Inside was a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on a toasted english muffin. Still warm, with ketchup. Like some kind of little dream from every time I’ve come in from the cold, the wet, the mud, tired and hungry and ready to eat everything in the fridge, here was my own son handing me a delicious sandwich he made and saved for my return.

There are many frustrations and challenges of parenting, and there are many unexpected joys, too. Teach your children to appreciate food, to cook it, and share your pleasure in it with them. And some day, they may just hand you a delicious surprise.

The farm share is down to the last of the greens as we head into just the root vegetables of the late Fall. I can’t tell you what’s in the mix, they’re just called “braising greens” but sauteed with some olive oil and garlic and salt they are delicious over a quick rice pilaf. For the rice, I mixed:

• A small onion, chopped
• A few cashews, in pieces
• Some golden raisins from far away, a bit old
• A little Berbere spicing (pretty potent stuff)
• A touch of veggie bullion in the water

And a pad of paper and pen. I didn’t get much written but the food was delicious.

It all came together over lunch in a great way. I sauteed the following:

• Onions
• Garlic
• Celery
• Last of the farm share tomatoes
• Leftover chickpeas
• Carrots

And then I threw in the mussels to warm them through, and topped with chopped cilantro and lime. Mmm, that was good over sushi rice. Something about eating this bowl of steaming hot colorful food while reading in sunlight felt like a kind of heaven. My kids keep telling me I should open a restaurant but they don’t get it — I’m not really interested in cooking for people I don’t know.

• 1 hard-boiled egg, cut into quarters
• a handful of string beans, boiled for a few minutes then cooled and sliced in half
• 2 handfuls of fresh salad greens, dried and torn up
• a few small new potatoes (red), boiled just to tender and cut into quarters
• a handful of grape tomatoes, cut in half
• a few anchovies (the good quality ones) cut up into little pieces
• a beautiful half-pound of organic (???) salmon from the Shetlands, apparently

I put everything except the fish into a salad bowl, then heated olive oil in a non-stick pan (I love Diamond Chef) and seared the salmon with mediterranean herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary) and salt and pepper (generous pepper). Some lemon juice as it finished, golden.

Then a simple vinaigrette of olive oil and balsamic vinegar with a little whole grain mustard. Toss all together with salad, fish, gently to coat and the parts start to break up.

The delicious surprise was that a snap pea had fallen in and was so delicious that I was sorry I hadn’t used them instead of the green beans. It was a little warm on the outside, crisp and crunchy inside. Green fresh taste offsetting the salt oily fish taste. Yumm.

1. Put 2 tbsp olive oil in a pressure cooker on medium
2. Chop an onion and toss it in
3. Chop a poblano (remove the seeds of course) and toss it in
4. Saute a few minutes to soften
5. Add a cup of basmati rice, stir to coat
6. Add a can of chick peas, mostly drained
7. Add a package of frozen spinach (use organic)
8. Add 1.5 cups water and bullion (I used veggie)
9. Cover and bring to low pressure, cook 7 minutes, natural pressure release
10. Squeeze in fresh lemon juice
11. Grind in black pepper
12. Salt to taste

Serve with big dollops of yogurt. I had also fried up some little tomatoes with sherry vinegar and salt, almost caramelized, and I tossed some into my bowl and discovered they were a great tart and sweet addition to the flavors.

Mmmm… And 2 out of 3 kids loved it. The third said it was okay.

(Just realized I must have a chick pea and spinach thing going on — see previous post.)

Slice up two cloves of garlic and toss them into a large pan with some olive oil. Add flakes of red pepper (I like Marash Turkish). Just to the point of garlic turning golden, then dump in the (partially drained) chick peas, and cut up roasted red pepper strips. Saute a little, then add some chopped tomatoes (I used Pomi from a carton), maybe a cup. A bit of veggie bullion for depth, and some Turkish spice blend from Penzey’s. Simmer the sauce to thicken it.

Dump in a big pile of the fresh-cooked pasta (.75 lb?) and add a good quantity of grated cheese (I used about .5 cup locatelli/parmesan mix), some fresh lemon juice and a generous amount of top-quality unfiltered olive oil for peppery kick, and top with toasted pine nuts.

Yumm. One of those dishes that gets better as it sits a little bit and the sauce soaks in. 2 of 3 kids dug it, and it has plenty of protein for vegetarians.

2 onions, chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced (should have been pressed…)
various greens: beet, dandelion, arugula, shredded
olive oil
harissa (hot pepper paste)
spices: cinnamon, coriander, turmeric
1 cup bulgur
1/2 cup water
salt
black pepper
bring to low pressure, 5 minutes, then natural pressure release (another 5-10 minutes)
chopped scallions on top, fresh lemon juice

Next time, much less harissa. It was great with yogurt, though.

Adapted from Paula Wolfert’s Mediterranean Grains and Greens cookbook, which I’ve been enjoying a lot lately.

• Organic argula
• Baby bella mushrooms
• Head of garlic
• Sundried tomatoes
• Organic olive oil, cheap but good for cooking
• Artisanal pasta, shaped like thick leaves
• Beet greens that were just cut off the beets
• Turkish red pepper flakes and Indian black pepper corns, ground
• Some nice sea salt
• Parmesan

By the time I’d called him back for more advice, he was gone, so I sauteed the garlic, the peppers, then the mushrooms quickly with the tomatoes sliced up thin, then the greens went in with salt and the liquid I used to resuscitate the tomatoes, only a few minutes until the greens wilted a little. Tossed it over the pasta leaves and added more oil, salt, and parmesan.

Mmm. I am thinking about going into the kitchen to heat some up again. One of these days I am going to make it to Italy, and do some serious eating — and hopefully, cooking.

in a saucepan, throw in some quinoa grains and polenta and sea salt. Heat,
swirling, until grains are toasted– just beginning to smoke. Add some
water to cover, and bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until quinoa
grains split, about 10 minutes. Add more water as necessary to keep wet,
always bringing back to a boil before reducing to a simmer. At the end, you
can add rolled oats, which add about five more minutes, or you can add
cooked brown rice. I also stir in raisins, and I like to add cream of
wheat, but Kim’s allergic, so I only do that when it is just me.

This is not delicate– just keep adding water and stirring, or cook
uncovered to thicken if you put in too much water. The key is the toasting
of the grains at the beginnning, which imparts that toasty flavor.