Down on the Farm

This year, for the first time in my life, I've gotten a farm share.  If you don't know what that is, its where you pay a certain amount of money up front and, depending on how much you pay, you get a share of the crops from the farm.  My friend Lynn and I split the share and we get it every other week.  We got our first one this past Friday.

Isn't it gorgeous?  What we have here is spinach, kale, red leaf lettuce, cilantro, dill, scallions, spring mix, another red lettuce that I don't know the name of, pea shoots and garlic scapes.  Oh seriously, this stuff is gorgeous!  And I will be getting something every other week until November 8!  The possibilities are so exciting.

So what did I make first?  Well a salad of course, with the beautiful red lettuces.

I dress my salads simply... extra virgin olive oil (one half cup), balsamic vinegar (one quarter cup) and honey (2 Tablespoons).  I didn't use to add honey, but one day I decided to try it out and loved it so much I always do it now.

The second thing I made was Israeli couscous with sauteed pea shoots and garlic scapes.  I have come to really love Israeli couscous.  My go to small pasta had always been orzo.  And I do still love it, but there is something about the Israeli couscous I simply adore.  It may be the texture I love so much.  It has great texture.   The one I use is Bob's Red Mill Tricolor Pearl Couscous.  And if you live in Northeast Ohio, you can get this very product at Marc's for $2, which is much cheaper than you will find anywhere else.

I started out with the gorgeous garlic scapes and pea shoots, two products I have never used before in my life, but was so excited to try out.

Everything on the pea shoots are edible, the stems, the leaves, the little peapods and even the flowers so all I did with these was peel the leaves off the harder bottom stems then chop up the rest.  I then sauteed them for a short amount of time, it did not take long for them to wilt, and then added the chopped garlic scapes afterward because I didn't want them to cook too much.  Then added a little salt and pepper.

There is really not as much oil in the pan as it looks here, oh wait... I added a little chicken broth.  That's why the pan looks like it's drowning the veg!   I added the broth just to slow down the cooking process because the couscous wasn't quite done.

After it was done, I added it to the pan with the shoots and scapes.  And gave it a good toss (and a little more salt and pepper).

I served it with roasted chicken breasts with lime and ginger.  To make that I simple put two large chicken breasts in a baking dish, squeezed the juice of one lime over the top of the chicken, then sprinkled with salt and pepper and then grated some ginger over the top (probably about a little less than a teaspoon on each piece).  Bake uncovered for about 45-55 minutes depending on how thick the chicken is, at 350.  The meat was juicy and succulent while the skin was crispy perfection.   Simple, easy and tons of flavor!

Mangia!