Sage-y potatoes and green peas

The chances of getting coldcocked by a great recipe when I got to the kitchen at 5:30 yesterday were slim. I was craving gnocchi and had a little fresh sage on hand, but the thought of making it. Ugh. Skinning bullheads sounded like less trouble. For such times I have Margie Fallbacks consisting mainly of baked chicken, baked chicken and baked chicken. With a baked potato.

So three small pieces of chicken went into the oven with olive oil, a sprinkle of rosemary and a nice coating of smoked paprika to make it slightly more interesting. Then I took three potatoes, peeled, chunked and boiled until tender, added half a bag of frozen green peas at the last minute.

Meanwhile, a stroke of luck: (I’d read of it somewhere but never bothered to try) take fresh sage leaves and butter, sauté in a skillet until they turn black and crisp. Doesn’t take long. Set them aside. Drain peas and potato. Season with crunched up sage leaves, butter, coarse sea salt (if you have it) and pepper. Save a few whole sage leaves for garnish. We couldn’t believe how good this tasted. Every last bit was snarfed up and the dish was declared a Once-A-Weeker. And so simple!

I added a small fruit salad of tangerines, a bosc pear, and a mango that needed to be used up. A teaspoon of honey for the dressing was all it needed.

This is my ordinary – one of the places in life where God calls me to serve Him and others. The gift and surprise for me is that sometimes, even when I feel weary, the delight of an ordinary meal not only nourishes our bodies, but it comes out easy and beautiful.