The diary of a local foodie
The city of Guelph is filled with many local food venders, quaint family-run marts and butcher shops, and of course, the centralized Guelph Farmer’s Market. Living in Guelph offers a multitude of different styles of cuisine at your fingertips to try, and there is no better or less expensive way to discover the love of food than by delving into the passion of cooking.
Each week, a new discovery will be unveiled, and many items will be touched upon – most will be simple and will use few ingredients, which can be picked up from the Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings.
Whole foods are key in the kitchen; there is no need to ingest something that is not recognized on an ingredient list. Not everyone realizes this, but the Farmer’s Market is actually less expensive than the grocery store, and what is even better is that there is no temptation other than the temptation to try new things.
On Saturday, the venture to the Farmer’s Market began – as it does every weekend this foodie spends in Guelph. The navigation of the Farmer’s Market can be developed into a specialty – although it is not always known in advanced what will be purchased, there are a few go-to staples. On the latest trip, the yield was promising, leaving many choices for the week’s meals.
The following recipe and idea comes from trials and new developments in food discovery:
A very simple tomato sauce, made with locally sourced cherry tomatoes and a few other tasty kitchen staples.
Ingredients:
– 3 cups of cherry tomatoes, whole (this week’s were an assortment of different shades of warm oranges and reds)
– 3 large cloves of garlic
– 1 small cooking onion, chopped
– 2 tbsp olive oil (or a nice drizzle)
– 3 fresh basil leaves, chopped
– Fresh parsley, chopped
– Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Start off by rinsing the tomatoes and placing them in a glass-baking dish that has a lid. Add the rest of the ingredients and drizzle olive oil over the mixture, cover with lid and place in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tomatoes “pop” and the other ingredients are soft.
The greatest part of this recipe is it can be used multiple ways. Try this simple and tasty tomato sauce for homemade chicken parmesan and baked eggplant.