My Food Life

I've been under the weather this week and haven't had a lot of time to go out grocery shopping, so I made due with what I had: cheddar cheese, onion, garlic, rice, baby bella mushrooms, zephyr squash, and broccoli. I still have that lovely woozy-head feeling from my cold, so don't even ask me proportions for this! But essentially all I did was chop the veggies and saute them in butter with the garlic and onion while the rice cooked. I used a vegetable bullion cube in the water the rice cooked in, as well as some salt for flavor. Once it was all done I put the rice in a bowl and stirred in the shredded cheddar, then added the veggies. Easy enough, yeah? Not exactly a fancy risotto, but if you're lacking time or energy (or ingredients) then it certainly does the job. I like making easy dishes like this because proportions don't really matter–you can basically add whatever tastes right. Hooray for easy!

If you ask me, a good sandwich is hard to beat. Even if you don't have artisan bread on hand and instead have a cheap whole grain loaf like I had, it sort of balances out when what you're filling the sandwich with is incredibly good. This sandwich has avocado, tomato, cheddar cheese, lettuce, and onions (diced very small and somehow invisible in the photo), with a little bit of mustard, salt and pepper. And sometimes, life calls for a little bit of soda. The Blue Sky Cherry Vanilla Creme soda suited the other flavors quite nicely without overwhelming them. With a side of a few Sun Chips and apple slices, it was a delicious lunch. I just think that sometimes the most simple things can be absolutely the best. Maybe I just love sandwiches too much. What's your favorite sandwich?

So, I totally slept in this morning and forgot that it was Saturday, missing out on weekend farmer's market adventures. Phooey. At least I got some nice sleep. :)

But here's a dish I made last night with the bf, using vegetables from my past two market visits: Lettuce, tomato, and zephyr squash. I've learned that zephyr squash is "...mild flavored matching creamy and sweet flesh. Never bitter, ideal squash for fresh eating or cooking." It was heated in the cooking of the quesadilla, but I've also used it fresh on sandwiches before and it's true that it's a great addition when eaten uncooked, too. In the quesadilla we had the squash and tomato, and we also used mozzarella cheese along with salt, black pepper, cumin, red pepper (ground), and chili powder. You can see that on top we added warmed black beans, more tomato, lettuce, and a bit of sour cream and black pepper. A side of Sun Chips was enough, because the quesadilla itself was larger than it appears in the photo. Simple and delicious!

Lately, one of my favorite things to do on a Thursday afternoon is to go by the farmer's market. It's a small one since it's mid-week; only about 3 booths are available at that time, but it's so great because I'm able to find a lot of great vegetables that can hold me out until the bigger farmer's market at the end of the week. A farm that I find myself continually buying from is McAdams Farm, based in Efland, North Carolina. Their website describes how they farm, and every single time I've spoken with them in transaction they've been so happy and friendly.

I have goals to eventually go visit farms I purchase from to see what they're like and to get to know better the policies of the people I buy from, so hopefully I'll be able to go there soon and check it out. I just think it's really important to be aware of what you're putting into your body and to support local farmers rather than gigantic chains that are impossible to investigate (or worse, can be investigated but have not great reputations). While I don't want push my views on anyone else, I do appreciate awareness and recommend a documentary called Food, Inc. especially to meat-eaters. If you're going to eat meat you should know about what a monster the meat industry has become, and how everything in your local supermarket is affected by it. I still buy some things like cereal and pasta from supermarkets and I don't even feel great about that, but I still think making an effort is important.

That'll be the end of my rant on farmer's markets! Hope that doesn't turn anyone off; it's one of my passions. Anyway, the "loot" I collected this go around were a couple of tomatoes, a couple of squash (what is the plural of squash!?), and some garlic. I've never had garlic so fresh, but it was very strong and delicious, and also fun to unravel! With these veggies and leftovers from my last market visit (red onion, broccoli, star squash) and the addition of my own basil, I made a simple pasta dish for dinner. Veggies in a butter sauce with garlic, onion, and basil, over pasta with the addition of a splash of soy sauce and mozzarella cubes. The mozz cubes were actually a mistake—they became gooey and stretchy. I would suggest doing that with a cold dish instead, and shredding it over something hot. Dunno why that didn't come to me beforehand! Cooking is such a learning experience. Sometimes I'm great and sometimes I suck. I wonder if it's like that for most people?