Delighting in Summer's Surplus

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Barbara Kingsolver, the only one of my cross-country, advisers who keeps chickens and dairy animals, reminds us the month that brings the solstice is also the high season for eggs: The longer the day the greater the lay. This is also the season for fresh cheeses, because the goats who have birthed their young can spare you some of their milk. Committed though I am to seasonal eating, I was reminded only recently of the seasonality of animals. I had remained unforgivably naive about the real reason for cured meats in winter and our tradition of turkeys at Thanksgiving, when they have had a summer and fall to grow. Warned housing, continuous lighting and artificial insemination have modified the spontaneous seasonality of our livestock just as central heating, polyfleece and transcontinental refrigerated trucking have cut humans off from winter.

In honor of that revived knowledge, perhaps the perfect seasonal dish is a Spanish tortilla with last year's potatoes (or the young ones grabbed from this year's crop), a bunch of beet greens, some fresh herbs and lots of local organic eggs. Since organic poulterers don't use artificial light to force their hens to keep laying, you can boost their income by buying their high-summer egg surplus—and using them in this wonderful dish.

This delicious recipe is Barbara's. Because I've made it, I can rescue anyone who hasn't planned ahead to grow the beet or turnip greens the recipe specifies. The tortilla works fine with a mix of greens: bolting lettuce, chard thinnings, spinach that's sending up those spiky little leaves and incipient flower heads, and even a little young kale, especially if you're growing the beautifully tender red Russian variety. If you want to add an ounce or two of feta cheese to the eggs, as I do, go ahead, but Barbara says you can't call it a Spanish tortilla if you do. The proportions are pretty flexible; add more greens if you like. If you're not good at flipping or aren't feeling particularly adventuresome, you can hold the plate on top of the tortilla while you turn the pan upside down.

Be sure to tell your guests, who will finish off your masterpiece, that everything they've just eaten can be easily grown in any of their back yards or found at their local farmer's market. But be sure to tell them to find a market where vendors farm on land nearby. One Clue: These farmers will not be selling bananas.

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