I thought it might be fun to track what I get as part of the farm share I am splitting with some friends this year, and what I do with it. We are splitting a half share from One Straw Farm, which translates into a total of four items each week. Our first pickup was Saturday, June 13. I took home a small box of strawberries, and a bunch of swiss chard.
The strawberries were easy – I ate them all in two batches. I had intended to pick up a couple of biscuits at the grocery store to go with them, but forgot. So, instead of strawberry shortcake I made a quick chocolate sauce by taking a small handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips and a splash of half and half, and zapping them in the microwave. Yum. If I had any greek yogurt around at the time, I would have just eaten them with that, as I found it was a delicious combination a couple of weeks ago. (Yes, I have already had local strawberries multiple times. This is one of the good things about Maryland.)
The swiss chard was not so obvious to me. I have only worked with it once before, and that was in the fall (and it was rainbow chard, not that I have any idea how much of a difference that really makes). This time of year it is a little warm for a heavy stew, but most of the other recipes I was finding online were for a side dish – saute it with some olive oil and garlic, and in some cases a few spices. I tend to cook meals that are one-pot (or close to it) and thus all-inclusive of your vegetable, starch and protein. So, I decided to make up my own all-inclusive swiss chard dish. Working at what I already had on hand, here’s what I did. Since this isn’t really a recipe per se, I haven’t broken out the ingredients. Continue reading →