Tomato Overload
The other day I was hanging out with my friend Dani and just catching up on what we had done during the summer. What was a casual get together quickly turned into a whole tomato adventure and the perfect example of why you should always keep an eye out for good deals. We were headed towards the Eddy's Fish Market and walked passed a small fruit and vegetable market. Dani mentioned that they sometimes had produce on sale on of the shelves. I had been there before, but had never noticed. We looked to see and found that they were selling bags of 3 massive tomatoes each for 19 pence!! Usually a pack of 6 small (and usually bland) tomatoes at the supermarket are around 2£. I have to mention that some of the tomatoes had a few blemishes here and there, but they were definitely edible. We got a bit excited and got three bags to make gazpacho....9 massive tomatoes for less than 1£. Soon we were planning a whole meal consisting of roast chicken, gazpacho, tomato salad, and anything else we could possibly make with our copious amounts of tomatoes. We stopped by a bakery and got some day old bread, which they didn't have, but they did have baggies of day old pastries for 1£. We didn't get any, but it's good to know!
We ended up cooking at my flat and the results were amazing. None of us knew a proper gazpacho recipe, so we watched a Youtube tutorial by 'Cocina con Carmen' (video below). There were so many tomatoes that we doubled the recipe and skipped the peppers suggested by Carmen. Quick side note: Carmen is hilarious...definitely check her channel out! We improvised with the chicken, but it too was delicious. Of course there were leftovers so the next day I made some rice and broth with the leftovers (links to the recipes to all of this can be found below). All of this for less than 5£, excluding some of the ingredients that I already had at home.
What I'm trying to say is that it only takes a bit of searching, creativity, and great company to come up with delicious and affordable food! So, always keep an eye out for bargain at your local market; even if something might be a bit bruised it doesn't mean its gone bad! And it never hurts to visit your local bakery in search of day old goodies...I mean I seldom eat a whole loaf of bread in one day anyway!
Get exploring and get cooking!
