I have a very small container garden on the roof. Every morning I try to harvest a little bit to have with breakfast. Today I picked some kale and cherry tomatoes and used them in an omelette. Also pictured here are hami melon slices and local cherries.
I had a nothing to do Sunday afternoon and decided to do a bit of chef work. My goal was to prepare a chicken breast in a way that used only natural ingredients. I wanted to use the entire chicken breast in a way that extracted every bit of flavour and wasted nothing.
I added a small amount of salt, pepper and paprika. This was the only seasoning. I put some mirepoix into a deep pan, some fresh garden items ( parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, garlic and a few cherry tomatoes) with just a tiny bit of oil. The chicken was placed on top then baked until cooked throughly.
I pulled the chicken from the pan and carefully removed the meat. The skin and bones went back into the pan with the aromatics and put back into the oven until everything was well browned. The pan was removed and put on the stovetop burner . I added a quart of tap water and simmered contents to extract every bit of flavour from the ingredients.
When the liquid was reduced by about half I strained it into another pan and then further reduced the liquid until it could coat the back of a spoon. I removed the cooked chick breast from the fridge and sliced up about half a breast and plated it then poured the sauce over it. The hot sauce warmed the chicken enough that it didn’t need to be reheated.
The taste was absolutely amazing, like something you would get at a upscale restaurant. I wouldn’t want to do this every day but it was totally worth the time and effort.
Fluffy scrambled eggs, garden salad, steamed and pan fried new potatoes and Greek yoghurt with mixed berries.
I have a small garden on the roof of the apartment where I live. It does not produce much. The best part of my day is when I go up there to harvest a little snip of this or that to go with a meal. This morning I made a sort of quiche with a salad and a berry mix side.
The lettuce came from my garden. The berries came from the market. The quiche included some thyme, green onion and oregano flower from my herb planter.
Two eggs whites and one whole egg, dry whole wheat toast, stir fry kale with cherry tomatoes and onion. No salt or seasonings beyond a bit of malt vinegar for the kale. Oatmilk on the side. Tablespoon of peanut butter on one of the toasts with a nice slice of Hami melon for afters.
I do not have a weight problem but some recent issues have developed that indicate I should change course. I looked up a few things about diabetes and the menus make sense to me even though it will take some work to get there. On a previous post a redditor pointed out that processed meats such as SPAM are too high in sodium regardless of their possible lowered sodium levels. I have taken this advice and some research to heart and this is what I came up with today.
Pictured here: fresh picked cherry tomatoes and spinach omelette made with one whole egg and two egg whites cooked with butter. Two slices whole wheat toast no butter. Boiled sweet corn on the cob and about a half cup of strawberries. Oat milk on the side. I ended up having one of the toasts with about a tablespoon of peanut butter.
I need to be careful with salt now but I still want what I want. The fried potatoes were salted but instead of adding it right from the shaker I shook a small amount onto my palm then carefully sprinkled it over the potatoes. This way I knew exactly how much I was using. The slab of SPAM was boiled then simmer for a while to leach out salt and chemicals before finishing it in a Teflon pan with not added oil. The eggs were flavoured with a bit of green onion so it didn’t need added salt. Then I kind of ruined my low sodium focus by adding processed American cheese food product.
BBQ meatloaf, sweet cob corn and warm rice salad made with roasted cauliflower, pan seared green beans,peppers, radish and fresh picked cherry tomatoes.
Roasted cauliflower, hand cut fries, thick chilli, roasted sweet corn salsa with fresh picked cherry tomatoes, celery, red and yellow peppers and a bit of sweet onion.
Buttered toasted homemade bread, thick cut bacon oven baked finished with maple syrup, butter fried apple and farm fresh eggs.
Where I am cob corn is amazingly sweet and affordable. I have it every day and wake up craving it. Pictured here: oatmeal with cinnamon and strawberries, yogurt, mango and a blanched and peeled peach.
I made some curry chickpeas this morning and while it was in the slow cooker I went to the market and bought new potatoes, farm fresh cauliflower, sweet cob corn and green beans.
Sweet cob corn, steamed broccoli, short grain brown rice, blanched and stir fried green beans with sweet onions, red peppers, garlic sausage, finished with garden fresh oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary then garnished with vine ripe cherry tomatoes.