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Tag: lola farms

Chicken, Beet, and Grapefruit Salad #8.10

I eat so many versions of this salad that I decided I would add the date to the title. Do you have a salad that you can eat every week…sometimes twice a week…and not get tired of it? This is mine.
Anyway, I get all of the chicken that I eat these days from Lola Farms and it never disappoints. Again, you could use any chicken that you like or not…This one has the yummy dark thigh meat. I batch cook a few pieces at the beginning of the week and then take the meat off the bone and jar it in 4oz portions. Some weeks, it’s breast and thighs, sometimes it’s quarters…It’s all delicious and, for every day meals, it all gets the same preparation. I thaw it in the fridge and then remove it from the package and put it on a normal dinner plate. I season it liberally…I mean, would I do it any other way…with sea salt and black pepper on both sides. I cover it with another plate and put it back in the fridge until the next day. I roast it in the Ninja at Bake/400 until it hits 165 degrees. The dark meat likes to go just a bit longer so that more of that collagen breaks down, but I don’t get too crazy because a lot of the time I reheat it. Her product is so great, though, that I have never one time been disappointed…even when I KNOW I overcooked it.

Before
After

The beets roast in the Ninja, so while it is a bit time consuming on that side, it’s all inactive and it doesn’t even heat up your house. You can, of cook them in the oven, buy them already cooked, or use your slow cooker. Come to think of it, you could probably steam them…hmmm… As with most things, I usually cook two or three at a time and keep them in the fridge or freezer. This go around a decided to use my vegetable peeler to shave pieces off the whole, peeled beet. There are many days when it all gets mixed together and turns into an entirely pink dish, but I kept them fairly segregated today. I splashed a bit of champagne vinegar and sea salt on the shaved pieces in a small bowl so that they were seasoned, but I dressed the rest of the components together.


The greens came from the my balcony garden Guitar Case Greens collection. 🙂 I can’t get enough of growing lettuce. I get the perfect amount of sunlight for it and there is nothing better than picking greens right before you eat them. This plate was made mostly from the arugula growing in the neck of the case, though there were a few mixed lettuces thrown in for texture. Also, my arugula is INTENSE in flavor, so it really does well as part of a mixed green plate and standing up to a pretty full bodied dressing.


For the dressing today, I used about a tablespoon of the grapefruit juice, a splash of champagne vinegar, a teaspoon of Dijon, a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, and black pepper. I had a half of a sliced and sautéed white onion in a small jar in the fridge, so I added the ingredients to that jar, re-lidded it, and shook it up. I popped it in the fridge for awhile to meld those flavors. Because I am taking a break from dairy this month, I omitted my usual goat cheese and tried to get just a little twang with the Dijon. I feel like that, plus the umami from the onions, and the juicy chicken made me not miss the goat cheese at all. You will have extra dressing, so go lightly and dress it immediately before you plate it. Though, here’s the truth about how I ate it…

Eat the rainbow, y’all!

Chickpea Shells with Italian Sausage

Jack Russell Park, Beaches Green Market
Atlantic Beach, FL – June 9, 2020

One of the many pandemic related silver linings in my world is the ability to stay in one place for a bit giving me a chance to meet some amazing farmers and food purveyors around the area. There are so many grocery stores in the area, but we also have several farmer’s markets throughout the week. My markets have had some turn over in the vegetable farmer department over the last few months, but oddly enough, I go for the meat. For all of the chicken, turkey, and pork that I eat, I turn to Kim at Lola Farms. Her products are exceptional and the flavor in the Italian sausage that they make is fantastic. They are located in Lake Butler, FL and she pasture raises heritage pork and chickens and Codee loves her….and her food. Not only do studies show a higher nutritional value in meat that comes from animals that are humanely and properly raised, they are also SO SO SO much more delicious. Kim has done all of the work for me when it comes to this meal. There as many great options out there for getting great quality, sustainable protein, but this one is my favorite by far.

Alvarez Farms Produce, Beaches Green Market
Atlantic Beach, FL – June 9, 2020


I started with half a pound of Lola Farms Italian Pork Sausage that I browned in a skillet over medium high heat. Once it had some color on it, I moved it to a small bowl and then I sautéed half of a sliced white onion and a sliced orange pepper in the fat that was left in the pan. I let it cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions were soft and had a little color and the peppers were really tender, but not noodley. While that was happening, I cooked the chickpea shells in really well salted water for 7 minutes. When I drained it, I reserved a little of the cooking water even though it’s not really pasta. (Please don’t try to make it be semolina pasta. Let it be its own thing.) I returned the shells to the pot, added the cooked sausage, arugula, EVOO, salt, pepper, and the lid. The heat of the pan and the shells wilted the arugula perfectly while I finished the veggies. To the skillet, I added 2TBSP tomato paste and cooked it for a minute before deglazing the pan with some of the cooking water. Once everything was mixed together, I added the veggies to the pot and stirred everything together on the still warm burner. I left the lid to the on the counter and then I tasted it and the lid went in the dishwasher and everything went on the plate. The no-secret secret to this dish is the sausage. 🙂

I really like the products that Chickapea has. Like I alluded to earlier, this is not something that I would consider as a replacement for semolina pasta. When it comes to foods that have such a huge cultural and emotional connection, I don’t see the point in trying to fill those shoes, so to speak. If you are a pasta lover, and you think this is going to live up to those lofty ideals, you will be disappointed, but as a stand alone ingredient, I have really gotten into a few of the different brands and bean combinations. I love my carbs, of course…I just need a little more protein along with them these days.

Eat the rainbow, y’all!