A Visit to Another Farm and Spinach Stuffed Chicken Thighs

Now. Did I tell you what happened yesterday? No? Well, let me tell you now. My sister Willow and her husband are on an anniversary trip some place even hotter than here (if you can imagine) and she asked me to pick up her veggies. Now, Willow has a very small garden, but most of her vegetables she gets from a co-op, meaning once a week she drives all the way out to the Farm and picks up her share of the vegetables they have grown that week. At first I was excited (it’s always nice to see another farm) but as I drove on. And on. And on. I couldn’t help but think of what a very great waste of time and money this was. It took me a total of forty minutes to drive there and back again. Forty minutes. Once a week. Now, the farm itself was lovely (as all farms are). Complete with a large white barn where said veggies were to be picked up. My eyes scanned the tables laden with garlic scapes (did I really just drive all this way to get MORE garlic scapes? I wondered). But there was broccoli, too, which I don’t have yet, and spinach, which I never plant (bolts too quickly—which is probably why they were offering it—in this heat it won’t last long), instead I rely on the old faithful Sorrel and Beet Greens—they just keep producing and producing all the summer long. But I digress. That’s my Farm. At theirs they had radishes (another thing we don’t grow, but I don’t know why that is) and Kohlrabi (I do know why we don’t grow that. It’s terrible stuff. All the flavor of broccoli without the pretty florets. Such a waste.) They had lettuces, which we have as well, along with some Asian greens I am unfamiliar with. By the time I left I had two smallish grocery bags stuffed.

Once back on our Farm, I did a quick inventory, keeping in mind both what we produce and what I just picked up. So, for dinner, I thawed out some chicken thighs-four in all, and sauteed a dozen or so chopped garlic scapes (some of ours-I am running out of things to make with these things, so if you have any ideas, let me know) in some olive oil, and once those softened a bit, I added the spinach from the other Farm—about four cups worth, which quickly reduced down to one. I shut off the heat, added a bit of salt and pepper and a full cup of good feta cheese (once the spinach and scapes had cooled a bit). The chicken thighs were stabbed, making little pockets in their flesh. Into this was stuffed the filling, divided into four. Crushed croutons were lightly pressed onto the thighs—whatever stuck, stuck. Whatever fell off was saved for the pigs. The thighs were placed on a baking sheet and set in a three-hundred-and-fifty-degree preheated oven where they baked for about twenty-five minutes, while I threw together a sweet bacon broccoli salad. It was all rather delicious. In the summer (which it is now officially) we tend to avoid the potato part of the traditional meat and potato dishes, instead opting for salads or veggies done in some other way. Unless it’s a good German potato salad. There’s always room for that.