Recipe Time

Today is Wednesday. At my house Wednesday is traditionally Chicken Day. If you’ve read much of this blog you probably know, chicken is my biggest weakness. I always used to say give me a flock of chickens for eggs and meat and one milk cow and I’ll be fine. Since I’m still cooking for people who aren’t yet ready to go Vegetarian, Wednesday is still Chicken Day. And since my darling Granddaughter will probably not be here next Wednesday (they just bought a house and are moving this weekend) I made her favorite kind of chicken, which just happens to be my favorite kind of chicken too. I knew if I was going to have baked French’s French fried cheddar onion chicken on the table, I better have some kickass kind of veggie dish to keep my mind off the chicken. I’ve been thinking of this recipe for a few weeks now and last weekend I finally bought all the ingredients I needed to make it. Today seemed like a good night to try it. SUCCESS!!! It was so yummy I didn’t miss that chicken at all. My Son-in-law said it was the best dish I’d ever cooked! So for tonight’s post I’m sharing the recipe with you! If anyone comes up with a catchy name to call it, let me know.

Ingredients: (notice the common theme with all the veggies)

• Fresh brussel sprouts
• Fresh sweet peppers cut in large bite sized chunks
• Fresh mushrooms
• Fresh pearl onions
• Fresh grape tomatoes
• Fresh purple onions cut in thick slices
• 4 fresh garlic gloves pressed
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar

Steam brussel sprouts until they can be easily pierced with a fork, (I think it was about 30 minutes) let cool until they can be handled, then cut in half lengthwise. Coat large frying pan with olive oil and heat. When oil is hot add the brussel sprouts and stir. Add the other vegetables in order. I didn’t want the purple onions to be limp so I added them last. Stir until all are coated in the oil. Using a Pampered Chef garlic press (they’re the best kind, if you need one let me know, my daughter Bonnie is a consultant) press 4 garlic gloves over all veggies and stir well. I don’t know how much Balsamic vinegar I used, I just poured it on over the whole thing. I’m guessing a ¼ cup. Cover and let cook until the veggies are the desired consistency. I smushed the veggies to one side and added tofu coated in whipped egg whites and the French’s French Fried Cheddar onions. Serve over brown rice for a super yummy vegetarian meal. If you want it Vegan just cook the tofu in the oil and Balsamic vinegar and forget the French’s stuff. ENJOY!

Legacy (Part 3):

The sound of bleating sheep drifts through the valley and into her room. She jumps out of bed and runs to the window. The hills are covered with the noisy animals. It was long ago that her Girl Scout Troop performed her play. She is now 12; the idea of escaping to the solitude of her summit to write seems childish.  She continues her scribbles, poems and short stories mostly, but adolescent insecurity keeps her from sharing them with anyone.

She dresses and runs with her younger brother to the hills to greet the retuning shepherd. This year he holds a tiny lamb in his arms. He speaks little English, they no Spanish but somehow they always manage to communicate. She learns the baby lamb’s mother refused to nurse him so the shepherd assumes that responsibility. She is enamored with the helpless creature. She and her brother take turns caring for it.

***

To the coyote the sight of the motherless lamb means only one thing. He can almost taste the tender, juicy, meat now. But the small, brown Mexican is a dedicated protector. Though it becomes more and more difficult the coyote will have to wait. Three, hungry days later he sees his chance. With stealth, made difficult by his emaciated frame, he draws closer. As he is about to make his move, she appears, the one who walks alone; the one who watches for him. She goes to the pen, retrieves his dinner and begins to hand feed the hungry baby. The coyote sits down to watch. He is starving. If it had been the other one, the one she sometimes walks with he would have gone anyway, grabbed the lamb and ate his fill. Somehow, with this one, he cannot. He succumbs to the hunger gnawing at his stomach. His carcass becomes one with the hillside before anyone knows he is gone or was ever there. A part of him remains and continues to roam the hills. Now when the girl comes to care for the baby lamb he is free to trot down by her side. The sheep do not scatter; the man and the girl remain calm. He is no longer plagued by hunger and fear. Why is he so intrigued by this girl who cares for the lamb that was to be his savior?

When the shepherd and sheep depart to return to that unknown place they go to every year, the girl and her brother resume their old routine. The coyote wanders the hills with her as she plays and explores his world. He becomes her unknown guardian, protecting her from perils she is blissfully unaware of: the rattle snake ready to strike, the one of her kind hiding in the bushes. He begins to understand why some of his ancestors chose to join this peculiar breed. When evening comes he watches as she crosses the hard, black ground to her home; his place is in these hills.

Time passes, he adjusts to his circumstances. With the coming of the full moon the girl’s Bassett Hound sings his praise. He knows the Bassett alone senses the presence of his spirit. They are after all, cousins. The large autumn moon has a magic all its own, transforming the hound dog bay into the musical yipping howl of the coyote.

Wednesday – Exercise – 20 minutes; 1 miles

• Breakfast – An orange, bowl of instant oatmeal with honey and 1 cup of oolong tea with honey.
• AM Snack – a stuffed grape leaf
• Lunch – rice, bean, and a tiny bit of cheese burrito on a whole wheat tortilla
• PM Snack – 1 serving of Snapea crisps
• Dinner – My yummy veggie dish, tofu and rice.

 BTW what do you think of my new lay out? Pretty snazzy huh!