Hippie Chickens

Les and I keep discussing leaning into vegan diets, and I have to admit that I'm convinced that it would be the best diet for the planet and my arteries. But I just can't give up cheese. I LOVE cheese. With all my cholesterol-choked heart.

I see cheese as my primary vegan roadblock, but I I have also grown to appreciate the practical and tasty elegance of eggs, especially considering how processed and packaged most meat substitutes are (even tofu).  So while I keep practicing my vegan recipes and stretch my experience with non-meat protein, I've also gotten into egg dishes over the past couple of years. But I can't stomach the knowledge of the truly horrific conditions under which most of those eggs are produced. Which is why I'm very happy that Les and I shook on a deal to go ahead and spend the $6 a dozen it costs to buy only real cage-free eggs from now on.

We've been buying our eggs from the Farmers Market in Rogers Park since this winter, but I'd never actually talked with any of the farmers to check and make SURE that the chickens that laid our cute little eggs were really as happy-go-lucky as I wanted to image them. Since, you know, the terms "cage-free" and "free range" are not regulated by any governing body. I could slap a "cage free" label on apple sauce if I wanted to, and no one would stop me. Anyway, this weekend I talked to the kindly farmer who sold me my dozen eggs from Midnight Sun Farms.

Me:  Can you tell me more about your eggs?
Farmer:  Sure. Our chickens live in a pasture during the day, and roost in a coop at night. They do not live in a cage. They eat bugs, and an organic meal ration, and also get some left over hops from a local brewery, which they seem to really like. These eggs were laid sometime this week and were transported from only about an hour away. So you can't really get any fresher eggs unless you have your own chickens.
Me: Cool! I'll take a dozen.
Farmer:  Did you have any other questions?
Me: Nope. Just wanted to know how these eggs are different from the other eggs sold here.
Farmer: They're not. Except ours are about $1 cheaper.
Me: Even Better. Keep up the good work.

If anything about this exchange strikes you as ridiculous, check out my favorite Portlandia clip:

The farmer was so resigned to his "city-living socialist left-wing hippie freaks who want to know if the chicken who laid their eggs had friends, and what her favorite flower is, and whether the other chickens in the pasture are nice to her" speech that I felt like I should try to cheer him up. Maybe I'll send him a thank-you card to give to his chickens.

Midnight Sun Farms in Grayslake

The makings of a tasty egg sandwich

Look at that beautiful yolk!

I read in The Omnivore's Dilemma that you can tell if a chicken was really cage-free by whether the egg white stays really close to the yolk when you crack it. Something about how exercise effects the protein structure. This one checks out!

Delish finished product. YUM.