My cheap farmers' market dinner!

(Serves at least four.)

I should note -- the "red wine" was leftover Zinfandel from the meal before. It cost $8 initially, and I used maybe a third of the bottle between the two recipes here.

Roasted or Grilled Veggie Ratatouille (sp?)
¥ Roast (400 degree oven, 20-30 minutes) or grill the following, drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper :
A big bucket of tomatoes (you can buy the flawed "ugly" or "canning" ones for this), halved (the skins will come off after cooking) -- $3
One small eggplant (halve if grilling, cube if roasting) -- 50 cents
One red onion (ditto) -- 33 cents
One each, small red, green, purple and white pepper (ditto)-- $1
One head garlic in foil -- 50 cents

Reserve half of the tomates and 1/4 of the onion for the zucchini sauce. Cut up the rest of the veggies into cubes (if they're not there already), squeeze the garlic out of its skin (reserve 2-3 big cloves), stick the whole lot of the rest into a stockpot, with a little olive oil, red wine, basil leaves (50 cents). I also added some pitted kalamata olives (free -- my parents brought them last time they were in). Cook the whole mess until everything's tender, the flavors are blended, and the alcohol's cooked out. S&P to taste.

Stuffed zucchini:

¥ÊFour Italian sausage links ($3, use whatever combo of spicy or not you want), or 1# bulk sausage. Take the sausage out of the casing, brown, drain.
¥ Take the reserved tomatoes, peeled; the reserved garlic, chopped or mashed; another handful of basil, a splash of the wine, a tiny squirt of honey, S&P. Cook in a little olive oil until the flavors are blended (won't take long because everything was roasted/grilled already). Puree with a hand blender. Add the sausage and stir until coated. You'll probably have more liquid than it looks like you need.

¥ÊTake two large-giant or three or four small-medium zucchinis (67 cents -- I got a bucket of 6 for $1), halve lengthwise, scoop out seeds, arrange in baking dish, cut side up. Coat with olive oil. Arrange the sausage mixture in the cavities, and spoon extra sauce over and around everything. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, then sprinkle with shredded parmesan (pantry item). Bake for another 5-10 minutes, until cheese looks as brown/melted as you want it to.

And then, a side starch, made of pantry items:
Israeli couscous (the big grains), in rosemary-infused chicken stock.

I plated everything thusly -- I used a 3-inch fluted biscuit cutter as a template for the couscous, and leaned one zucchini half about 1" on top of it, with the rest extending below. The ratatouille should go alongside the couscous, from the zucchini to a place on the plate that looks good. Garnish with basil leaves or parsley or whatever.

So...total cost to feed four people (with leftovers! not everyone takes seconds)...
$9.50 in new costs.

Maybe $2 worth of couscous (stock was homemade from chicken bones and frozen; I consider that free) and $3 in leftover wine, and a few pantry items.

I love the market! I'm going to another one tomorrow! Whee!!!

our life lines (literally)

Italian sausage, egglpant, zucchini, couscous. This meal sounds like it was as pretty as it was delcious!

you may have inspired me to think more in terms of "plating" instead of "come and get it"

Where is there a Sunday farmers market?