was buying zuchini when the farmer told me to try this squash, which he called 8 Ball Squash, a reference to its shape, no doubt.

So he talked me into it and I went home and prepared it according to his suggestion - a little salt, pepper, garlic, parmesan, and tossed on the grill. I don't have a real grill so George Foreman would have to do. George didn't quite give it the nice grill marks I was hoping for. It pretty much tasted like a regular old zuchini to me. So nothing exciting here. Just a fun shape. Which happened to be enough that day to get me to eat a veggie with my meal which might not have happened otherwise, so I guess that is good.

Farmer's Market Loot

I made my first trip to the local farmer's market yesterday morning after my Weight Watchers meeting. Behold the loot!

Here's what I got:
-Farm fresh eggs. Even though I am from Iowa, land of the farm, I have never in my 40 years of life eaten a farm fresh egg. I had been told they are exponentially tastier than what we get in the grocery store. After eating a couple of these over easy with absolutely no seasoning of any kind, I have to say I agree! The yolk was so much richer and more flavorful than anything I've ever eaten in the past. I plan to try to make it to the farmer's market weekly to get these tasty eggs, even if I get nothing else! They were that good.

-Organic, farm fresh blueberry Greek yogurt. I just took a quick taste of this yesterday and it was lovely, creamy, and fresh. I plan to have some for a snack today.
-Organic, farm fresh swiss cheese. Not sure I was loving this. I found it to be very very salty.

-Cucumbers. I love cucumbers. These were cucumbers like I'd never had before. First of all, they were nice and firm, unlike the spongey somewhat bendy ones I always seem to find at the grocery store. Second, they smelled and tasted so fresh! That fresh cucumber-y smell and taste is what I have always loved about this veggie. I've even bought cucumber scented candles for my house before I love the fragrance so much. Yummy, yummy, I'll be back for more next week.

-Tomatoes. Haven't tried these yet. But they look tasty, don't they?

-Strawberries. Is this what strawberries are supposed to taste like? It was like I was eating a strawberry kicked up several notches. The grocery store ones are flavorless compared to these.

-Unidentified greens. I have no idea what kind of greens these are. I felt dumb asking what they were. Can anyone identify? I've never cooked greens before. I bought these in an attempt to expand my horizons. I'll be googling greens recipes today, but if anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I admit I am a bit leery about eating cooked greens....especially ones I have cooked!

-Organic chicken breast. On the menu for today.

-Organic, grass fed beef sirloin. Probably the least diet friendly of my purchases today. This in my freezer currently. Am looking forward to seeing the difference between grass fed and corn fed beef. I am being completely disloyal to the homeland (Iowa) when I say this, but I was fairly horrified when reading about corn-fed beef production in Michael Pollen's The Omnivore's Dilemna. It pretty much put me off beef. I won't get on a soapbox and I know there's a food chain and all, but this practice is horrifically cruel and unnatural. Enough said. You can read the book yourself if you want to know more.

I am planning to make it a habit to swing by the farmer's market each week after my Saturday morning WW's meeting. I am really looking forward to seeing how the offerings change as the seasons do.