Spring Vegetables

There are lots of fresh vegetables available right now. I really like to be able to cook a whole meal in one pot. There are times when meat is scarce, this recipe doesn't have meat in it, though it would be very easy to add cheese, bacon, or other meat.  Or serve this along side a grilled or roasted fish or meat item. The photo on the top is my vegi basket from the market, the center one this recipe, the bottom is this hash plus some mead and cooked barley with sour cream and strawberries. 

I started the pot by heating up some fat (or butter, I used smoked butter).  Into it, I put very thinly sliced baby turnips. I added kale and turnip greens, chopped up, and lots of garlic (could use garlic greens or stems). When everything was cooked (garlic and turnips soft, greens wilted), I added several handfuls of already cooked grains (in this case oat and wheat groats). I salted it, and ended up adding some more butter, as it was dry. 

I was really expecting this to be bland, but it was DELICIOUS! 

In the future I think I could add mustard, cheese, and bacon. Or a little vinegar. 

Dinner last night was delicious, and I still had ingredients left, so I tried two new versions.  One is better than the other :) 

I started with some bacon scraps, heated in the pan.  When they were ready, and there was lots of fat, I put in chopped kale.  When it was wilted, I added cooked wheat, a little salt, and then chunks of cheese, which I stirred until they melted. 

That one was GREAT.  It was also interesting with a little fresh cilantro sprinkled on top :) 

The right-hand one was okay, but I don't like it as much.  I added ground mustard seeds to it. It was fine, I ate it, but the other one was better. 

Huh.  So, this whole "hash" concept has kinda captured my imagination at the moment ;) 

This is something that I really really could feed a bunch of people pretty easily with. And it is delicious. I am currently eating a lunch version: precooked wheat, leftover pork chopped up fine, a little kale, smokey bacon fat, garlic leaves, turnip tops, cheese, seasoned with salt and vinegar. 

Let's talk about beans :) Specifically FAVA beans.  For some reason, many people have negative impressions of these, likely from some canned monstrosity. I will say they are a multi step process, but one with delicious results.  No photo of my results, as they were SO delicious I ate them all instantly!  

How do you start?  Boil a pot of salty water (sea water is fine).  While that boils, let's look at favas.  They have a pod with hairy insides, and also a sort of hard shell on the outside of the beans.  The first step is to take the beans out of the pods.  This is pretty self-explanatory. 

When the water is boiling, put the beans in for between 3 and 5 minutes. While they boil, fill a bowl with cold water.  When the beans are done (the white skins will split), scoop them out into the cold water.  Peel the white skins off each bean. 

Heat up your pan again, this time with butter or bacon fat in it. I like to add fine sliced/chopped leeks or other onion family vegis to the pan and saute them).  Add the beans to the butter and saute to taste. I seasoned with more salt and some finely chopped fresh cilantro. 

Like I said, I couldn't even get a photo because I ate them all so fast :) 

Delicious, so delicious.