Fun in Foil

This post will not be about cookies.  I will admit to being weak-minded and buying cookies this week at the supermarket.  And when you already have some cookies in the cupboard, then you really oughtn’t make more cookies on top of that. 

Or at least that’s how I am dealing with my guilt about not producing another cookie recipe for you, and right before the Holidays too, sheesh.

Instead, I wanted to share with you some pictures from Thanksgiving and one of the recipes I have now made a few times which will be good all winter and into early spring.

As you know I grew some beets and leeks (I actually managed to get 3 leeks!) in my tiny little garden this year.  So I had a surplus of beets on hand come the end of harvest.  I love the idea of eating things that don’t necessarily seem to work together – and that is what this recipe is all about.  It is incredibly easy to prepare and is a very different way to get that side of vegetables onto your dinner plate.

I do recommend using Chioggia, golden or even white beets as standard beets will stain all of your pretty vegetables a bright pink.  And if you can find multi-colored carrots, use those too – it really ups the pretty factor.

Beets, Carrots and Leeks in foil

2-3 medium beets (Chioggia, golden or white)

2-3 medium carrots
1 large leek
1 Tb olive oil
3Tb white wine
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
½ tsp dried tarragon (or 1 ½ tsp fresh)
Salt and pepper to taste
Aluminum foil

Preheat the oven to 375° or preheat the grill.  Peel and chop the beets and carrots.  Arrange two sheets of foil, overlapping each other, on the countertop or work surface.  Pile the chopped beets and carrots onto the center of the foil.  Thoroughly wash and dice the leeks, add to the top of the vegetable pile.  Gently fold up the sides of the foil to create a little wall, pour on oil and white wine.  Add the thyme sprigs, tarragon, salt and pepper and toss to coat vegetables.  Fold foil up over the vegetables creating a tight seal, so none of the liquid spills out.  Place foil packet onto grill for 20-30 minutes until it smells magnificent and the vegetables are softened.  Or, place foil packet on a cookie sheet and cook in the oven until the vegetables are softened.

Serves 4 as a side dish

Chioggia

I have some bad news, my fava beans didn’t make it. I think Joe and I had a grand total of two beans each. The heat, ants, aphids and vinegar all added up to be more than my little plants could bear. So perhaps next year I will try again. This of course dampens my dreams of eating bowls full of favas this summer and sharing with you all the recipes I try out with them. Instead, I have beets.

Yes, I have written about beets before, and I think I may have told you about them last year. Well, since I only have two little garden boxes, a packet of seeds can be split between multiple years. This year’s harvest will look and awful lot like last years. I tried planting things in different combinations and as a result have a slightly different yield. Last year my obsession with Tuscan kale overshadowed my fondness for Chioggia beets, literally. I mean those beets didn’t grow very big because they were hidden under the 2’ tall kale.

This year, the beets have done very well. Joe and I have enjoyed a few dinners featuring their greens, and just now have I begun to pluck the well-formed globes from my little bed of dirt. I will admit that I get inordinately giddy when I slice into these beets, as you may be able to infer from the multiple pictures shown here. But they’re just so pretty. And they taste good to boot. They are a bit more mild – more user friendly if you will, than standard red beets. 

I came upon a recipe in Bon Appetít for a beet and carrot slaw that looked stunning (no surprise there huh). As usual, though, I did not have all the ingredients listed. Although the idea of a coleslaw without cabbage and mayonnaise sounded very good on what may have been the hottest day of the summer. I cut the beets into thin rounds by hand, and then into matchsticks, as my mandolin is a death trap. I tend to take off the top part of fingers when I use it. I think they sell the one I use in the masochism isle at the kitchen supply store. It is terrifyingly sharp, and each time I use it, I think to myself ‘Wow, I should really be care…’ and that’s when the tip of my finger comes off.

On a positive note, the blade is so sharp, that it really doesn’t hurt that much. It bleeds a lot, but when a cold winter night is calling for potatoes au gratin, you wrap a paper towel or three around that puppy and keep slicing. Fortunately, (for my hands) the mandolin broke, so it really would be a death trap. I now leave it in the drawer out of harm’s way. All this means that I am not recommending you use a mandolin for the cutting here, unless you A) have one with a handle/guide thing or B) you don’t want to spend 20 minutes chopping vegetables. Really, it’s up to you.

Beet, Turnip, and Kohlrabi Slaw
as adapted from Bon Appetít June 2011
Kohlrabi looks cool, and that’s why we got it and decided to put it in the slaw. All three of these main ingredients are earthy in flavor, so feel free to omit one of them if you’d like. Or you can add carrots, like the original recipe calls for.

2 medium Chioggia beets, sliced into matchsticks
½ kohlrabi, sliced into matchsticks
2 medium salad turnips, sliced into matchsticks
½ cup plain greek style yogurt (I like the Fage, because it has less moisture)
Juice of ½ a lemon
1 Tb. fresh tarragon
Salt and pepper to taste

Place all the sliced vegetables into a bowl. In a small bowl combine yogurt, lemon juice, tarragon, salt and pepper, stir well. Pour half the dressing over the vegetables and gently toss to coat. Add more dressing as necessary. Chill until ready to serve.

Baby Got Beets!

Winter vegetables can be really dismal. If there was ever something to convince me to chuck all my nutrition sense out the window, it would have to be the availability of vegetables in winter. Now, when you live in sunny California you don’t have this problem. But here in Maine, we do. 

Don’t get me wrong, when the first winter squashes hit the market I go a little nuts, roasting, pureeing and baking. But now the prospect of yet another night of hard squash, or icky grocery store produce makes me want to head for the nearest burger joint. I mean sweet potato fries totally count as a vegetable don’t they?

It’s no wonder people grow up hating brussel sprouts and broccoli. They are at their peak icky-ness currently in the grocery store. Don’t believe me? Look for yourself. Those brussel sprouts have probably been sitting there since Thanksgiving. And the broccoli has faded yellow spots or little black spots on the hidden stems. It’s almost impossible to make something like that taste good. You can always fall back on frozen vegetables, but again, I can only serve Joe so many frozen pea concoctions before he goes on strike. Sometimes you just need something vibrant, healthy and tasty. And this, my friends, is where beets come in.

Many local farmers’ markets (if you are lucky enough to have operational winter markets) will have some of their storage beets for sale. And beets get sweeter with age. That’s right, sweeter! Now before you click away from this post thinking that I have gone a little stir crazy being buried under mounds of snow up here in Maine, hear me out.

The beets I’m talking about don’t come in a can, aren’t on some gross Ruby Tuesday’s Salad bar, and are not pickled (although I hear pickled beets can be quite tasty). No these, are subtle, sweet and a bit earthy. They won’t be a soggy, falling apart, shirt-staining mess. They will be a relief to your winter vegetable rotation.

Roasting beets is easy, it takes a little while, but there is nothing more you have to do than turn on the oven, coat a baking sheet with a little oil, wash some beets, prick them with a fork, toss them on the tray and bake. That’s it! Once they are tender, peel them and slice them. This saves all their subtle flavors and enhances the natural sugars in beets, while maintaining their structure. Beets are very satisfying. Yes, it can be a bit messy, but I find that as long as you don’t let beet juice sit, it washes off fairly easily. Or you can hold the beet with a form while you peel them, and avoid touching them hardly at all.

Roasted Beet Salad
If you are fortunate to find different types of beets, I recommend trying them. Golden beets are sweeter and more tender (i.e. less scary) then your typical red beet, and the Chioggia beets are just cool when you cut into them (Candy-cane stripped).

4-5 medium sized beets, assorted types
1 tsp. vegetable oil
2 cups loosely packed arugula (optional)
1 Tb. Olive oil
Juice of ½ a lemon
3 Tb. Chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
Crumbled feta cheese

Preheat the oven to 375°. Coat a baking sheet with the 1 tsp. of vegetable oil. Wash the beets well and snap off any long roots. Prick the beets all over with a fork, and place on baking sheet. Roast the beets until tender – test by inserting a fork into the beet. If it goes in smoothly and easily, the beet is done. For beets the size of golf balls – 30 minutes, for beets closer to the size of baseballs an hour and so on. Let the beets cool enough to handle then slice off both ends and peel. Slice beets into manageable pieces and place in bowl.

If you are using red beets and another kind, keep the beets separate until ready to serve, or the red beets will make everything pink. Toss the beets with olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper. Serve over arugula and sprinkle with crumbled feta. Spoon any reserved dressing from the beets over the whole mixture. Or just toss beets with feta and dressing and serve.