Straight from the Farm

Hey, guess what?  I’m in England right now!  Yep, that’s right.  I’m traversing the pond to take a whirlwind tour of gardens of the U.K.   Among them is a personal Mecca of mine - Perch Hill Farm.  Can’t wait to get back and tell you all about it!  In the meantime, here’s a new recipe to keep you occupied. 

This dish is a bit more geared towards those of you that grow your own garden as the beets/greens need to be very young, so much so that I doubt anyone out there is selling them this small.   Actually, it’s a fun trick I’ve developed in my garden this year.  When the time comes to thin out any extra seedlings from the crops I direct seeded – carrots, peas (for shoots), lettuces – into my vegetable beds, I save the tender young plants I thin and eat them whole.  So, these itty bitty beets – really just long red roots with tiny greens attached – were what I culled from the rows of what are now becoming beautiful big ruby orbs, which are due shortly to make their appearance in several recipes here on SFTF. 

For those of you who are vegetarian out there, I used the Morning Star chicken strips and found them perfect for this recipe.  The dressing is just a basic formula you can adapt a hundred different ways; add a dash of red pepper flakes, a pinch of fresh thyme, orange muscat champagne vinegar instead of balsamic, apple juice in place of honey, walnut oil instead of olive….the adaptations and flavors are endless.  The idea behind the recipe is to keep it simple and fast so dinner is healthy and delicious without being time consuming.   And to not waste some of the most tender, albeit small, harvests from the garden. 

Young Beet Greens and Chicken Salad
A Straight from the Farm Original

¼ C. balsamic vinegar
¾ C. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. ground mustard
1 t. ground ginger
1 T. lemon juice
1 t. honey
salt and pepper to taste
2 C. chicken breast, cut into thin strips
2 C. fresh baby beet greens, roots and all, washed and dried

Make the dressing by whisking together the vinegar, oil, mustard, ginger, lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper until well combined.  Set aside.

In a large skillet, cook the chicken over medium heat until brown and cooked through, seasoning with a pinch of salt and pepper.   Add the beet greens and toss to combine with the chicken.  Drizzle with half a cup of dressing and toss again.  Cook just until greens begin to wilt.  Remove from heat and taste.  Add additional dressing and salt and pepper as desired.   Serve immediately while warm. 

(serves 2)

It’s about time for some health food around here.  The past several posts have all be scrumptious sugary goodness…and now my teeth are starting to hurt just a little bit and the thighs have really taken advantage of the “situation”.  Good thing I’m working up a serious sweat every day in my gardening gig.   My garden is growing gold these days.  I’m harvesting beets, carrots, lettuce, all sorts of herbs, broccoli, swiss chard, and young mustard greens.  But my two favorites have to be the kohlrabi and sugar snap peas. 

I had a friend recently tell me he’d never even seen a kohlrabi before, let alone eaten it.  Of course I made him try it offered him one to eat as soon as they came into season (about a month ago).  But before he would take a bite, he wanted to know what it tasted like.  I always have such a tough time with that question.  Kohlrabi tastes like…um, well, sorta like broccoli.  Yep.  And sorta like a mild radish.  Okay.  And maybe even a little like an apple.  What??   Well, that’s just my take on it anyway.   It’s definitely very crunchy and when it’s peeled, it looks like the white crisp flesh of an apple.  There is a mild sweetness to mine, but I’ve had other people tell me that’s not always the case with kohlrabi.  Another friend who overheard me trying to describe this to my kohlrabi-virgin friend declared it was just like eating a giant broccoli stem.  Hmmm, perhaps, though I like to give this alien-looking vegetable more credit than that.

I do believe my friend liked the kohlrabi, by the way.   And I know for sure he and everyone else who’s visited my garden as of late loved these sugar snap peas.  I can only tell you that if you’ve never had a sugar snap pea plucked straight off the vine and popped directly into your mouth, pod and all, then you’ve been denied one of life’s most delicious experiences.   Don’t even kid yourself if you are thinking right now, “Well, maybe I haven’t been there to pick them myself, but I’ve surely had the same great taste from the fresh peas I buy at the farmers market”.    Peas are the one vegetable everyone should try to grow themselves as they are never quite as good as they are those few precious minutes after they’ve been picked.   Really, mine rarely make it into the kitchen as I inevitably eat them standing before the vine, dirt in the crack of my hands to boot, about mid-way through my evening of gardening when my tummy reminds me I never made it into the house to have some dinner.   Obviously I made an exception to make this salad.  Talk about practicing self-control!

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