Taste buds say, “We want goulash (the American version) or mac & cheese.”
Brain says, “Sorry that isn’t healthy and can’t be made with what I have available in local ingredients.”
So began the improvisation that is my One Local Meal for Week 10
First the pasta. My only local pasta comes in the form of various sizes of egg noodles from Das Dutchman Essenhaus in Middlebury, IN. The noodles were purchased during my visit to Birky Farms just south of Valparaiso, IN. For lunch I started with the wide egg nooldes.
Once the noodles were in the boiling water, I grabbed the scissors and headed out to the deck to find some thing green to add to the mix. From various containers in my container garden, I plucked a few kale leaves, some green onions, and a large handful of parsley.
The kale leaves were fairly large so I rinsed and coarsely shredded them into the boiling water so that they would not be tough. While the kale and noodles continued cooking, I grabbed about 8 ounces of browned ground beef and some cheese from the refrigerator. The beef was purchased from Farm Direct Meat of St. John, IN; the cheese was parmesan and purchased from The Cheese People. I am not sure of its source for the cheese but both the meat and cheese were purchased at the Chesterton European Market.
I grated about 1/4 cup of the cheese and chopped the parsley and green onions. Next I sorted through the ever present basket of tomatoes on my kitchen counter to find the ripest of the cherry tomatoes. My vines are producing one to two cups of cherry and grape tomatoes per day so there were lots from which to choose. I rinsed and halved about 1 cup of the tomatoes.
Once the noodles were done I drained those and then added the mixture of meat, cheese, veggies/herbs and mixed along with a splash of milk from Fair Oaks Dairy of Fair Oaks, IN.Taste, smell, and sight tests all suggest that the result wasn’t quite right. It needed more zing and more veggies.
The veggies came in the form of a zucchini that I had blanced and started drying a pit earlier this morning. It was at the cooked but not yet dry stage so it was perfect for tossing into the noodles. The zing was provided by some lemon basil from my deck garden.
While not exactly what I was craving it was a good compromise and can easily be adapted to make use of what happens to be ripe and what cheeses I have on hand.
