My life as a squirel

Photo from Wordmagazine.uk.co

Tuesday: Blanched and froze green beans.

Wednesday: Trimmed back the basil and zipped it in the mini food processor with olive oil.  Froze it for pesto or clam sauce this winter.

Thursday: Froze 4.5 cups of pumpkin puree.

Saturday: Grated a zucchini and froze it.

Sunday: Prepped ripe tomatoes and froze them for when we are ready for sauce.  Made a double batch of soup to freeze with the sad rainbow chard and dinosaur kale.  Mariquita Farms Original Version

Looks more like salad than soup...

Bird in Hand Curried Chickpea, Lentil, and Swiss Chard Stew
1 bag dried Lentils (~3 cups)
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 generous pinches of dried parsley flakes (I bought them for the dog biscuit recipes)
2 bunching onions, cleaned and chopped (from the csa box)
S & P to taste 

 4 cups chicken stock (salvaged form the back of the fridge)
Heaping tablespoon curry powder 

several good splashes of Tabasco
1 large bunch rainbow chard, leaves and stems, coarsely chopped(from csa box)

1 bunch of dinosaur kale coarsely chopped. (from the csa box)
2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed (hiding in the pantry for who only knows how long...)
Cumin seeds and Greek-style yogurt for garnish

1. Rinse lentils in a fine-mesh sieve.  Revive the greens by trimming the ends and allowing them to soak in cold water.  Set aside.
2. In a stock pot, combine the oil, parsley, onion , and 1 teaspoon salt. Sweat-cook, covered, over low heat until soft but not browned- for about 3 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a simmer over moderate heat. Add the lentils, curry powder, and cayenne and stir. Simmer, covered, until the lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. (cooking time will depend upon the freshness of the lentils –older lentils take longer to cook)  Ours sucked up all the liquid, so we wound up adding 4 cups of water.
3. Add the greens and the chickpeas and cook until the leaves are wilted, about 5 minutes more. Taste for seasoning. (this means add S&P to taste)
4. Garnish with a spoonful of yogurt and a sprinkling of toasted cumin.

The soup rocks and made enough for two or three meals.  Soon I need to inventory the freezer.  Hopefully we will be ready for winter.