Dinner

I am so excited about dinner tonight. This week we ordered a whole chicken from our CSA. This morning I put it in my crock pot with some onions from my in-laws' garden, red potatoes and celery from our CSA, and baby carrots. I added some salt and pepper, put it on low and walked away. Okay, we really left to go to spend three hours at the pool (rough life, I know. I love my job!). Anyway, dinner smells SO good! I’m looking forward to opening the crock pot to see how it cooked. I’m looking for the differences between our relatively organic CSA chicken and conventional ones I’ve cooked from the store. I already noticed that this one seemed a bit leaner, esp. the skin. It reminds me of bison vs. conventional beef. We’ll see. I also just shucked a bunch of corn from our CSA and I’m debating what else (if anything) to prepare for dinner. I still have some tabbouleh in the fridge from the other day. I also thought of cooking some barley, but we already have a grain with the corn. I also thought of quinoa, but it’s high in protein and we already have protein with the chicken. I may just leave things as is with the crock pot meal and corn.

Speaking of quinoa, I added a link on the side bar to a website about quinoa. I have a friend who cooks it for her family, but I didn't pay much attention until my sister mentioned it a couple of weeks ago. It is now one of my favorite sides and has renewed our interest in other grains, such as barley and kasha. It's very quick and easy to prepare, takes on the flavor of whatever you pair it with, and is very healthy. I'd love to hear about your experiences with it.