Joe's Special (And So Are You)

From Mark Bittman (and me) comes this variation on a classic dish. Brown up a pound of local ground beef along with some fresh chopped garlic (available in the Spring at farmer's markets) and local onion. For fun, chop up some baby bok choy that you bought at the farmer's market on a whim, and stir it in with the onion. Add a bag of fresh, local spinach, washed and snipped down with kitchen shears, and stir 'til it's cooked, then break about four local eggs into the mix and stir 'em in. Don't forget salt and pepper. I topped ours with my newest thrilling local find, smoked goat cheese from a local farmer. He calls it "Goat Colby."

Now, I'm the kind of person who puts eggs in bowls and beats them before adding them to a dish like this, but tonight I reformed. It's liberating! Just crack the four eggs open on top of the hot meat mixture, break the yolks with your spatula, and stir 'til everything's cooked.

Alongside local sugar snap peas so young you don't even need to string 'em, local radishes, and local strawberries for dessert, this Joe's Special is robust dish that makes a good warm-day meal because there's no oven involved. You can play with the ingredients endlessly, all summer long.

And you know what? This is another Entirely Local Meal. Bravo!