her able hands

Well, I’m sliding in just under the wire here, and not with a complete meal, either. What can I say? It’s been a great week for being knocked on my butt with anesthesia, wandering around my kitchen in a daze for an hour then picking up the phone and ordering local takeout, and having revelations, but complete meals…not so much.

So I give you my mostly locally produced contributions to two meals this week.

First up, the salad that I brought to dinner at Cheril and Greg’s house on Thursday night.

I just love this kitchen at the end of the day. The sun slants in through an opening in the trees and shines on the counter to the right of the sink. It’s my favorite spot to photograph food.

So the salad was made with:

Lettuce—a combo from my garden (0 miles) and from the farmer’s market (grown about 4 miles away).
Cucumber—from the market (grown 30 miles away).
Nasturtiums—from the volunteer patch (0 miles).
English Peas—from the market (grown about 10 miles away).
Dill—from the market (grown about 20 miles away).
Basil—from my garden (0 miles).
Celery and red onion—from the grocery store. I had some in the fridge and had to use it up! California grown. Oi. The miles!
Dressing—homemade but with oil and balsamic vinegar from Italy. Double Oi. Although those items are on my concession list. So I take back my double oi.

Next up, the appetizer I brought to the big potluck BBQ for the fireworks last night—Grilled Polenta with a Chard and Kale situation on top. I made it up as I went along and thank goodness it was delicious. I hate it when I invent something that tastes like dung. I really wasn’t in the mood for that last night.

This one’s a little better on the mileage, with one offender…

Polenta roll—about 250 miles away in Pennsylvania, but that was closer than the cornmeal I had on hand, which came from Washington State.
Olive oil, again Italy. Always Italy. I can’t let go of that one.
Bunching onions—from the market (grown about 30 miles away). I must grow my own next year.
Bright Lights Chard and Nero di Toscana Kale—from the garden (0 miles).
Salt and pepper—Concession! Concession! No idea where they came from.
Basil—from the garden (0 miles).
Garlic—from the garden, but the one at the old house (want to buy a house on 4 acres?) (grown 14 miles away).

So the finely chopped, bordering on minced veggies got sautéed for about three minutes in a little olive oil, then I added the herbs and salt and pepper. Dumped that into the food processor with a bit more oil and a few leaves of raw chard just to green it up a bit.

Sliced the polenta into rounds, brushed both sides with olive oil and grilled on both sides, then cut the rounds into wedges (thirds). Topped with the greens mix.

And let’s finish it off with a photo of the chard and kale bed. So purty.

Hope you all had a grand weekend.

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