Garden Radish and Garlic Scape Frittata and a Letter on Enough
The one thing that’s gotta go before you start eating ethically… and no, it’s not a type a food
Story + Photography by Sarah Carroll
For a long time, I was swimming in the water of a habit so ingrained that I didn’t realize how much it was affecting my life. A habit so powerful it could suck the joy out of a good day, turn sweet things sour, turn moments of calm into anxiety attacks.
The beast of bad habits: the scarcity mindset. And it’s an unlikely but nevertheless major roadblock to humane, sustainable agriculture.
Scarcity says: Panic. You are not okay. You don’t have what you need. You need to stop, drop and figure out how to get more. More money, more time, more energy, more friends, more security, more stuff. And the scarcity mindset and late-stage capitalism are pernicious friends. They make you chase after one and then the other, over and over.
I think the scarcity mindset is more troublesome than just causing panic and frantic need for more in our personal lives. At a broad societal scale, the scarcity mindset makes us so afraid that we don’t have enough for our own wellbeing that we hurt others, take what’s not ours, fail to do today’s work for a better future.
True scarcity isn’t the same thing as the scarcity mindset. For example, I have a closet full of clothes, enough to meet my needs for physical protection and culturally appropriate dress for a long, long time. Yet some days I open up my closet door and think, “Oh no. I don’t have anything to wear. I don’t have the latest thing I saw on Pinterest.”
So I walk through the day thinking about how somehow I’m without, how I don’t have enough. And I find myself feeling like I can’t or shouldn’t do the things that I know I believe in with my time and resources- like giving to organizations I value, like Immigrant Families Together or Clean Water Action, or spending a little extra on local, organic produce, all because I’m walking around with a scarcity mindset.
So what does this all have to do with factory farming, with supporting humane, sustainable agriculture?
If you’re anything like me, chances are good that when you get to the grocery store, the co-op, the farmer’s market vendor, and see prices for meat, eggs, and dairy that’s been sustainably and ethically raised, you’re carrying your scarcity mindset with you. It’s not your fault. You’ve received thousands of messages that you need to have, be, do more to be okay. It’s ingrained.
You might even think to yourself, “There are so many things I need! How could I possibly pay more for something I could get cheaper?” And that thought compels us to buy the factory farmed product, the thing harmful to animal welfare, to communities, to climate change, instead of putting our resources towards what we really care about.
There’s a solution to scarcity mindset and the pernicious effect it has on turning our ideals and values into dust.
And it’s simple: Enough.
Enough says: You are okay. You have exactly what you need. You are doing great. Enough is recognizing all the privileges, all the gifts in our lives that we already have. It’s an act of gratitude. Feeling like we are enough, like we have enough, is radically freeing.
When I ditch the scarcity mindset and focus on telling myself, “I have enough and I am grateful for all that I have,” it creates a mental and emotional surplus. That surplus is the feeling that I can sit on the couch in the soft afternoon light and drink a cup of tea. It’s the feeling that I can provide for all my basic and most human needs. It’s the feeling that I can give my time, energy, and resources to others and do my fair share to correct structural inequities in the world.
Enough also lets me walk right into the co-op, where I know I pay a little extra so that employees can earn a living wage, wealth can stay in my communities, and local farms and sustainable food companies can fetch a fair price- because I know I have enough. It lets me walk over to the egg aisle and pay double the conventional average so that small, independent farmers can make it raising free-range, organic, pastured laying hens treated humanely amidst a rigged ag economy that unfairly benefits factory farming and unsustainable, harms-externalizing agribusinesses- because I know I have enough.
And, as a white, progressive, middle class, cisgender woman, it’s even more important for me to realize that I have enough. Because plenty of people don’t. And my enough, like all privilege I didn’t earn, must be recognized and then broken down until equitable. When I act on “enough” in my food choices, it has a food justice effect.
So here’s my ask of you: take a deep breath. Think of all the things in your life that you’re fortunate to have. Think of the ways in which you have enough. Maybe even write it down. Notice how you feel when you say to yourself, “Wow, today I really do have enough.”
And the next time you go grocery shopping, hold onto the feeling. I think you’ll be surprised how good it feels to do right for others, for our food system, coming from a place of surplus and not scarcity mindset. And in doing good for others, we also do good for ourselves.
This is an Enough recipe. A recipe that reminds me of slow, relaxed Saturday mornings and having friends over for brunch. Simple, wholesome, healthy, with extra servings to share. Chocked with ingredients from my organic garden, the Audubon Farmers Market, and the Eastside Co-Op. Savory seasonal garlic scapes, bright pops of imperfect crunchy radish plucked from my first-time raised bed, rich ethically raised eggs. And topped with spicy chive blossoms just because it’s a good day to have a good day.
Whether you eat this garden frittata for breakfast, for dinner, leftovers for lunch- I hope you’ll make it with humane, sustainable ingredients so that when you bite in you can reflect on how enough is the gift that keeps on giving.
Garden Radish and Garlic Scape Frittata
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Makes 6 servings
Gluten Free - Nut Free - Dairy Free
Paleo (use coconut oil instead of olive oil) - Whole 30
Tools needed: none
Ingredients:
6 eggs
3 gloves of fresh green or dried garlic, minced
4 radishes, thinly sliced
10 garlic scapes, chopped into ½ inch pieces
5 small spring onions, thinly sliced and greens scallion ends chopped
Handful of fresh cilantro
Handful of arugula
Chive blossoms (optional)
drizzle of balsamic vinegar (optional)
Squeeze of lemon
Fresh cracked pepper
2 tablespoons of olive oil
½ tsp Basil
½ tsp Thyme
¼ tsp Salt
Instructions:
1. In a large, greased, flat frying pan, heat the olive oil on medium-low heat. Add the onions, radish, and garlic scapes, and fresh garlic. Add a generous squeeze of lemon and sauté until the garlic is translucent and the garlic scape loses its raw crunch.
2. In a bowl, whisk together six eggs, and dried basic, thyme, salt and a few grinds of pepper, and fresh cilantro.
3. Using a spatula, spread the sautéed veggies evenly around the bottom of the pan. Then pour the egg mixture into the pan, tilting the pan until the egg covers the entire bottom. Cover and let cook for about 20 minutes (shorter if your pan is wide and your frittata is thin, longer if you’re using a smaller and deeper frying pan) until the egg loses its shinny raw sheen and egg white doesn’t run when the pan is tilted. The bottom should be lightly browned.
4. Turn off the heat and add arugula to the top of the frittata. Let sit for a minute to allow the heat from egg to slightly wilt the arugula.
5. Drizzle a small amount of balsamic vinegar on top and add chive blossoms and more cracked pepper if desired. Serve while still warm!
Mix it up:
- For extra greens, chop and throw those radish greens right into the mix!
- Don’t have these exact veggies? Most summer veggies will do! Just chop and sauté them down.
- Slice up the frittata and put it in the refrigerator to pack for a protein-rich ready-to-eat breakfast or lunch.
