Savory French Toast with Avocado and Egg

An easy meatless meal, a savory breakfast for dinner, a new twist on Fat Tuesday. No matter what occasion you prefer, this savory French toast with avocado and egg will be delicious.

My octogenarian parents tell me that Toast is a Thing. I really don't get the concept of high end artisanal toast [I mean decorating a cupcake takes skill, but making a piece of toast?] but I do like a nice piece of toast. I've never gone out for fancy toast like my trendy folks have, but I think I can say with certainty that

this is not high end artisanal toast.

This is my answer to Pancake Tuesday, or Fat Tuesday, or an easy meatless Monday meal, or a twist on Breakfast for dinner. Instead of using the milk & eggs to make pancakes [and whatever else it is we're supposed to make when everyone runs to the store at the threat of snow--have you considered a Finnish Oven Pancake?], why not make French toast? Who says French toast has to be sweet? If I'm not using eggnog in the batter (like my Pumpkin Eggnog French Toast recipe) then the components are just as savory as a fried egg sandwich.

A fried egg sandwich is one of the perfect comfort foods, and one of the first meals I fixed both my spouse and my brother upon their respective returns from Iraq. You know someone who needs some TLC? Fix 'em a fried egg sandwich. Or if they are of the canine persuasion, make this.

Using the magic of blog-time I made this last week. On Fat Tuesday, like darn near every Tuesday night of the school year, I'll be shuttling my daughter to sewing and hanging out writing/reading/knitting/playing solitaire on my phone. I will not be making this.
You could, though.

Taco Turnip Tamale Pie (Stretching Meat Part 4)

Taco meat, shredded turnips and enchilada sauce make up the filling in this tamale pie.

When I first started blogging, about 2ish years ago, I frequently talked about how I add shredded vegetables to stretch a pound of ground meat. I do this in tacos, in burgers, and in meatloaf. The benefits of this technique are twofold:  I am boosting the amount of vegetables in my family's diet in ways that my family will eat them [because I'll be honest, the kids are not Open-faced Shaved Beet Sandwich fans] AND I'm using the produce from our farm share in a timely manner.

In the long term I want to increase the amount of vegetables we eat [hey, it's part of the reasons we joined a CSA in the first place]. But when I open the fridge and see a crisper full of turnips 2 days before the next farm share pick up, the short term goal of using ALL the produce becomes paramount. I was getting desperate creative, looking for ways to use them, when I came up with this.

Normally if I'm clueless about dinner I'll thaw a package of ground beef and make tacos or taco salad. Because I add veggies to the base of meat often, we don't use the whole amount of taco meat and frequently have leftovers. This was a great way to repurpose a leftover and use turnips.  I've made root vegetable enchiladas [and need to make the photos of that one prettier], so I know the combo of enchilada sauce + turnip is pleasing to my family.  I just pumped it up a bit.

This could be another concept recipe--a way to incorporate a variety of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share vegetables into a dish--like my Fast CSA Greens and Pasta Concept recipe. Just with root vegetables this time.

For other tips to feed your family from the farm share, check out this post. For other recipes using turnips, please see my Turnip Recipe Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index. For other recipes using ground beef, check out this round up of 106 Food Blogger Recipes Using Ground Beef.

Passionfruit & Banana Muffins {Where Do You Get Your Food?}

Where do you get your food? 

Between articles in National Geographic Magazine about the evolution of diet and observations during the 4th annual Montgomery County (Ohio) Food Policy Coalition Summit last year, I think Michael Malone of Hungry Toad Farm sums up the answer perfectly:

"Either somebody brings it to you, or you go get it."

The theme of the summit was Distribution--Connecting Producers to Consumers. I sat in on a few sessions* and it was interesting to hear from Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farmers as small as Michael Malone's couple dozen subscribers on up to Carl Bowman of Bowman & Landes Turkey's multi-state reach.
What I learned was there is romance in knowing where your food comes from (I agree with Dennis Chrisman of Dorothy Lane Market's sentiment). Over the past 9 years I've enjoyed meeting the farmers who grow our food. At first it was 'oh look, kids, this is what an eggplant looks like in the field' but it has morphed into wanting to understand the motivations of folks who want to work so damn hard to feed me.

Ben Jackle, together with his wife Emily, had 475 planting sessions last year at Mile Creek Farm. Holy cow! In order to balance what grows best in the climate and soil of their spread with what their customers want to buy, the Jackles must balance diversity with efficiency. It would be easiest to grow rows of the same crop and systemize the planting/growing/harvesting of a product, but as a CSA subscriber I wouldn't want to get a box of only tomatoes one week or only lettuce another week or only beets . . . ever. I appreciate the extra efforts that crop diversity requires.

Chickens go RVing at Keener Family Farm. Photo taken by my spouse.

"Convenience is a commodity itself"--another gem from Michael Malone. When he says "I don't sell peanut butter or toilet paper" he's right. I don't do all of my shopping in one place, nor would I want to do so. Everyone has skills, and while I appreciate our farm's ability to grow giant kohlrabi and my neighbor's buddy's ability to grow happy chickens and tasty beef, I also appreciate the volume discount on sharp cheddar cheese at Costco.

Keener Family Farm--photo taken by my spouse.

In addition to getting vegetables that have been grown near you by folks you've met, there are less tangible benefits to joining a CSA. George Mertz of Patchwork Gardens reminds me there's an aesthetic value of agriculture. Seeing farmland in production is pleasing to the eye, an having a box brimming with (pre-paid) brightly colored vegetables is so much prettier than a cart full of packages waiting for the final total price.

A typical late summer box: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, corn and greens.

People want local food, and according to Dan Carmody of the Detroit Eastern Market, the breakdown isn't in food production it's in food distribution. Folks all over are developing new ways to connect consumers to producers. In Seattle, Janelle Maiocco started Farmstr. Producers/Farmers can list their offerings on a central site online, and consumers can order the quantities and pick up locations that fit their needs. In Champaign County (Ohio), a Virtual Farmer's Market set up by Pam Bowshier and Mark Runyan meets in a YMCA. Folks order their items over a multiway period, then come once a week to pick up their orders.

Even CSAs are evolving. CSA models don't have to be just vegetables, or meat, or cheese. Heck, there's a beer CSA in Chicago--started by a former intern at our CSA, Patchwork Gardens. I'd love to have to empty my firkin before the next pickup date! According to a recent survey by Local Harvest, farmers are teaming up with other local businesses to sell add-on products (bread, meat, eggs) in addition to vegetables. Multiple payment options and varied length seasons are helping to reach new subscribers. Shoot, back when we started eating from a CSA we stopped getting food in late September. Now we get deliveries into December--and yes, now in February I've still got locally grown squash in the Strategic Winter Squash Reserve as well as put up vegetables in the freezer and pantry.