week 6

Cooking in Season

week 6

Today I feel like such a hunter – gatherer. With my dog at my side and thunder clouds rolling overhead, I dove hands first into the wild black berries in the orchard which are flourishing this year after we cleared out some non-productive filbert trees. They seem very happy and vigorous now, so laden with berries that they bend down to the ground. I am grateful for the few years I invested in ballet as a kid as I tip toe, balancing on one leg to avoid the prolific brambles. I am also shocked that the birds have not found these wild gems as well yet.
There are a few things in this world that I have the hardest time growing but completely love. One is melons, which Travis is taking care of this year. Another is onions that never get big, but my sister planted them and hers are doing very well so far. And my biggest envy of the garden is carrots. Even as a kid, the only thing that I ever wanted to plant was carrots. Every year I would fuss with the tiny seeds, fight with the weeds that always grew faster than the tiny carrots, and at the end of it all I would harvest these gnarled little roots that has all the flavor of a stick. Carrots have been my white whale and I always wonder who can get their carrots to grow in the perfectly straight perfectly orange way that ends up in bags at the supermarket.
This year I tried again, going for the short growing orange ones and branching out to some cosmic purple carrots and some sweet yellows. I pulled one up to see how it tasted and was pleasantly surprised. It must be the chill in this July air. They still look a bit gnarled, but they make up for it in taste.
This morning I had the most delicious breakfast. I woke up and picked the greens that are enjoying this mild July. I am shocked at how long the cool weather veggies have been producing and even this morning our new fire loose head lettuce looked good enough to pick. The kale is doing well as I snipped off the tender leaves still covered in dew. I pulled up a couple garlic cloves that, while very small, are still pretty delicious and also grabbed a yellow crook neck squash. I went to the hen house, thanked the ladies and took out a couple eggs.
Here is my simple recipe for delicious fresh greens omlette.
1 onion, sliced thin
1 clove of garlic
2 sprigs of basil
A handful of greens chopped thick- anything from beet tops to chard to kale will do
1 summer squash, sliced
2 eggs per person, scrambled
Salt and pepper to taste
Sautee the onions and garlic together until the onions start turning clear. Add the summer squash and cook for another few minutes. Chop the greens coarsely and the basil fine. Add ¼ cup of water carefully so not to splash the oil and then add the greens and the basil. Cover with a lid and allow to steam until the leaves wilt, about 3 minutes on medium.
Uncover and drain any excess water. Stir up eggs and add to the pan. Cook until the eggs are no longer runny, stirring constantly. Check out pictures of my breakfast at highmillcsa.blogspot.com
From here, you can cover with cheese or sour cream, salt, pepper, hot sauce or whatever makes you happy in the morning. This works for almost all greens and it is an excellent and healthy way to start your meal. I would recommend this recipe with spinach… but then again, that’s another thing that I have a really hard time getting to grow well here.
Oh well, enjoy the berries and see you next week!
~Janeé