The farmer's market is open!

Which means now, on SATURDAYS, I rise and dress BEFORE NOON and make my way over to the park to ogle all the goods. Farmer’s markets always play to my Alice Waters fantasies. The potatoes are purple, the tomatoes are striped, it’s all heirloom this and heirloom that, there are baskets of fancy squash I’ve never seen before, and the people are happy and everyone is socializing and talking with the farmers, and the dogs are smiling, and all I can think about is all the fabulous dinner parties I’m going to have! And all the delicious healthful sustaining dishes I will cook for my friends!

And then I return with enough food to feed four people for the week. And wonder what the hell I’m going to do with it all.

The answer: I cook big pans of stuff, and pawn it off on my coworkers. My favorite is this fruit crisp. It’s super, super easy to put together, incredibly versatile, and will make people fall in love with you. Forever. Don't say I didn't warn you.



I added very little sugar because the peaches were so ripe, but you can add as little or as much as you like, depending on how tart your fruit is and how sweet you want the end result to be. I like to eat mine for breakfast with some greek yogurt, so I keep it on the low-sugar side, but for dessert (warm, with vanilla ice cream of course) you might want it sweeter.

Farmer’s Market Fruit Crisp
(adapted from Cooking Light’s Cherry Crisp recipe)

Filling
1 pint blackberries
4-5 ripe peaches, cut into pieces
Sugar to taste (anywhere from 2 tbsp to 1/3 cup)
1/4 c. cornstarch
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Topping
1/2 c. whole wheat flour (about 2.25 oz)
1/2 c. rolled oats
1/4-1/2 c. brown sugar
pinch of salt
6 tbsp chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 c. chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

1 Preheat oven to 375.
2 Combine filling ingredients in a large bowl and toss. Spoon mixture into a tart pan or baking dish coated with cooking spray.
3 Combine flour, oats, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Cut in chilled butter with a pastry blender or a couple knives until the mixture is crumbly.
4 Spread topping over fruit and bake for 45-50 minutes, until topping is golden brown and fruit is bubbly.