You will notice that I missed a few weeks of the Dark Days Challenge (here’s my week 3 post). Oops. It’s harder than I thought it would be to come up with a meal that can be prepared entirely with sustainable, organic, local and ethical (SOLE) ingredients. So much just is not available this time of year, either because it’s out of season or because I have been unable to locate a source. I’ve realized that if I want SOLE tomatoes, I’m going to have to can or freeze them myself. Properly storing and preserving more of summer’s bounty is one of my goals for 2012. If all goes as planned, I will have an easier time next winter preparing SOLE meals.
My mostly-SOLE haul at the market this week included non-homogenized milk, eggs (from pastured chickens), cabbage and spelt flour from Clarion River Organics, ground beef (not organic) from Clarion Farms, raw Fall Goldenrod honey from Always Summer Herbs, and Braeburn apples (not organic) from Morning Dew Orchards.
Since the spelt flour is so fresh, I’m trying to make a sourdough starter with it. Hopefully, I’ll have more luck than last time. I also used the flour to make pancakes this morning. I just subbed the flour into my usual recipe, and they turned out great. I drizzled honey, instead of maple syrup, on top. I don’t know much about the different varieties of honey, but wow, Fall Goldenrod is where it is at!
On to the challenge…this week I prepared a cabbage, chicken and bacon saute.
I was frankly surprised at how good this meal was. I know it’s not the prettiest dish, but it was tasty. I cooked two strips of bacon in a cast iron skillet. Then I sauteed chopped cabbage in the bacon grease and some butter. Once the cabbage was soft, I added cooked, shredded chicken (leftover from making soup) and crumbled bacon until everything was warmed through. I seasoned with salt and pepper, and it was finished.
Mostly-SOLE ingredients:
organic cabbage
bacon (not organic)
organic chicken
Non-SOLE ingredients:
organic butter
salt
pepper
This looks fabulous! I love cabbage, I love bacon, I love chicken, all together they sound great! Looks like you returned to the Dark Days Challenge with a bang!