One item in last week’s produce box was a beet- not so pretty on the outside but brilliant on the inside and super nutritional as well.  Just so happened that I was given an additional bag of beets a couple of days later.  I was excited to have them but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with them. I’ve made a lot of beet soup in the past few years but haven’t really explored much more with them.  I’ve always been a fan of beets though, and it was time to branch out.

I was thinking about all of this while sitting in our garden and noticed that the mint was growing wild and needed to be used.  So when looking for beet inspiration I Googled beets & mint and landed on this site with this Roasted Beets with Mint recipe.

This recipe was found here : Roasted Beets with Mint. We made it according to their recipe except doubled the portions- it was delicious!

Roasted Beets with Mint-

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1¼ pounds beets – total without greens, trimmed, leaving 1 inch of stems attached
1/3 cup fresh mint, coarsely chopped

Stir together lemon juice, cumin seeds, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Stir in oil and let stand while roasting beets. — We dry toasted the cumin seeds in a pan and lightly crushed them with a mortar and pestle.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.

Tightly wrap beets in a double layer of foil and roast on a baking sheet until tender, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Cool to warm in foil package, about 20 minutes. — This is the first time I have ever roasted beets so I wasn’t certain how tender they would get or how quickly they would roast.  I did know that I did not want them to be mushy at all, I would rather they be undercooked than overcooked.  Because all of the beets were completely different sizes I decided to only roast them for an hour and let them cool for 20 minutes or longer. Turned out to be a good choice because they were cooked perfectly!

When beets are cool enough to handle, peel them, discarding stems and root ends, then cut into 1/2-inch-wide wedges.

Toss warm beets with dressing. Stir in mint just before serving.

This dish was super easy to make.  Fresh mint paired with beets makes a stunning combination not only in taste but visually as well! So vibrant- it even looks healthy!

Our cherry tomatoes are finally turning red! The other day we made our first salad using them- I have to say, fresh picked cherry tomatoes are oh so delicious and satisfying; I’m already anticipating the next ripe bunch any day now. This salad was thrown together with a mix of our usual produce, offerings from our organic produce box and some wonderful from our garden. Just thought I’d share the idea with you, it’s always nice to have salad inspiration- mmmm vegetables!

ingredients :: red leaf lettuce, raspberries, cherry tomatoes, olives, cheddar cheese, 1 baby ancho, pine nuts, basil, hard boiled egg, mustard seed dressing.

The preparation of this meal is pretty obvious, chop vegetables as necessary and combine.  The basil in our garden is now growing well and we have been able to use it a couple times a week with out depleting it completely.  One of our plants started off slowly and seemed to be struggling so we repotted it, changed it’s location, and trimmed it down. Now, it’s growing really well. Another basil plant started off full and healthy, once we started to chop stems from it we found it wasn’t growing back; we started to pick just the larger leaves from the top so that new growth could move in and it seems to be working out right. New leaves keep appearing and the plant is now becoming more stable.

Our ancho peppers, also known as pablano peppers, are probably the most impressive peppers growing in the garden right now because they are getting so big. We have three fairly large ones that seem to be taking over the plant and weighing it down.  We’re going to pick them to eat tomorrow and hopefully the plants will continue to produce.  The one we used for this salad was tiny and fell prematurely- but we decided to use it anyway.  Although it was very small it still tasted nice. Anchos are a fairly mild pepper, this one smelled like it might be spicy but didn’t really offer any heat.  We just sliced it as a topper for fun.

The cherry tomatoes are doing well, the whole pot of plants is filled with green, orange and red fruits.  We only had a handful this time around but it was definitely enough to brighten up this salad.  They were near perfect!

We used a red leaf lettuce as the base of our salad, raspberries from our fresh produce delivery last week, and pine nuts.

Green olives are always a nice addition to a salad, I don’t always like to use dressing- if I do, I take it on the side.  Olives and fresh herbs usually add enough extra flavor on their own for me.  And last, cheddar cheese and a hard boiled egg for some extra protein. We have a little egg slicer which is perfect for slicing uniform rounds for a salad. I also like to quarter them or halve them as well- any way will be good!

The dressing on the side is one we have been preparing an awful lot these days.  It originated from our raw kale salad, and now that we’ve made it several times it’s an easy one to whip up and modify quickly.  This time we added some crushed red pepper to spice it up.

My friend Ellen is about to enter her first year of culinary school; a couple of years ago she started her blog- gogochicago as a way to track what she eats and cooks as well as recipes that she enjoys and creates.  A while back she posted about her grape almond cilantro salad which appealed to me right away.

In May she threw a birthday BBQ for our friend Natalie and made this salad which was the first time I ever tried it.  It was delicious, I would probably have not considered pairing cilantro and grapes on my own although I happen to really love both of the ingredients.  Including almonds to the mix is wonderful; it adds a completely different texture as well as a new level of nutrition. This recipe is super easy to make and is a unique summer salad- perfect for any summer event.

Ingredients : red grapes, almonds, cilantro, lemon, kosher or sea salt, olive oil.

This salad is not something you should really have to measure out, but for the first time preparer it’s helpful to have guidelines to follow.  Ellen based her recipe for a single serving.  I wanted to make a bit more, 3-4 servings.  So, we adjusted accordingly and this is how we did it…

3-4 servings :: 3 heaping cups of halved red grapes, 2-3 handfuls of almonds, Juice of 1 or 1 1/2 lemon. 3 Tablespoons olive oil, 1-2 cups of plucked cilantro leaves, kosher salt to taste.

Wash and halve the grapes, pluck cilantro leaves from the stems and chop if you want.  We decided to keep the cilantro leaves whole, but I think chopping them a bit would be nice too. Mix in a bowl and toss a couple of handfuls of almonds to the mix.  We used raw almonds, toasted would also be nice. Add your lemon & olive oil and mix well. Salt to taste.  That is it! Enjoy.

Can’t wait to make this again; I would like to try adding cheese and a little spice.  I’ll let you know how it turns out!

Raw Kale?

I never thought to use raw kale for the base of a salad.  I though it would surely be too tough to eat like that.  Then I saw a post from Vegan Yum Yum, which is a really great vegan food blog (definitely check it out)! The other day her post called “BLT Salad” inspired me to make the first harvest of kale from our garden into a fresh raw salad.  Although I didn’t end up following her recipe exactly, it was definitely not something that I would have put together without her idea.  It was suggested to use a different type of kale than we are growing- Lacinato kale, which I have yet to try.  The variety we are growing is a bit more common curly leaf kale.  I thought i would try the idea out anyway.

Our kale has been growing really well this summer, but it wasn’t until this week that we felt it was time to eat it. Kale grows from the center up so we cut the largest leaves from the bottom first.  I worried that once we trimmed the plant it would look sad and sparse. But we just trimmed what we needed from the bottom and there was plenty left on top to keep growing.  I’m sure it will help the smaller leaves see more more sunlight and grow faster going forward.

So far kale has been relatively easy for us to maintain.  It, like the rest of the potted plants in our garden, needs to be watered a couple of times a day; if it doesn’t get the water it needs it quickly wilts, but luckily perks up quickly when it’s happy.  Other than a few yellow leaves the plant has looked extremely healthy and full throughout- however, once we cut some of the stems, we did notice that there were a few leaves with pesky aphids hanging around. We were definitely surprised to find them and not too pleased, hopefully they haven’t been around for too long and we can get rid of them soon. I guess after we wash down our tomato plants we’re going to have to bathe the kale too.  Oh well, can’t blame the little guys, I bet a kale plant would be a fun place to live.  I think it’s time to invest in some lady bugs…

Ingredients :: 1 bundle of kale, 1/4 cup pine nuts, 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard, 1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, black pepper, not quite half of a lemon’s juice, & a splash of orange juice- near 2 tablespoons.

To make this salad you’ll need about 1 bundle of kale; because it’s raw kale you’ll need to cut it in thin strips so it’s easier to chew and it can better soften up from the dressing.  Use a knife or scissors to cut the stem from the center; bunch or roll up the stemmed leaves and cut into thin pieces.  Set aside in a bowl large enough to toss with the dressing.

The dressing: I would have never considered using mayonnaise in a dressing.  But the way Lolo from Vegan YumYum used it was appealing to me; the mayonnaise would be a creamy compliment to the kale. The dressing would be essential to this dish as it will lightly coat the kale helping it to soften up a bit and of course it will add more flavor.

To prepare the dressing, combine ingredients into a regular bowl. Add 1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise; we happened to have it on hand but I’m sure regular mayo would be just as fine. 1 tablespoon whole grain (seedy) mustard, the musztardy we use is called Kamis-Francuska, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, & fresh ground black pepper. Stir together and add a splash of orange juice and some juice from a half of lemon- this is a pretty tart dressing so don’t add too much lemon. Squeeze a bit in stir it up and adjust flavor to your liking.

Toss salad with the dressing, add as you go and thoroughly mix until all is covered.  Let the salad sit for a bit. Just before serving, dry toast your pine nuts in a pan.  Warm them up without allowing them to burn, shake the pan just over the heat until they are toasted.  Serve kale salad and top with pine nuts.

We made this salad very simple and ate it as our main dish. Including other vegetables would also be delicious, fresh herbs, cucumber, mushrooms, and tomatoes all seem like they would work well.  We wished that our cherry tomatos were ready in time and would have definitely included them,  I suppose that’s for next time- can’t wait to try this again soon!

Sweet, spicy, sour, & salty.
Mango, chili, lime, & salt.

Mango is an extremely tasty fruit on it’s own but by adding a few simple flavors you create a complex taste that is sure to excite you.

Ingredients :: mango, cayenne powder/chili powder, lime, kosher salt.

There are a lot of “right” ways to cut a mango; I have two methods that I use regularly.  The first method is straightforward and obvious.  Use a paring knife to remove the skin, avoid cutting off too much meat.  Start by cutting off a small piece from one of the long ends, turn it on that side to rest tall and begin to slice off the skin.  At the beginning I like to hold it in my hand, but towards the end I like to rest it on the flat spot because sometimes the mango can get very slippery to hold, this helps prevent you from dropping it or squeezing it too much.  Once the skin is removed, make the first cut from the top of the mango along side of the seed.  The seed/pit is in the center of the mango, long and ovular about ¾ of an inch thick, you want to try to get as close the seed as possible in order to get the most meat.  Repeat and cut from the other side.  You’ll be left with two nice hunks of mango meat, cut whatever is left from the shorter side and finish by cutting the pieces to the desired size.

The second method is a little more fun and beautiful looking.

Turn the mango on it’s side to make it tall, cut two pieces from each side of the seed.  Slice a grid into the mango piece without cutting through the skin.  Flip the  skin of the mango to push the meat forward creating a “hedgehog” shape. Use a paring knife or your fingers to remove the pieces. You can also eat the mango directly off the skin.

once you have your bowl of sweet add your sour, spice, and salt to taste!  I usually cut up 2 mangoes, 1 lime, and add the salt and cayenne a little at a time until it’s just right.  stir up and enjoy.  This is one of my absolute favorite flavor combinations!