thoughtful consumption

Is it too early to declare 2012 Year of Spinach?

I have still have spinach from last week, so I just threw in the towel and blanched this batch and what I had. It’s now frozen and awaiting further instruction – like jump in this creamy pasta dish.

Tuscan kale, on the other hand, I never get enough of.

Kale is high in iron, and I was deferred from giving blood last week on account of my iron being low. That’s low for giving blood, not low in general. The blood donation cut-off excludes the “low-normal” range for women. But, hey, it’s an excuse to eat more kale. And cheeseburgers at the Vortex.

Strawberries are always tasty. And pretty.

We also got some great field lettuce and little radishes.

There were some summery veggies on hand, too.

tomatoes, yellow squash, and Italian parsley

And in the non-veggie corner…

prosciutto, dried oyster mushrooms, eggs, and Aztec cheddar

The Aztec cheddar is interesting. It’s got a little dry heat in it. I’m thinking I might try to melt it with some refried beans and go from there.

Tale of two suppers

With the prosciutto, tomatoes, and parsley from this week, I made a yummy supper the other night.

It’s the prosciutto and tomatoes cooked together with some oregano, garlic, onion, celery, and olive oil. I cooked some Riverview Farm grits, mixed those in, and topped it with parsley. It was delicious. I love this prosciutto!

From last week’s bounty, I made brown rice pilaf last night with a leftover leek, more oregano, celery, and garlic. The brown rice is from Anson Mills via Farmers’ Fresh. We also had steamed broccoli and stir-fried squash.

Rice pilaf is my new favorite thing. It has the same benefits as fried rice without the soy sauce. You can use bits of whatever and as long as there’s some garlic and onion, everything works out fine.

I made a similar pilaf for Easter. That one had a half-pound of Portobello mushrooms, so it was even yummier. I was very sad, though, when I went to make it that I didn’t have any vegetable stock left from Farmers’ Fresh. So I had to buy chicken stock at the store. And now I have to use that up.

But for the next pilaf, I ordered some vegetable stock to keep in the freezer.

I also got some butter because it was available. Butter freezes fine, and there have been times when I’ve needed local butter from Farmers’ Fresh and there was none to be had.

And the strawberries are just because.

Enjoy your food!