Last night my fridge was looking a bit bare. I hadn’t been shopping in almost a week and what was left wasn’t looking that appealing. But, not wanting to go out, I decided to make something with what I had.
I pulled out kale that had gone from dark green to a lighter, yellow color, but was still good, a huge zucchini, some chicken sausage from the freezer, Parmesan, sage and rosemary from a flower bed outside, salt, pepper, and olive oil. These were all chopped, poured, and sprinkled into a pot and allowed to simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes. Initially I thought I’d mix it with some pasta, but in the end it seemed at once both light and substantial enough on its own. With a glass of Pinot Grigio, it was quite delicious.
This morning I rode my bike to the downtown farmer’s market to replenish the goods. Though I try to branch out periodically, I am lured by the same farmers and items almost every week. I went for the mix of yellow and red cherry tomatoes, summer squash, kale, sunflower micro greens (!) and a loaf of cardamom fig bread that sounded too good to resist.
Upon returning home, I heard a story on the news about a stomach flu being linked to a salad mix grown in Mexico and served at several chain restaurants in the Midwest. It made me glad that the produce I just bought is produced on a small scale by people I see every week and only has to travel a few miles to be sold.
smagik 