Veggies, Week 7

Yesterday our CSA bag included zucchini (2), Tuscan kale, swiss and red chard, onions and shallots, broccoli and potatoes. I can't wait to grill the zucchini and potatoes with lots of basil and oregano that are having a blast in my garden. Yesterday I harvested probably a pound or more of green & pole beans, 4 cherry tomatoes and red chard from our own garden. It feels so good harvesting the fruits of our work! This is the feeling you need to remember in the early spring when all the work of digging and planting and taking care of the seedlings happens. Now it's just harvest and weed once in a while, maybe tie a tomato plant to a bamboo pole so it won't break heavy with fruits, maybe water when it gets too hot . For dinner last night I used some of the red cabbage from last week's CSA bag, and red chard from our garden, sauteed them in a pan with one inion (CSA) and let them steam covered in hard cider (that's what I happened to be imbibing at the time; hey, it was a hot evening! and I used most for cooking; you'll see). I left this on the stove in very low heat while I watered the garden. In the meantime, there was some fish cooking in the oven, no heat on, just whatever heat was left from baking muffins. As they need 400F, I figured it'll be enough heat to cook a couple of flounder fillets, which are not very think anyway. I drizzled a bit of vegetable oil, pepper and Cajun seasoning, capers and hard cider on the fish, covered and left it in the oven to cook - while I hung the clothes on the line. I had just done a load of our dirty clothes from the camping trip we took to Asheville. More about this fantastic trip later. The point is, one can cook even if there are other things that need to get done. Just choose a dish or two that need your attention only for prep and start, and then you can leave on the stove/in the oven and forget about them for a while. We also have a rice cooker, that really does the whole job by itself. Nowadays it's hard to justify not cooking because of lack of time. My parents both worked full time jobs and we still had a home cooked meal every single night. We never ate out, except while away on vacation. I heard of TV dinners when I came to the States. So if my parents with two kids could find the time and cook dinner, there's no way I can have an excuse for not doing it. I would feel sooooo guilty!