Perspire or Inspire?

It is fair to say I am struggling to embrace summer this year. I feel cheated out of the pleasant Minnesota spring and concerned about the extreme weather we've been experiencing (muggy heat, severe thunderstorms, flash floods...not your typical idyllic Minnesota summer weather.) Even with the start of our community supported agriculture (CSA) box from Featherstone Farm, I've been caught off balance. What usually starts small and delicate with the first vegetables of the season seemed to come at us full force. It's mid-June and this week's box contained broccoli, a crop we usually don't see until later in the season. So, I don't know what it is, maybe summer is coming on too strong like that person who tries too hard to be your friend and repels you instead? I just have been uninspired.

Well, I'm trying to get the inspiration back. Maybe it's been this glorious later half of the week when the storms cleared out the heat and humidity and the sun shone with bluest skies and birds celebrated with song, but I feel like I can salvage summer. After all, Wednesday was the first day .... there are many more to follow...maybe even enough for my sleepy raised bed garden to bear some vegetables. With this new found hope, I took another look at the haul of vegetables from the CSA this week and found a great breakfast.

Farm Box Hash
serves 2

1-2 c yukon gold potatoes (diced)
2-3 garlic scapes (minced)
1/2 c spring onions
1 c swiss chard (remove stalks and cut into thick ribbons)
1 Tofurky italian sausage link (sliced into 1/4 in rounds)
1/4 c pesto (I used trader joe's)
to taste: salt, pepper, olive oil

Heat up a pan (add olive oil if you want) and add onions and minced scapes and start to brown. Add in potatoes and cook for 5 minutes (you may need to reduce heat.) Add in tofurky italian sausage and brown for 2 minutes. Add in swiss chard and let it reduce down. Turn off heat and stir in the pesto and season to taste.

Now, I wouldn't be a Minnesotan if I didn't serve it with a side of ketchup, but really the dish didn't need it. Very tasty and hopefully the start to some great new dishes inspired by my weekly farm box.