The Greenmarket Challenge: Day 1

Rather than supplementing my Greenmarket purchases with purchases from the supermarket as I usually do, I bough all of my purchases from the Greenmarket this week. I set myself a budget of $110, which is only slightly more than what I normally spend for two weeks of groceries. Keep in mind that this budget will cover my breakfasts, lunches, and dinner for the next 12 days; that's $11 a day, a fair budget considering my average lunch in midtown Manhattan is $8. I have allowed myself some leg room to use ingredients such as grains, sauces, and garlic that I already had on hand, but other than that necessary allowance, my entire diet for the week will consist of local foods. Follow along with me as I document local my meals over the next twelve days of my Greenmarket Challenge.

Day 1

Breakfast: Poached Knoll Crest Eggs over whole wheat bread

Lunch: Cherry Lanes spinach, Eckerton Farm sugar snap peas, and Flying Pigs Farm chorizo

Dinner: P.E. & D.D. monkfish with chorizo, sherry, saffron vinaigrette (recipe below) and Cherry Lanes asparagus, and sauteed Paffenroth potatoes



Monkfish with Chorizo, Sherry, and Saffron Vinaigrette
Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. piece of monkfish, cut into two equal pieces
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup tbsp olive oil
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 1 chorizo sausage, casing removed
• 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
• Sugar, to taste
• pinch of saffron
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450F.
2. Dry monkfish pieces and season with salt and pepper. Place in an ovenproof skillet. Drizzle fish with 1 tbsp olive oil and top each piece with a sprig of thyme. Roast in oven for 10-12 min., until cooked through.
3. Meanwhile, heat skillet over medium heat. Add sausage, and cook slowly, allowing the oil to sweat out of the chorizo. As it cooks, break the sausage up with the back of a wooden spoon. Once the sausage is brown and has released much of its fat, add half of the remaining olive oil. Reduce heat to low. Add sherry vinegar, a pinch of sugar, and saffron to pan and whisk until well blended. Taste the vinaigrette and add sugar, oil, and/or vinegar according to taste; the dressing should have a mild acidity from the vinegar and should not be too sweet.
4. Remove fish from oven. Spoon vinaigrette over fish and serve.