Now in my 16th month of being a locavore, I pretty much have the hang of all my favorite meals. I shake things up with something new from time to time, but for the most part, I enjoy the oldies but goodies with a little twist here and there depending on what's at the market in any given week (or these days, what's ready to pick in the backyard garden). Here's what made it from the market to my table this week:
Cabbage Stir Fry - Similar to last week's stir fry (keep in mind I have a lot of cabbage out in the garden), but not exactly. This week's cabbage stir fry started out with (you guessed it) cabbage and green onion, both from my backyard garden. Then I chopped a carrot and some broccoli (from the farmers' market), as well as a couple mushrooms (local Monterrey mushrooms from the Farm Patch). Everything was sauteed in a drizzle of olive oil (farmers' market) and served over a bed of brown rice (bought in bulk from local company RiceSelect). This marks week 3 of cabbage stir fries in one form or another, and I have yet to tire of the beautiful blend of flavors, or the idea that I grew some of these goodies in my backyard. Local is awesome (and it tastes great too)!
Strawberries - Now that I finally found more local strawberries, I just had to show them off. A few of these for breakfast each morning, and I was a very happy camper. Mmmm, berries in February. Keep 'em coming! I froze most of the berries I picked up this week, so there should be many more berry breakfasts to come. Not to mention that some day soon I'll be heading off to a local pick-your-own to pick them myself. I'm learning and will surely be prepared with more canned and frozen fruits next winter!
Potato Stir Fry - One more stir fry for you this week. The market is plum out of sweet potatoes so I've moved on to my second favorite tuber - red potatoes. Another easy recipe consisting of a little chopping and sauteing. I took a couple medium sized red potatoes (farmers' market), added some chopped green onion (backyard garden), and some of those Monterrey mushrooms (Farm Patch); and sauteed them in a little olive oil (farmers' market) until the veggies softened. Voila! Easy dinner that's local and Oh so good! (oh, and don't forget, leftovers taste GREAT for breakfast!)
Mac-n-cheese and Steamed Veggies - Here's another Dave dinner. Again, not entirely local, but this is a good example of ways to incorporate local into your meal if you're not ready to go 100% local. Let's see... the mozzarella cheese in the mac-n-cheese is from our local Sand Creek Farm and Dairy, and of course the steamed veggies are entirely local (carrots and broccoli from the farmers' market). Tasty!
There it is! This week's "Market to Table." Hope you enjoyed the photos and have been inspired to work a little local magic in your own kitchen. Remember, if I can do it, anyone can do it. So give it a whirl and find out how good local food can be.
Have a great Thursday, everyone. And as always, Happy (and mindful) eating!
7 comments:
We have mac and cheese here, too. Yes, vegan. I use a recipe from Jo Stepaniak's "Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook". It's a great way to get winter squash in the diet. It's also very good with a velvety spinach sauce drizzled over the top.
Chile - Vegan mac-n-cheese sounds REALLY good, but I always get freaked out by all the ingredients in the recipe. I'm a lazy cook. The spinach sauce sounds great too. Do you have a favorite recipe for that?
Well, to make it easier, you could always mix up the dry ingredients in bulk. She actually has a recipe for that: Instant Cheez-it Sauce or something like that.
The spinach sauce is one I came up with. I'll try to post it at some point, but the gist of it is pureed cooked spinach with extra stock, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, if I remember right.
I'm probably more likely to try the spinach since I'm on a whole foods-local diet. I'm going to take a wild guess and say the cheez-it sauce isn't local :)
And one of these days, I'm going to find local noodles (or wheat to make my own). I'm not a big pasta fan, but it's nice on occasion. Or I can just for spaghetti squash season. Mmmm!
You know, I LOVE to cook and the recipes in Uncheese intimidated me a little too. Not to mention, I have never been sent by faux cheeses, so I have just decided that cheese is a thing of the past for me. I just try not to attempt replicating meat and dairy centered meals as I am usually disappointed with the outcome. We made a stroganoff with tofu sour cream a couple of years back, I seriously thought I was going to be ill. Then I made someones "cheezy sauce" and I really learned what BAD tastes like. These, however, are just my humble opinions.
I don't see how you could ever get sick of such simple and yummy meals. I am stopping by the Root Cellar after work to see if they have - wait for it - cabbage and red potatoes. The red potatoes are just something we have to have on hand all the time any way, and all your cabbage gave me a craving. Fried rice and something Mexican with cabbage here we come!
And those berries - I want to reach through my screen and grab 'em. Oh yummy.
True, the nutritional yeast and soymilk are not local. However, the flour is from my CSA, the lemon juice from my friend's neighbor's tree, and the squash puree from my CSA. I'm currently using non-local onion powder but theoretically could dehydrate and powder my own. And the salt is from the Pacific Ocean... :-)
Jennifer - Ooh! Have fun with your root cellar purchases and be sure to post photos :)
Chile - That doesn't sound too bad. I'll keep that in mind and maybe try a little something new when spaghetti squash is in season. Thanks!
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