Tag Archives: beets

Back on the Chain Gang

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I am getting geared up for my CSA pick up tomorrow morning. I’ve been missing me some Wolfe Spring Farm. And to hit the pots and pans again. Fortunately the weather is cooperating and the heat has lifted, too. I missed last week’s pick up due to our Maine excursion, but I am getting psyched for tomorrow. When I am not in town to pick up at Wolfe Spring, we give the pick up to our neighbor, Dan Doern. Through the grapevine, I heard that we missed out on:

  • Mini eggplants
  • Squash
  • Salad greens
  • Awesome garlic
  • Yellow shallots (which I’ve never seen before)
  • String beans
  • 1 tomato
  • And a repeat offender: Beautiful sunflowers

[Dan sent me an update today,7/22/12, adding on the original list. He said that he also picked up new red potatoes, broccoli, zucchini. Dan said he,

took the whole potatoes, sliced zucchini, the whole mini-eggplants and pieces of broccoli, tossed them with some olive oil, salt, pepper, lots of fresh oregano from our garden, lemon and orange slices, dumped them in a roasting pan and slow cooked them.    They were delicious!]

Also in time for the weekend, there was an article after my own heart in Wednesday’s Dining section of the NY Times. Entitled “Raw Panic,” Julia Moskin writes about the home cook’s anxiety at mid-summer when you’ve brought home more fresh fruits and veg from the market than you know what to do with. I want to try this recipe for veggie fritters tomorrow, using beets and leeks:

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s pick up. And tell me about your vegetable anxiety. Or tell me that I’m crazy for having vegetable anxiety.

Lunch Italian-style – CSA Pick up 7/7/12

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With my friend Peggy Carrington, I prepared a summery Italian-style lunch of vegetable antipasti from our CSA pick-up. Peggy and I prepared the following for a relaxed buffet lunch:

  • Broccoli with garlic and chili pepper Sautéed string beans with olive oil and garlic
  • Mints with beets and cumin (see recipe from last week)
  • Sautéed beet greens
  • Mixed green salad
  • Slice avocado (not local, but had it in the fridge)

Maggie Carrington and Brian Gray joined us for lunch, too. I’m still not sold on the beet greens, but they had some fans at the lunch table.

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On the Edge of your Seat: Veggie Rice Salad

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I know you’ve all been on the edge of your seats WAITING to hear what I did with the rest of Saturday’s bounty. Here it is again:

I’ve already spilled the beans on the beets (that recipe could not wait), so let’s go through the rest of the veggies.
2 Birds with 1 Stone
I felt like a healthy grain-based salad that would mix some of the crunchy veggies and herbs, but would also take a minimal amount of cooking (again, recall beets recipe). I decided to riff on a recipe from last month’s Bon Appetit that I had previously experimented with. The recipe is very flexible – add/subtract veggies based on what you have at home. I’ve included it below with some of my modifications in italics and also simplified the prep.

Summer Veggie Rice Salad

  • 1 small shallot, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
  • 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
  • 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 cups cooked basmati rice, cooled – I used Brown Basmati rice
  • 2 cups bite-size pieces assorted vegetables (such as radishes, tomatoes, peas, summer squash) or carrot ribbons- I used kohlrabi, peas, scallions, carrots and basil
  • 3/4 cup torn mixed leafy greens, sprouts, and herbs – I used arugula and mixed greens
  • 1/3 cup chopped red, yellow, or white onion or scallions
  • 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts (optional)

Preparation

  1. Mix first 4 ingredients in a bowl combined; season with salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle in oil and use whisk to mix dressing.
  2. Place remaining ingredients in a large bowl; drizzle with 3 Tbsp. dressing and toss to coat. Pass remaining dressing alongside for drizzling over.
I modified the recipe based on what we picked up from the farm and also a desire to make it more nutritious. I used brown rice in place of white, and heavied up on the veggies, herbs and greens. This was a big hit and enjoyed by all family members and guests (even hubs). This is a great dish for a picnic, or to prepare in advance. We had this for lunch on Sunday.
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Ok, so we already covered off on the beets, kohlrabi, sugar snap peas, scallions and greens. That leaves the broccoli, haricot verts and mixed greens. I decided on simple preparation for all 3 as I wanted to showcase the veggies themselves (and I, too, was losing steam).
  • Broccoli: Simple Asian-style dish. Steamed, then sauteed it with garlic and a dried, hot chili pepper, finishing it off with a dash of sesame oil.
  • Haricot verts: Sauteed garlic, then quickly stir-fried beans, keeping them green and crisp. Accompaniment for Saturday night dinner. Loved by all
  • Mixed greens: Used as a simple side salad with mustard vinaigrette for several meals
Oh, and the sunflowers went on the dining table.

Why Beets are Great to Eat OUTSIDE the home…but Never Taste Quite as Good

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Seriously, could one vegetable be more challenging to prepare than beets? Have you ever made beets at home? If so, you’ll know how easily they stain and how long they can take to cook. I wish I had taken a picture of my beet-juice splattered self from yesterday to share.

At any rate, if you do make the effort, you will be handsomely rewarded with jewel-colored, scrumptiously-sweet, vitamin-rich treats for your table. They even contain folate, which is super hard to find in other foods, and very, very good for you.  I prepared they beets from yesterday’s CSA pick up with mint after eating them at City Bakery near Union Square. I found an easy recipe for this tasty dish, and again, the toughest part is simply cooking the beets. I was quite unpopular when I turned on the oven for 1 hour 15 min on a 90 degree day. Whoops. And beets usually don’t taste good in salad bars and restaurants because they are from a can. Or overcooked.

The beets were ruby red and absolutely delicious, even prettier than the picture above from Epicurious. The mint complemented the beets both visually and on the palate. My guests  Josh Robertson and Milly Robertson loved them, but hubs still stayed far away. He was scarred as a child from eating canned beets. Friends don’t let friends…

Oh, and I steamed the beet tops separately. This was a first for me. They turned out great. I topped them with a little olive oil and salt, and they tasted similar to collard greens – the kind of thing that makes you feel healthy just because you’re eating them.

My friend Steve at Berkshire Bounty Farm even eats beets raw, but I haven’t been brave enough to try that yet. Maybe next week…