OLS dinner 2007 05

Barbecue!




















One Local Summer 2007, Dinner Menu 05

• Grilled Summer squash, zucchini and onion (all from our Blooming Glen FarmCSA crop share - 5 miles) marinated in dressing and chopped purple and green basil (Blooming Glen) with grilled tempeh (Cricklewood Soyfoods - 28 miles) smothered in barbecue sauce (DelVal College - 12 miles), on a bed of steamed-then-sauteed beet greens, Swiss chard (Blooming Glen) and garlic (bought at the Skippack Farmers' Market from Jack's Farm - 24 miles). Nonlocal ingredients used: olive oil, and Italian dressing*.
  
• Chilled salad of blanched string beans and orange and red tomatoes (Blooming Glen).
• Sliced peaches (bought at Plumsteadville Natural Foods from a farm in Solebury - 23 miles) and strawberries (Blooming Glen).
• Butt Monkey Chiller Chimp Ale (Lion Brewery - 84 miles)

*I'm one of those people that always ends up with the leftovers. You know how at the end of a party or a picnic, when things are getting put away, packed up and tossed, and there are always those two or three things that could stay or go? The, "If you don't want it, I'll just throw it away" things? Yeah. That's how I got an industrial-sized bottle of Italian dressing. What can I say? My maternal instincts kick into high gear when I see food being thrown away :)

Barbecue was a One Local Summer dinner that I had stashed away in the back of my mind since I signed up for the challenge. It's something that I knew I would do eventually, but wanted to save for a busy week. Coming down from the Fallingwater trip has pretty much depleted all of my energy this week, so barbecue it was.

Earlier in the week, I went to Plumsteadville Natural Foods to stock up on local tofu, and at the last minute asked if they carried seitan; specifically, my local Ray's Seitan. I was happy to learn that they did, and when I went to pull it out of the freezer, I saw a row of an unfamiliar tempeh. Knowing that the owners of the store have a special interest in small, regional manufacturers, my heart skipped a beat as I picked up the package. Could it be local? Hell yeah - it was!




















And this is a perfect example of the frustration I have been experiencing in finding local vegan protein sources. Since last year, I've been scouring the internet looking for "tofu in Pennsylvania," "quinoa in Pennsylvania," "Tempeh in Pennsylvania," "amaranth in Pennsylvania," etc., etc., etc., and coming up with nothing. I've spent the last 12 months thinking that southeatern PA is just a dead zone in the way of local vegetable-based protein. It turns out, I'm all wrong. They're out there, but why are they so hard to find? Why aren't these companies listed on the buylocalpa.org website? Better yet, besides Fresh Tofu, why don't Ray's and Crinklewood Soyfoods have a website?

I mean, really. I gotta get on this. I'm going to go write some letters :)

OLS dinner 2007 04

Artichokes? In Pennsylvania? Really? And cute baby ones, to boot! Who knew?


One Local Summer 2007, Dinner Menu 04

• The monster salad all started with a couple cute heads of baby romaine lettuce (bought at the Skippack Farmers' Market from Jack's Farm - 24 miles). I added shredded turnips, carrots and beets, sliced cucumbers and radishes (all from our Blooming Glen Farm CSA crop share - 5 miles), slices of banana peppers and a cherry tomato (both from our garden - 0 miles). I made a quick dressing of olive oil, vinegar and mashed cherries to drizzle on top. Nonlocal ingredients used: olive oil, vinegar.
  
• Still working on those red cherries (bought by kah for me at her CSA, Pennypack, who imported them from Lancaster, PA - 84 miles) and yellow cherries (bought at the Indian Valley Farmers' Market from Windy Spring Farm - 15 miles).
• Hop Devil IPA (Victory Brewing Company - 45 miles).
• Boiled corn and artichoke (Jacks' Farm), and baked tofu (Fresh Tofu - 25 miles) on a bed of steamed Swiss chard (Blooming Glen) lightly sautéed in garlic (Jack's Farm) and olive oil. Nonlocal ingredients used: olive oil.

I'm still on the hunt for local protein in the form of beans, nuts and grains, so I decided to check out the Skippack Farmers' Market this weekend. Although I found no protein, I did find some goodies at the Jack's Farm booth, in the form of garlic, adorable artichokes and sweet-elicious corn. They each complemented my CSA share and garden veggies perfectly.


This week's meal started with a mission to consume much produce. We're leaving in a couple days for a mini holiday to see Falling Water and Kentuck Knob so I wanted to clean out the crisper drawers before we go. Once I saw the little heads of lettuce at the market, I decided that a salad would be the spotlight of our meal.

Seriously, we ate a ton of vegetables. And drank a lot of beer. Mom would be proud - of the vegetable part, I mean :) If you just can't get enough, there are a few more photos of this week's meal on flick'r, including one of my beet-stained food processor. Holy magenta.

OLS dinner number four is done, the fridge is cleaned out and I had just enough leftovers for my lunch and dinner today. Sweet!

PS: Check out my fellow regional OLS participant's super creative veg*n OLS meals from week three and week two. How clever is that girl?!