Market to Table - July 02, 2009

Ok. I'm going to be brave and admit this... I'm tired of eating chard and collards. I didn't think that was possible, but yes, there is such a thing as too many greens in the old garden bed. But you live and learn, right? Less greens next time, more green beans. Easy enough lesson.

Of course, that doesn't reduce the current number of greens in the backyard waiting to be picked and eaten (there is still about a month's worth of greens to go...). That leaves me but one recourse... get creative!

So this week's stir-fry lunches got a serious pick-me-up. Here goes...

Heather's Power Stir-Fry

This time, I had to prep a little bit before lunch time, but it was SO worth it.

Step 1: I boiled a quart-size ziplock bag full of fresh purple hull peas from the farmers' market in water until they were nice and soft. While they were boiling, I sauteed diced onion (backyard garden) and mushroom (local from produce market) in some olive oil (farmers' market) with a little salt and dried italian spices. Set aside.

When the purple hull peas were soft enough to mash, I drained them and mashed them with a potato masher. Then I added some steamed carrots (farmers' market) I had just sitting in the fridge and mashed them up as well. Then I tossed in the the sauteed veggies, stirred, and kept it in the fridge until I was ready to make a stir fry. (This made enough of what I'll call "veggie bean mash" to make about 5 stir-fries).

Step 2: Wash and dry all those greens from the backyard garden. Cut the stems away from the greens. Chop the stems and put them in one bag. Chop the greens and put them in another bag. Store in the fridge until you're ready to cook. Again, this was enough greens for about 5 stir-fries.

Step 3: Boil two cups of brown rice (local - RiceSelect) and store in fridge 'till lunch time (enough rice for 4-5 stir fries).

Step 4: Finally, it's time to eat! I quartered a couple small tomatoes from the backyard garden and sauteed them in olive oil with some of the chopped green stems (I put the stems in first because they take longer to soften). Once the juice from the tomato has pretty much cooked off and made a bit of a paste, I tossed in a couple large handfuls of the chopped greens and covered it for a few minutes. Then I added about a cup of the cooked brown rice and about 1/2 cup of the "veggie bean mash." EAT!

Ok. I know that sounded like a lot, but once steps 1-3 were done and waiting in the fridge, the actually lunch prep took all of about 10 minutes and it was OOOH so good (not to mention made a gorgeous stir-fry) and I didn't even notice the copious amount of greens. I can SO live with this!

Of course, that's not all I ate this week, so I'll send another picture your way. This week's fruit choices from the farmers' market were cantaloupe and apples. Rather than decide which I wanted for breakfast each morning, I just pigged out and ate both. Mmmm! Local apples and cantaloupe....

So that's what made it from the market (or my backyard) to the table this week. Hope your eating your way through another delicious week as well. And remember just because you have an overabundance of veggies doesn't mean meals should be boring. Just get creative and let your local food come alive once more.

See you next time, and as always, Happy (and mindful) eating!