Evening supper with locally grown and raised foods

Well today was a good day overall. Of course I picked today to go to the Corvallis Farmers Market, on the day that the University had graduation. Of course I didn't count on the traffic. That part wasnt fun.

But despite that, I was a woman on a mission! I was looking for bangers, and only one vendor sells them at that market. I had tried some delicious ones at Kells Irish Pub in Portland not that long ago, and I was craving them again. Lucky for me that they're also made from grass raised beef. Oh boy!

I found them and got lucky, they had plenty in stock, and I got them and some ground beef and short ribs. My mouth was salivating just thinking about enjoying them. And I will tell ou now, that grass raised meats taste ever so much better than what the grocers sell. And it's worth every penny. And I eat much less meat when it's grass raised.
I also got some lovely organic asparagus, broccoli rabe and pastured eggs.

So my idea was to have an Irish breakfast in the morning, well, I couldn't wait. So I diced up a couple local yellow potatoes, chopped a few stalks of rabe and chopped some onion. Fried them in coconut oil with parsley, garlic, salt and pepper till tender, then added the bangers. Smelled like heaven!

When the bangers were done, I removed all of that to my plate and fried the eggs, yolks runny please!, and put them on top.

Well, I can say they were so delicious, and despite the cats offering to help me eat it, I think I was a bit selfish, and ate it myself!

Simple meal, gluten free, that I could create in one skillet in the tiny thing in here that I think is called a stove!

Eggs are good at any time of the day or for any meal. Last week it was locally caught gorgeous salmon with potatoes and eggs on top. Try a fried egg on top of pasta, you won't eat plain pasta again! Even a fried egg sandwich on gluten free bread.

I love farmers markets. So many wonderful things. I found amazing goat cheeses, (that I did not buy today) but no fresh goats milk or yogurt sadly. And the berries are starting to come in. I wish I had a kitchen so I could make some jams and wines with them. You can pick them all over out here. Oh yeah, I'll be back to both markets!

And I will urge you to try grass raised meats, so much more tender and taste so much better! Now maybe I can find duck eggs somewhere and fresh goats milk!

Take Two Fresh Beet Soup

Ah, spring time and fabulous farmers markets! I enjoy the small one we have here in Albany. And when I saw these luscious and organic ruby red beets yesterday, I simply could not pass them by. The greens were bright and tender also. Had to make beet soup.

I simply love sweet tender fresh beets. Not many people do, nor have many tried them outside of canned. Which is a shame because they are so good when fresh and young. And they are so full of so many fabulous nutrients for your body too. Beets are also excellent for flushing and cleansing the liver.


Anyway, I came home with a lovely bunch, and a few carrots. Gotta do carrots in beet soup in my humble opinion, and red cabbage.

So, after the market I headed to the store to get a few more ingredients for my soup. Currently I am a bit limited on how much I can have on hand living in an RV. This makes creative cooking a challenge at times.

Please understand that most times I am one of those cooks who creates off the cuff, by eyesight and taste mostly. So I'll do my best to get approximate amounts here for you. But, you won't be disappointed, this is so very, very delicious. Trust me.... It's worth it to make it from fresh grown beets. Not the really huge ones, use the smaller to medium ones, they're more tender and sweeter. Fresh carrots are also sweeter.

I think you'll enjoy this soup. Yum!

Fresh Beet Soup

1 bunch fresh organic beets, scrubbed and cubed
greens from the beets, long stalks trimmed and chop the greens
1 medium carrots, scrubbed and large grated
3-4 cups shredded red cabbage
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, halved and sliced thin
2 organic Italian chicken sausages, halved and sliced
1 pt organic chicken broth
1 can organic tomato sauce
1 tsp basil
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp pepper
1/2-1 tsp sea salt ( or to taste)
1 Tbl olive oil

Heat up your stock pot over medium heat. Saute the garlic and shallots until tender. add one Tbl of stock, your paprika, basil and salt and pepper. Saute one more minute, it becomes very fragrant. Add beets that have been scrubbed and cubed. let them cook till the sides are just becoming tender. Add carrots and cabbage. Cook for two more minutes. Add tomato sauce and broth, or most of it.
Reduce the heat to low, cover and let simmer for 30-40 minutes. Add the sliced sausage and let simmer 20 more minutes. Add the greens the last 5 minutes or so of cooking. The beets should be very tender by now. Remove from the heat and let it cool a little (so you can eat it!) and serve!

The only thing I wished I had had to go with this was some fresh made, warm French bread. But in my humble opinion this was heavenly, so very good and worth the wait.

For those of you who are vegan or vegetarian, use vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock, omit the sausage. If you can have cheese, crumble up some cotija on top.

Trust me, this is easy to make and it is oh so good! If you do make this, let me know what you think and how you did!