Turkey and Oregano Skillet Dinner

Just a few things.
1.  I haven't harvested a single leaf of lettuce.  Oh, I planted quite a bit.  And the plants are there.  There is a little bunny coming 'round and nibbling on it.  Each leaf is nibbled to the end as the next one comes up.  I'm still in mourning for Cocoa the Doberman who lost her battle with old age.  She kept the yard free of varmits and raskily rabbits in a way no other of our dog family can.  I miss you Cocoa.
2.  Step son and I have arranged to purchase a half a cow from a local rancher.  I'm pretty stoked about the whole thing.  The freezer needs some cleaning out, so we'll be eating its contents until the new meat comes.

3.  I'm so happy to have fresh herbs again.  My green house allows me to keep a few herbs almost year round, but now I can have parsley.  The greenhouse oregano and thyme are pitifully picked stubs.  But the outside plants are coming back.  Summer means fresh herbs in everything I make!.  Yeah.

Turkey and Oregano Skillet Dinner

1 lb ground turkey

1 t. salt, coarse sea salt is my favorite right now

1/8 t. ground pepper

1 14.5 oz. can stewed tomatoes

1 14.5 oz. can green beans (I'm buying Santiam brand because I know they are canned locally) 

1/4 c. fresh organo chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 red pepper, roasted and chopped

3/4 c. rotelle pasta cooked.

Brown the meat until completely cooked and drain any liquid.   Add salt and pepper.  Add the tomatoes with liquid.  Drain the beans and add them.  Wash and pick over the herbs.  Remove anything you don't want to eat.  I usually find some little spider about the time I think they are clean, so take the time.  Remove leafs from the stems.  The stems go in the compost.  Chop the leaves finely. 

I know I've said this many times, but you deserve to take the time to stand there and enjoy this.  Smell the herbs.  What do they make you think of?  How do you feel?  Feel how soft and nice they are.  I was remembering a series of summer days, sitting in the grass in front of the house on the Homeplace on my grandparents farm.  Making clover neckless until there were mountains of them.  Later as it started to get dark, laying back in the piles of clover neckless with my cousins, watching bats fly from the barn to the big tree and back to the barn and back to the big tree.

Okay, now we are roasting a pepper:  Turn on your broiler. Cut it in half and remove the stem and seeds.  Wash the pepper well.  Lay the 2 pepper halves on a piece of foil.   Flatten each half out by breaking it until it lays flat.  Rub the skins with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and stick it under the broiler.  And I mean broil it until the skins turn black and start to separate from the meat. 

Don't skip this step.  It creates a lot of flavor.   I've got flats of some special pepper plants in my green house.  I'm hoping for a good crop and that I'll do this to some of them and freeze it.   (I saw that on someone else's blog.) 

Once they are cool, the black just pulls off leaving a soft, moist, red, and very flavorful pepper.  Rub the red flesh with a bit more olive oil and sprinkle with a bit more coarse sea salt.  If you enjoy this, I won't tell anyone.  Chop it and put in the skillet for this dish.

Add the cooked pasta, stir to combine, and you are done.  I don't need a lot of pasta for this type of thing, but add more if you want.  Probably more if you are serving kids.  More if you need to stretch it so serve more people. 

Stir and serve.  It's just the two of us tonight, so the left overs will go to work with us in the morning for lunch. 

Remember to feel good.