finding a voice

chicken, olive, and greens sauté
Many thanks to my uncle, the chef whose recipe this is.

1/4 C olive oil
one medium onion, chopped into bits
2 cloves garlic
prepared chicken parts (tonight, it was 6 boneless-skinless breasts)
1/2 C tomato sauce (or a whole can, depending on your affinity for tomato sauce)
1 can black olives, drained
up to 1 jar (2 oz.) pimento-stuffed green olives
a lot of fresh kale, Swiss chard, and spinach
water
salt

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add the onion and garlic. Cook them only 'till they're soft, then use a slotted spoon to remove that onion and garlic and set them aside (ideally in a small bowl). Sprinkle the chicken with salt, turn up the heat a little, and brown chicken lightly all over. When your chicken has a pleasant coloring to it, return the onion and garlic to the pan. Add the tomato sauce, about 1/4 cup water and both kinds of olives. Turn the heat down to low, cover the pan, and simmer gently until the chicken is tender when you pierce it with a fork (this generally takes about 40 minutes). If the liquid simmers away, add more, in 1/4 cup increments. About 10 minutes before the chicken is done, stir in the fresh greens; cover and continue to cook.
To serve, find your slotted spoon and a nice serving dish. Use the spoon to lift out the chicken, then the greens, and arrange the greens tastefully next to the chicken pieces. Over high heat, boil the remaining liquid to reduce it to a sauce, then pour that over the chicken and greens. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    This past Saturday found every teenager out at the Marana Farm busily snipping, uprooting, picking, washing, and sorting our first group harvest of the season. Among the fruits of this grand garden plunder were kale, chard, and spinach, the tasty components of dinner tonight. The recipe's there because it's the best use I've ever found for fresh chard.
    I remembered what I want to do for the rest of my life, so today I'm searching for schools that offer degrees in both sustainable agriculture and journalism. Preferably photojournalism. This whole college business is just so ... tricky. To say the least. More on that in later days, perhaps.
    In the yardwork department: we cut down the lemon tree, the one that didn't make it through that snow-in-Tucson day. With a borrowed pickaxe (from the farm, of course) Daniel and I are chipping up the several cubic feet of rock that's supposed to be our own garden fairly soon.
    Since the weather's been getting so nice, I figured it would be a good idea to open my window today - and I'd planned to keep it open, but the family upstairs complained, so I went to go close it and promptly smashed a finger. It hurt. Life goes on.
    Today was gusty and breathtaking, rolled together with everything behind it.