Salads and Stews

This week I used the pressure cooker again to make dishes that we could get at least a couple of meals out of. It makes meals for the week nights easier, faster, and delicious!

Local pork, onions, garlic, tomatoes I had frozen, a hot pepper from freezer, greens - pressure-cooked this concoction - it came out tender and delicious - once the pressure was down, and I opened the cooker, I added chopped greens and just let them wilt. All we had to do was make pasta to go with it. Topped with a lot of the delicious cilantro we have been receiving.

Local lamb shanks - basically did the same thing, only this one had dried porcini mushrooms and no hot peppers so the taste was very different even though the process was virtually the same- topped with parsley.

Beets - come to think of it, I could have put these into the pressure cooker too, but I roasted all that I had, peeled and sliced them and tossed them in a nice vinaigrette because they will keep for quite awhile this way. I made a few salads incorporating a few different greens, the beets and various toppings that are seasonal - apples, pears, goat and feta cheese and nuts. Salads such as this with beets, which are a bit sweet, work really well with some endive or escarole.

Squash, herbs, garlic - made a stuff winter squash recipe that was literally a "stuffing" - day old bread, garlic, onion component, several herbs, cheese and milk to hold it together. Then it was baked for a long time - it was delicious!