coupla nights worth

The thing that's in right now at the farm is GREENS!! It's ever so slightly overwhelming. But we're making good headway, just in time for our next delivery this coming Tuesday.

Wednesday night, we had an old favorite -- pesto, vegetables, and brown pasta. But this time, the vegetables were mostly from the farm and had a very fresh taste -- broccoli, baby bok choy, escarole, arugula, all chopped up and steamed in the microwave. I also chopped up the little bit of remaining fresh spinach.

I also cooked brown rice; it was finally cool enough to turn the stove on, so I thought I'd take advantage of the temperatures to cook ahead.

Thursday, we had more steamed greens along with chopped ginger and garlic, folded into sauteed onions and tofu, and tossed with a sauce I make of tahini, soy sauce, umeboshi plum paste (you don't use a lot at a time but it lasts forever), and a little water. We served the veggies over about half the rice.

Tonight, we had leftovers, supplemented by a small dish I made. I chopped the last of the broccoli and bok choy and some mushrooms I bought recently. I microwaved a little water and some salty chinese black beans, then added the veggies and steamed them in the microwave. I tossed in a sauce of brown rice vinegar, chinese toasted tahini, and soy sauce, adding in some of the microwaved water. The sauce was thick and delicious; the veggies were the best part of the dinner. We finished the rice tonight.

Tomorrow, we'll probably have salad. I've bought some fresh veggies to supplement the farm greens, though I think we just have a little basil and a bunch of lettuce left. Phew. I love huge dinner salads in the summer. They're refreshing and crunchy and cooling.

During the summer, I like to make iced tea. This week's edition is roasted barley ginger mint. I bought some roasted barley for tea at a Chinese grocery a while back. To boiled water, I added a couple of tablespoons of barley, some chopped ginger, and some chopped mint from out back, then let steep for a few hours until cool. I make about half a gallon of tea at a time, sometimes using pre-bagged tea, sometimes getting more creative. When it's iced, I often find it more refreshing than water. This week's recipe will probably be a repeat. Despite Mr. P's initial skepticism, even he admitted it was fairly good.