S.O.L.E. Food

I saw a challenge on (Not so) Urban Hennery's site.  The challenge is called Dark Days Challenge.  The Challenge is to create one meal a week from Dec. 1, 2010 - April 15th 2011 that focus on SOLE (Sustainable, Organic, Local, Ethical) ingredients.  This is a huge challenge during the winter months, but I'm going to try.  I didn't find out about the challenge in time to join it officially, and I'm getting started a little late, but I'm going to try to follow it through.

This week we went to the Durham Farmer's Market on Saturday and picked up the goodies to start this challenge.  We found the most beautiful baby turnips with the greens attached, a bunch of collards, a bunch of Asian greens of some kind (I'm really not too sure what it was, kind of like bok choy, but more tender and greener), a bunch of herbs including: rosemary, sage, parsley, and oregano, and some mild bison sausage.

The great thing about our farmer's market is that you know everything there is grown organically, the animals were treated ethically and feed a good diet...  It's so nice to know that I can just go right down the road and visit the farm my food is coming from.  (and I have too.)

The meal I made is much like the last meal that I posted, but different.

Stir Fry with Bison Sausage, Greens, and Turnips

3 links of Bison Sausage removed from casing and separated unto smaller pieces
1 Bunch of Baby Turnips with Greens  (wash turnips and cut the ends off, slice into matchstick pieces, wash greens and cut or tear into pieces)
1 Bunch of Greens (this can be Asian greens, collards, Kale....I used the Asian greens I bought.  Wash and cut into pieces including most of the stems.)
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh Oregano
3 Tablespoons of chopped fresh Sage
4 Green Onions cut into small slices, including the green part.
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 tablespoon of Olive Oil

Add the Bison Sausage and Olive Oil to a hot wok, start browning.  When it is mostly brown add the onions, garlic, and turnips.  Cook until the turnips are starting to get tender.  Add greens and cook until the greens begin to wilt, stirring constantly.  I use tongs to keep turning the ingredients in the pan to mix the flavors together well.

This whole cooking process doesn't take very long.

All the ingredients I used were SOLE ingredients, except for the Olive Oil, Green Onions, and Garlic.  I know the Olive Oil and Green Onions are organic, but I'm not sure about the garlic.  I can't remember where I bought this last bunch of garlic.  It may have come from the farmer's market, I just can't remember.

I served this with brown rice.  It was organic, but it wasn't grown anywhere near here.  Our local farmer's market does have a vendor who sells flours and corn meal, but the flour is Whole Wheat, and I'm afraid to buy the corn meal knowing that they also grind Whole Wheat flour.

I was originally going to braise the turnips separately, and serve the greens and sausage beside them, but there simply weren't enough turnips.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, I will be working hard to figure out what I should make next week.

Next post: My First Attempt at making Pupusas (an El Salvadoran stuffed flat bread)