More green food

Tuesday night was farm pickup day. I got there in the late afternoon just as a line of storms was coming through. There was a lot of thunder and lightening close by so we couldn't even go into the fields to pick. Then the heavens opened up while I was gathering the produce that had been picked for us. I'll go back tomorrow for strawberries and snap peas -- yum. But we did get a lot of goodies, including several kinds of lettuce and kale, napa cabbage, zingy radishes, tiny beets that had been thinned out, fresh herbs, and some fresh mozzarella (which you pay for separately).

Oh, and garlic scapes, which are the flower stalk and bud that come shooting out of garlic plants. I think they cut them off to send more of the growing energy to the bulbs. Mr. P says they taste "oniony and peppery." They also taste like garlic without giving you that raw garlic burn. I use them in salads and stir fries.

Tuesday, I marinated tofu (hot oil, vinegar, tamari) and cooked up some onions and mushrooms, then added in the tofu. Then I mixed in and steamed (just by covering the pan) three kinds of greens -- tender beet greens, napa cabbage, and kale. I served it with a sauce of Chinese sesame paste, brown rice vinegar, and tamari over rice.

Last night, we had a small salad -- three kinds of lettuce, radishes, basil, parsley, garlic scapes, and fresh mozzarella (all from the farm) accompanied by pasta, greens, and pesto. In the last few seconds of boiling the pasta, I threw some chopped kale, napa cabbage, and mushrooms into the boiling water. When everything was cooked, I drained the pasta and veggies and tossed with the pesto.

We still have a few servings of pesto left from last summer, and now the race is on to finish it before the basil comes in in quantity. Or maybe not. Having pesto once a week throughout the year is not such a bad thing.

This time of year, meals are fairly quick to put together. Sometimes there's a lot of chopping, but there's usually not all that much cooking.

Tonight, we'll probably have the rest of that smoked and roasted salmon, which means (*sigh*) another fresh salad, perhaps with more of that yummy mozzarella. If I get a chance, I may stop by a grocery store and pick up some cherry tomatoes on my way home.

I'll be in bachelorette mode this weekend; perhaps a few simple and extremely quick meals are in order. I've been craving an omelet lately.