fall bounty

I went to the farm today for our fall harvest pickup. I brought home all sorts of greens -- kale, chard, broccoli -- and squash, brussel sprouts, two types of cabbage (plain and savoy, which Mr. P calls poodle cabbage), rutabagas, carrots, onions, garlic, parsnips, and probably more.

I cooked up the Brussels sprouts. You have to understand that Mr. P is a hero to his two siblings because of a projectile vomiting incident involving Brussels sprouts years ago. Thus ended the strict adherance to the "several bite" rule that at that time ruled the family. But Mr. P will eat my Brussels sprouts. I basically just sautee them in a little olive oil and butter, along with pine nuts, until brown. And because they are so very fresh from the farm, I can err on the side of undercooking because we both fear the aforementioned results of overcooking. They were good tonight.

I also made stuffed poodle cabbage. I sauteed onion, mushrooms, rutabaga, parsnip, carrot, and green pepper, and added a little tamari. then I steamed individual leaves of cabbage, cut out the tough end, and rolled the mixture and a little grated cheese into each leaf. The stuffed leaves went into a pan, covered with marinara sauce, and I baked until the sauce bubbled. We served it with a little Romano cheese on top.

There was so much extra stuffing that I made more leaves, and they're now in the freezer awaiting a busy night when we need to make an instant meal.

It was a fairly elaborate meal, and a tasty one. Tomorrow, I'm thinking we'll do something simpler, perhaps steam some broccoli and greens, toss in some of the frozen pesto we have (this year I made both cilantro and basil pesto) and serve it all over pasta. Easy and done.