Thursday, March 19, 2009

Market to Table - March 19, 2009

It's been another fabulous week in food! My fridge has been overflowing with veggies, not to mention the ones that need to be picked from my backyard garden, so I had a wide variety of wonderful veggies to choose from. Not pictured or discussed below have been the strawberries I eat just about every morning for breakfast from the pick-your-own farm I visited a few weeks ago. Talk about starting the day off right! As for the rest of my meals? Well, let's just see...

Stir Fry - You know you can't get through a week without a picture of my latest stir-fry concoction, right? This was my favorite stir fry this week, mostly because it was so incredibly colorful! I sauteed yellow onion, carrots, kohlrabi, spinach, and mushrooms (all local) in some olive oil from our farmers' market and just a pinch of salt. Then I tossed in some tomato peels (from when I canned all those stewed tomatoes) and a cup of local rice (RiceSelect). Not only was it a gorgeous dish, it was absolutely delicious! Stir fry has to be the easiest thing ever (otherwise I wouldn't make so much of it), and it ALWAYS tastes divine!

Baked Red Potatoes with Stewed Tomatoes - I had a few red potatoes that have been lurking in the bottom on my veggie drawer just begging to be eaten when I came up with this super easy meal. Fresh in my mind was the stewed tomatoes I'd just canned. I had enough for 14 pint jars plus a little left over for the fridge ready to be eaten. Individually, local red potatoes and my home-canned, local stewed tomatoes are great - together, they were beyond fabulous. I suppose they don't make for a great photo (sorry, this is the best Canon and I could do), but it did make for a warm, hearty meal on a cold, rainy day. And it took all of 5 minutes to nuke those 'taters in the microwave. It doesn't get any easier (or more local) than that!

Chilled Veggie and Wheat Berry Salad - Ok. I totally made this one up, but it was REALLY good! I eyed the boiled wheat berries (grown about 30 miles away in Rosebud TX) in the fridge and decided I wanted to try a little something new. I pulled them out along with a carrot, a small red onion, some broccoli, and the rest of the leftover stewed tomatoes (all from the farmers' market). I chopped all the veggies, mixed them in a bowl with 1 cup of cooked wheat berries then set it aside while I made the dressing. All the dressing consists of is equal parts olive oil (farmers' market) and apple cidar vinegar (not local) with just a dash of salt and pepper. I whipped the dressing together, poured it over top of the salad, and mixed it all together. Voila! A super yummy, totally easy chilled salad with an absolutely fabulous blend of textures (chewy and crunchy) and flavors (dressing and veggies and wheat, oh my)! Chilled veggie and wheat berry salad was a definite winner in my local diet this week!

There were quite a few other stir-fries with both rice and wheat berries; homemade whole wheat toast with homemade peach jam (the peaches were local); and of course, those wonderful plump strawberries. It occurred to me recently just how colorfully vibrant the food I'm eating is, now that I'm eating locally. But how can you not? It's not only beautiful - eating fresh and local means every bite is a delightful medley of flavors sure to engage anyone who loves good food. And don't we all?

Be well. Be mindful. Go local!

2 comments:

Danae said...

Ooh, that salad looks great. I might see if I can do something similar with pearl barley. Yum.

hmd said...

Sera - That sounds good too! Now I've eaten all my wheat berries, though. Hopefully I'll get the deal worked out with the grower soon so I can stock up :)