I'm gay for vegetables.A
lovely lady gifted me Barbara Kingsolver's
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Although I wasn't ignorant to the notion that we spend a lot of fuel and energy getting ridiculous foods to our table (Do we really need arugula in January?)- I never felt such remorse for guzzling foreign oil via my plate like I do after reading this book.
It's no secret that I have farm fantasies (interpret as you will). I am a teacher's pet reading Kingsolver's lessons on gardening and poultry-breeding, nodding eagerly at the book into the wee hours after my husband has long since passed out. I highly recommend it for other food nerds.
Most of us don't have the um, luxury (?) of a 4,000 square foot backyard plot to feed our families. At my house, we DO maintain a meager (40 square foot), currently weed-filled vegetable garden, as well as get most produce and all of our eggs from local farmers.
Here's my recipe for an Early Summer Redemption Frittata. The vegetables I used were readily available locally in Chicago's "late-nonexistent spring." Shake off a little of that gasoline guilt. Mmkay? It's just a frittata, jerks. You can handle this.
This recipe feeds two normal humans or one woman having a manic episode.
Early Summer Redemption Frittata
- 2 Large to XL local eggs
- 1 additional egg white
- 1 portabella mushroom cap or a large handful of cremini or button mushrooms, chopped
- 4 to 5 spears of asparagus, chopped
- 3 bunches of baby bok choi, or about a cup of another fresh cooking green, chopped
- 2 scallions or one Egyptian walking onion/overwintered potato onion
- A good splash of local milk or creamer- the higher the fat content, the tastier the frittata.
-1/8 cup crumbled local goat cheese. (
Prairie Fruits Farm in Illinois has a great selection.)
- olive oil and truffle oil*
- salt and pepper to taste*
Preheat oven to 325. In a medium saucepan (this will be the size of your frittata), saute mushrooms, the white part of the onions, and the stem-y parts of the baby bok choi with about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and one tablespoon of truffle oil over medium-high heat. After you start these, throw your chopped asparagus into a shallow pan with water almost covering the asparagus. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Turn off immediately. After your sauteeing veggies have cooked down slightly (about 8 minutes) Strain your asparagus bits and toss them into the saute pan too, along with the leafy parts of the bok choi. Cook for 3-4 minutes on medium heat, or until the leafy bok choi has
just wilted. Add a little more oil at this point if you need to. Spread your veggies across the pan so that there are somewhat evenly dispersed.
Crack your eggs and egg white into a bowl and add the milk/cream. Whip up until it's even and just a bit frothy. Dump this mixture over your cooked veggies. Cook on medium heat uncovered for about 5 minutes, keeping an eye that the edges don't brown.
Put the entire pan into the preheated oven. Cook for about 8 minutes, or until the egg has set completely. Remove with a friggin pot holder and don't forget that as you are plating it, the handle is fucking hot. (I forgot.)
Done! After I made this, I ate a Hershey's chocolate bar, whose chocolate was surely harvested by tiny child labor hands in somewhere like Malaysia, and shipped on Hummers aboard aircraft carriers to the USA. I'm not perfect, you guys.
*Kingsolver made allowances for certain cooking oils and spices in her "nothing but local" quest. She feels that no reasonable kitchen can cook without them.
