Conquering the Wish List-ish

Graduation is five days away. Just thought I would update you.

I know, I can't believe it either.

I kind of feel like I am living an out of body experience this week. I think things to myself like "this time next week, the University of Kentucky will no longer recognize me as a student" and I get kind of sentimental. I was so hesitant to hand over my keys to the Student Government Office, turn in my last payroll sheet, and lock up for good. I was on campus yesterday for what very well could be the last time. No more exams to study for, papers to write, classes to attend, group project to organize, or courses to schedule. How can this be possible?

Despite the fact that my world had been turned topsey turvey right now, there is still the ever faithful Farmers' Market here to comfort me in times of change. A few weeks ago UK brought a mini Farmers' Market to campus, which afforded students the luxury of perusing the booths without having to leave the comfort of campus. And of course, who was out there with gusto and fervor? Yours truly. Check out what I found!

Organic local honey, green garlic, fresh thyme, and a curious dried bag of "calypso" beans

I was so intrigued by the green garlic that I had to buy it and learn how to work with it. In all of my food related study I had never heard nor seen such a thing, but what a wonderful vegetable! It looks like a large green onion and tastes just like a garlicy onion at that, so they went perfectly with my intuitive style of cooking - lots of aromatics and building upon flavors. I decided to add it to my wish list and then mark it off immediately.

So what has both predominant onion and garlic flavor already? Stir fry!

Green Garlic and Pepper Stir Fried Rice

2 TB olive oil (use sesame oil if you have it, but only use 1 TB)

1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped white button mushrooms

1/2 thinly sliced green garlic (green and whites)

1 cup thinly julienned spinach

red pepper flakes, to taste

2 TB soy sauce

1/2 cup cooked brown rice

1 egg, beaten

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add bell peppers and mushrooms; cook until crisp-tender. Add green garlic and cook an additional five or so minutes (you will want to cook off some of the bitter and biting qualities of the green garlic, so don't get worried if it gets a little crispy around the edges.) Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Season with red pepper flakes and soy sauce (add additional oil if necessary.) Stir in rice and heat through. Mix in the egg and turn off the heat immediately - allow the egg to cook by the residual heat in the pan (which prevents the egg from turning rubbery and tough.)