Martha Stewart actually has a good Asian recipe!

Red bok choy

Ok, Martha is a big cliché.  And there was the whole insider trading thing.  But I've found that 1) she can laugh at herself (Exhibit A, Exhibit B), 2) her recipes are holding up in my kitchen (Exhibit C has been made by me and my roommate with great success).  So when I did a search for what I had on hand, bok choy and skirt steak, and one of Ms. Stewart's recipes came up, I decided I'd give it a try.

Let me back up a second.  I really had wanted to make flank steak, with the amazing marinade from How to Cook Everything.  But they were out of this cut at Whole Foods, so I took a gamble with skirt steak.  Then I got home and read how it's not a very tender cut, but used a lot in stir-fries.  So I decided I'd go with rice instead of potatoes.  And this led me to this recipe.  I was skeptical about the sauce: peanut butter and honey with soy sauce and vinegar?!  Since I had all the ingredients, I figured it couldn't hurt to try, and if it didn't work out, well...that's what sriracha sauce is for, right?

A little taste of the South

When I saw that I was going to get some collard greens, I knew I had to make a little "soul food" (to the extent that a white girl from Utah can).  I scoured the internet for the best recipe, but finally ended up improvising a little.  I knew I wanted to make black-eyed peas, and I knew I needed cornbread, but didn't necessarily want to make a meat dish.  I had fully intended to keep it all vegetarian, but a quick phone call to my sister in North Carolina convinced me to defrost the bacon in my freezer.  Totally worth it.

Beautiful fresh collards

Collard Greens with onion and bacon:

- one bunch collard greens, thick stems removed and sliced into bite-size pieces (taking into account the massive reduction after they cook)
- 1/2 large onion, roughly chopped
- 3-4 slices bacon, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Fry bacon 2-3 minutes.  Add onion & garlic and cook another 2 minutes.  Add collards, stirring to coat in fat released from bacon.  Add 1/2 cup water and cover.  Cook until greens are really tender, adding more water if necessary.  My sister also recommends using beer instead of water.

Arugula Garlic Pesto

I have big plans for my collards, but have let the more fragile lettuces get a little wilty in my crisper.  There's far too much arugula to be eaten in one day, so I decided to make a pesto.  There's a recipe I've been thinking of trying for a while, and while my oatmeal was cooking I threw it together.  Lucikly, I had all the other ingredients on hand.

Farm visit and the first haul

Yesterday I visited the farm that grows my vegetables.  It's primarily a poultry farm, with a small store selling some prepared foods (chicken pot pies, chicken sausage, pies), and for the past few years they've grown produce as well.  We got a tour of the facilities, seeing how the chickens live before "processing".  While they're penned in, there aren't any cages, and the birds all seemed to have plenty of flapping space.  Seeing as I found remains of a bird outside my door in October, probably from some bird of prey that managed to carry it off, I think the pens and overhead netting are probably a good idea.

The vegetable patch was really beautiful, with rows of the most gorgeous lettuce you've ever seen.  The farmer is a recent graduate from an agriculture program, and he explained why they are not doing organic farming.  Instead, they are doing integrated pest management, with consultation from the agriculture folks at his college.  This way he has freedom to handle any pests or weather conditions with some flexibility, and I got the impression that his decisions to use any pesticides would be informed by not only the pests and the toxicity, but also the impact on the pollinators.  Also impressive was his use of irrigation: a slow drip gives constant water directly where needed, with minimal waste.

In addition to the tour of the facilities, there was a lovely spread of snacks for us supporters.  We got an amazing apple-berry crumble, and some amazing chicken salad.  The best part was a surprise early harvest, a mini-share, to be picked up that night!  On offer: arugula, broccoli, broccoli rabe, red or green romaine, red or green bok choy, kale or collards.  I had just made pad see ew with rabe, so we took an extra bag of broccoli florets instead of waiting for them to pick more rabe.  The kale was also temporarily out, so I grabbed a bunch of giant collards.  Two bags full of greens...this bodes very well.

Now comes the fun part: cooking and eating!!