Simple Choices

Turkey Tracks: July 21, 2020

Simple Choices

I’m enjoying the red geraniums in the oak barrels. They were a “simple” choice as in the past I planted an array of different flowers in these barrels.

It will be a “simple” choice to weed the rocks behind the barrels after the next good rain. They come out pretty easily. OK. I could wet them with the hose too. But it is hot and humid, which always saps my strength and energy. It’s a simple choice to just go with what the body says it needs too. Weeding gravel paths is an ongoing summer project around here.

On Sunday I grilled some boned chicken thighs on the grill, which only takes a little time as without bones, the meat is flat. I’ve left my little grill out away from the house rather than putting it away neatly after each use. It’s so easy to just run out, light it, and put some food on it. It heats up really quickly. AND there is no messy clean-up in the kitchen.

I love thighs and drumsticks. Each has so much more flavor than the overblown breasts which in my opinion are pretty tasteless—unless, of course they are a free-range chicken raised locally. Grilling the quick-marinated chicken gave the stir fry I was making a whole new level of “tasty” good.

I sliced up the cooked chicken and added it at the very last minute to a stir fry cooked in chicken fat. As usual, I used many types of vegetables—all fresh and in our local markets and also coming to me weekly from Hope’s Edge CSA. This one has cabbage, carrot, red pepper, celery, garlic scapes, some diced potato, herbs, salt, and some cut up pre-cooked broccoli rabe from another meal. Spring onions are added toward the last as I don’t like them cooked to mush. I started the stir fry with the diced potato in the fat as it would cook a bit slower than the other items. The chicken is added when I turn off the heat. I like stir fries that are not limp, so I turn the ingredients on a regular basis.

Quinoa cooks in 15 minutes. And I was hungry, so I went with quinoa rather than rice. Grains are a treat for me, so this meal was satisfying, for sure. And I have enough leftovers to feed me for a few more meals, which is nice on these hot, humid days when I also have an engaging sewing project. Cooking up a big stir fry is also a simple choice.

The “Bedrock” quilt top is almost done—from The Color Collective and designed by Tara Faughnan. There will be pictures this week for sure.