Turkey Tracks:  August 25, 2013

August Dinner

On Friday I pick up my produce from my CSA (Community Shared Agriculture).  We CSA members are now at the point where we are getting A LOT of food.  As I put away the food, I isolated these ingredients for my supper.

I LOVE Romano green beans.  They are my favorites.  (Well, ok, I like the haricot verts, too.  And the Dragon’s Tongue.  And the Providers.)  After the CSA, I came home and made a fresh bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich–on gluten free bread–Sami’s–and saved the bacon grease.  Lard is really good for you, actually.  By keeping the grease on the stove from lunch to dinner, I was creating an asset to use later.

That purple veggie is a kolhrabi.  They also come in green.  They’re good grated or sliced thinly and sautéed.  They’re nice, too, diced and thrown into a lighter summer veggie soup.

First, I cut up the eggplant, put it into a colander over a bowl, and salted it.

Next, I made a fresh salad–made by grating the kohlrabi and some of these tender new carrots.  I added in some corn I took off the cob a few days ago–I always cook extra corn and reserve the kernels for salads this time of year.  Again, that’s creating an asset for later.  I shaved in some parsley.  And over it all, I poured a mustardy, garlicky vinaigrette.  I keep that kind of salad dressing all made out on the counter–where it just gets better and better.  It’s another asset.  The salad went into the frig to mellow out.  (It is good for several days.)

Next, I washed and snapped the Romano beans and put them into a saucepan with some of the bacon grease, water, and some salt.  I wanted them “Southern Style”–or cooked until soft.

Then, I cut up all my lovely vegetables and put them into the cast-iron skillet where I fried the bacon.  i also added a lump of unrefined coconut oil, which is so, so good for you and very, very stable–unlike frying with olive oil.  (I reserve olive oil now mostly for eating on salads.)

What you see in this pan is the following:  the eggplant, the fresh onion, yellow squash, zucchini squash, some fava beans i soaked in salted water and peeled (assets, yes, bukt boy are they a lot of work), and some sliced new potatoes.  Add some good sea salt.

When the veggies had cooked down a bit, I added the tomato and some basil, some chive, and some mint from the garden.  Maybe some tarragon, too.  (An herb garden is a major asset.) I don’t know what it is about mint in this kind of dish, but it’s delicious.  See the color developing?

It’s your call as to when you think the dish is ready.  Here’s how far I took this batch–and the flavor was deep and rich and gorgeous.  I shaved in some parsley to finish it.

Meanwhile, I had put chicken thighs into the oven–dressed with butter and lemon slices.

When the chicken was done–I poured myself a glass of orange/cucumber/lemon/rosemary infused water.  (You can see I need to make more sauerkraut–which is chock full of enzymes and probiotics.  I try to eat a little every day of one of these lacto-fermented veggie concoctions.)

And here’s my plate of beautiful, beautiful summer food:

I should have added one of the lacto-fermented dill pickles i just took out of the crock and refrigerated.  The roasted lemon slices carmelize, become sweet, and are delicious.

Best of all, I will have at least two meals to reheat and enjoy–or some fun foods to have for lunch.

And, look, folks.  Not a recipe in sight.  This kind of cooking is my most favorite.  You cook, simply, what is in season because that’s all you need to do.  The fresh, wonderful food will do the rest for you.