Farm Share Lessons (plus Egg Muffins with Swiss Chard and Leeks)

[wipes egg muffins from corners of mouth] Well, hello to all, and how is this September treating you?? We are like the walking dead here, not yet adjusted to the shock of schedules, homework, soccer (3 kids, but FOUR TEAMS?!), and the fun extras like coaching a U8 soccer team and running the youth volleyball program. We love it, absolutely, but the challenge is squeezing 27 hours out of a 24 hour day. I need a Time-Turner or Marty McFly’s time machine or something.

Meanwhile, we continue to happily receive a huge bag of fresh-picked produce every Monday through our local farm share. While I do NOT love washing greens, I do love the inspiration that comes in the form of veggies with which I have little experience. Today I’ll share with you some important lessons I’ve learned during this Farm Share experience:

#1 Trust your farmer. When they point to the teeny tiny pepper you just chose and say, “Watch out, those are HOT” — believe them. There is no place for food swagger when it comes to Thai chili peppers. Those babies are hair-on-fire hot. Just ask my 12-year-old. No amount of bread or ice cream sandwiches could put out the FiRE raging in his mouth.

#2 Have faith in your ratatouille. Ratatouille is quite forgiving; you can add virtually anything to it. It won’t let you down. I’ve made it 4 times, with four combinations of ingredients, and it is fab every time.

#3 Believe in leeks. They are not just scallions on steroids. I made the mistake of joking about that on my FB page, which precipitated a torrent of pro-leek comments from friends. Who knew they had such a devout following? It’s for good reason, though. Leeks are subtle where scallions have bite. They won’t make you cry like onions do. Also, and this is the clincher, they go great with bacon 🙂

Today leeks and Swiss chard jazz up these simple egg muffins. The coolest part about this recipe is the ability to ‘short order’ these egg muffins to each person’s preference. Add whatever you want to the eggs into each well of the muffin tin.  Asparagus and Swiss. Cheddar and ham. Bacon and onion.  And, when the farm share has got you swimming in veggies, Swiss chard and leeks 🙂

Egg Muffins with Swiss Chard and Leeks
Makes 8 egg muffins

Prep time: 15 minutes     Cook time: ~20 minutes

1 cup diced leeks
1 cup Swiss chard, chopped (stems and rib removed)
2 teaspoons olive oil
pinch of salt
4 eggs
2 egg whites
1/2 cup lowfat milk
1/2 cup shredded lowfat cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a muffin tin with spray oil.

Over medium heat, sauté the leeks in olive oil for about 3 minutes. Add the Swiss chard and pinch of salt and sauté for 1 minute more. Remove from stove and set aside. Whisk the eggs, egg whites, and milk together. Portion the egg mixture evenly into 8 wells of the muffin tin (about 1/2 full). Add a heaping tablespoon or so of the leek/chard mixture to each cup. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the tops. Bake egg muffins in the oven for about 20 minutes. Tops with be set and almost dry. Cool for 1-2 minutes before removing from pan. Serve immediately, or refrigerate and reheat in microwave for 20-30 seconds.

ENJOY!