In the last few days, I have had grains on the brain. Martha Stewart
Living featured an article on grain salads this month, and I read a Boston Globe
article featuring Ben Lester, who runs a bakery and grain CSA in Western Massachusetts. I have wanted to join, but am just too intimidated by the enormous amount of grain in the share (over 100 lbs!)...but, it got me thinking about the jars of grains I have stored in our pantry. As I said in a
previous post, we need our grains to stay healthy, whether they are locally available, or not. So, I decided to move beyond rice this week and started cooking with bulghur and wheat again. The results were wonderful! Last night while Andrew was roasting Chestnut Farm chicken on his new grill, I cooked a bowl of bulghur wheat and mixed it with cherry tomatoes from Waltham Fields Community Farm, parsley from Susan's garden, and homemade salad dressing. When the chicken, which was marinated beautifully, was done, we shredded it and added it to the salad for the lovely - and very simple! - result pictured above.
To accompany the leftovers for today's lunch, I made flatbreads from our Massachusetts wheat. I perused several of my favorite cookbooks for flatbread recipes and decided to go with a simple pita bread recipe, which you have seen Susan
make before.
It took me just a few minutes to grind the 3 cups of flour necessary for the recipe, and instead of letting the pitas puff in the oven (who wants to turn on the oven in this humidity?), I cooked them on the cast iron griddle. They are done within minutes and produce these lovely, browned breads, which are wonderful as wraps for the salad.
In the last few days, I have had grains on the brain. Martha Stewart Living featured an article on grain salads this month, and I read a Boston Globe article featuring Ben Lester, who runs a bakery and grain CSA in Western Massachusetts. I have wanted to join, but am just too intimidated by the enormous amount of grain in the share (over 100 lbs!)...but, it got me thinking about the jars of grains I have stored in our pantry. As I said in a previous post, we need our grains to stay healthy, whether they are locally available, or not. So, I decided to move beyond rice this week and started cooking with bulghur and wheat again. The results were wonderful! Last night while Andrew was roasting Chestnut Farm chicken on his new grill, I cooked a bowl of bulghur wheat and mixed it with cherry tomatoes from Waltham Fields Community Farm, parsley from Susan's garden, and homemade salad dressing. When the chicken, which was marinated beautifully, was done, we shredded it and added it to the salad for the lovely - and very simple! - result pictured above.
To accompany the leftovers for today's lunch, I made flatbreads from our Massachusetts wheat. I perused several of my favorite cookbooks for flatbread recipes and decided to go with a simple pita bread recipe, which you have seen Susan make before.
It took me just a few minutes to grind the 3 cups of flour necessary for the recipe, and instead of letting the pitas puff in the oven (who wants to turn on the oven in this humidity?), I cooked them on the cast iron griddle. They are done within minutes and produce these lovely, browned breads, which are wonderful as wraps for the salad.
I am jealous of your tomatoes and farmers markets. But i am proud to say that the other day we had a meal (Dall sheep roast, roasted beets and greens, Garden Salad, and New potatoes with parsley and butter) where everything but the butter, garlic, oil and salad dressing was self procured. Dall sheep is amazing - it is the only wild animal I have ever eaten that had marbled fat in the muscle. Patrick
ReplyDeleteAaaaah - I have been so curious about your Dall sheep since you came home. Glad to hear it was delicious! Your pictures are amazing.
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