Lettuce Eat Local: Toto, I have a feeling we’re in Kansas again….

Amanda Miller
Columnist
Lettuce Eat Local

There’s the Fiesta Bowl, cereal bowls, open bowling. But the bowl I think of when I look outside these days is the Dust Bowl. 

Coming back from Ohio a couple weeks ago, I was again reminded of how my soul appreciates this big cloudless sky of ours. Ohio is just often so cloudy, so gray; Kansas weather is by no means perfect, but at least we almost always have sunshine and blue skies. 

Almost always. It’s still not gray out, but the blue has been losing out to brown recently. Clouds might even be better than this haze of dust blowing into everything from the sky to our lungs. I’m not surprised per se, as we’re no stranger to excessive heat and windiness. We definitely lean more towards an arid landscape rather than lush verdancy, and summers here with our dusty dry heat often remind me of when I lived in the desert in Kenya.

I’m fairly certain weather patterns like this week would actually cause Dorothy to say, “Toto, I have a feeling we’re in Kansas again.” 

At the same time, this unrelenting dry wind so early in the year seems extra Kansas-y even for Kansas. It makes me a bit concerned for actual summer, especially since our livelihood rests on raising healthy crops and cows. I recognize that history shows cycles of crazy weather, and this season may or may not be more egregious — but it’s happening to us, which makes it feel closer to home because it is. Creation care has always been important to me since I know the Creator; so we’ll keep on plugging away in our little corner (can you have corners in a round Earth?), trying to do the best for and with the world we have been given. 

And while the wind makes it a little harder to as fully enjoy the experience, we sure love getting our hands into the earth of this Earth. Another way we know we must be in Kansas is our nice early planting dates; people back East in Ohio were surprised to learn I was already behind on my garden timeline since I didn’t get potatoes and onions in by St. Patrick’s Day. Our zone’s frost free date is next week already, April 15, but it’s not for another month for my parents in central Ohio. It’s already probably too late for the peas I just planted, but at least this way we can say I tried to give peas a chance. 

I’m hoping it was the right time for the other seeds we threw in the ground this week, beets and carrots and radishes, etc. One section I’m calling “Brassica Surprise”: a row of sprouts my friend gifted us that she started from various cole crop members. They like cooler weather, which is why they get planted earlier, but who knows if it’ll be cool enough for them this year. 

Just today we had our first picking of the first thing I write about every spring — asparagus! I’m always overjoyed to find the harbinger of the growing season, although every year I also struggle to remember to keep finding it. I’m even less inclined to go hunting in the asparagus patch in assaultive Dust-Bowl-reminiscent wind like this, but at least I’ll know I’m in Kansas. 

Bowl of Kansas-Influenced Thai-Inspired Fried Rice

That’s quite a mouthful of a title, but it’s appropriate for the mouthfuls of flavor this dish provides. It’s been a bit of a crazy week, and fried rice is frequently one of my go-tos since it ticks so many boxes: satisfying, economical, versatile, speedy. A smidge of Thai spin with fish sauce and cilantro worked beautifully with our spring-style additions of asparagus and ham. The original recipe I consulted didn’t include eggs, so I didn’t either this time although I typically do.

Prep tips: the texture actually works out better with chilled rice instead of fresh, so make a rice-based meal earlier in the week and use the leftovers for this — especially handy since leftover bits of meat and veggies all work great here. 

a good dollop of fat of choice

1-2 cups diced ham

1 small bell pepper, diced

1 cup sliced fresh asparagus

½ cup frozen corn, thawed

1 small tomato, diced

3-4 cups cooked brown rice, cold

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce, plus more for serving

a sprinkle of chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add ham and vegetables, sauteing until browned. Stir/chop in rice with both sauces, and heat fully. Top with cilantro and serve piping hot, with more soy sauce.