Risotto with Corn, Spicy Sausage, and Wilted Arugula
I have made this before, and this turned out well again. I should've taken the time to go find a fresh corn stand, but, it was hot out... Anyways, good meal (and my rice for risotto is almost gone).
Pork Stir Fry based on Spicy Orange Chicken Stir Fry (Cleverly Farms, Grade A Grass & Gardens)
So we have a combination of broccoli, broccoli leaves, carrots, red onion, cabbage, scallions (Blue Gate, credit where credit is due). Combined with the pork and the reduced orange juice sauce, it worked out well. Full of veggies making me feel healthful.
Chicken Salad for a picnic for the free Flick at the Des Moines Art Center
So I wanted to add dill, but not so much to overwhelm it. So I used the baby dill, but just a bit (maybe 3/4th teaspoon, for the whole salad), and then I thought what about some chipotle flavor. So I added some powder. Next time I think I'll go after a combination of the pepper and the adobo sauce. So with that, plus the addition of the normal type of items, I had a decent tasting chicken salad. But what to pair with it. I headed down to my friendly neighborhood cheese shop, and got a nice suggestion of Asher Blue from CJ. It worked out very well. Shannon, who is not the biggest fan of blue, found it good and I liked the playfulness that it had with the dill and chipotle. A good salad.
Butterflied Pork Chops with Roast Potatoes (Crooked Gap, Cleverly Farms)
Potatoes took a bit longer to cook then I thought, but I prepared them simply. Tossed with melted butter, salt and pepper and baked for a while, then a while longer. We ate the pork (which was done) while the potatoes finished. It was a pretty good meal, nice and simple. Though cooked on a day when the air was already having trouble keeping up, turning on the oven, probably not the best of ideas. The pork chops rendered off quite a bit of fat, and before serving, I cut off the fat cap, but it turned out good.
Grass Fed Sloppy Sammys (Coyote Run Farm)
Used a mixture of ancho chile powder and cayenne, worked out well. This is one of those things, like the chicken salad, where you just change whats in there, adjust things and it just generally works. Sauce is too runny? cook it a bit longer, to salty? add more (non-salty) stuff. Sometimes I wish I would've taken notes, but usually not. It's one of those things that it's good or even magical for the moment, having it again, just the same way? Won't ever happen. On that note, I noticed mini-ciabatta buns at Gateway Market. This will be a nice use for either for mini-burgers or mini-sloppy joes or other mini-things. I'll have to try them out.