Beets w/ Beet Greens

With lots of beets coming out of my garden, I've been making an adaptation of my favorite beet recipe a lot lately.

First: Cut off the greens and set them aside. Place the beets, dirty as they are, into a covered casserole dish and bake in the oven at 400 for about an hour. If the beets are big, they may need more time. If they're little, maybe less. They're ready when it smells like cooked beets in the kitchen and they are pierced easily with a fork. They peel very easily when they are still warm. If they are dark red beets, I spear them with a fork and peel them with a sharp paring knife. If they are golden or light colored, then don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. Sometimes I do this step a day or two ahead of time, then keep the roasted, peeled beets in a tupperware in the fridge.

Second: wash and chop the beet greens. Add a little olive oil to a pan, add a little minced garlic, then throw in the greens and a hefty dash of fresh or ground ginger. Peel and slice the freshly roasted beets and add the beets to the greens. Finish off with a splash of lemon juice. Voila!

I adjust the recipe depending on my beet to green ratio. I like to keep a bit more greens than beets, so sometimes save extra beets for salads and other uses.

Late summer gardening

Garden Vegetables Galore!

Now at the height of summer, we're starting to really enjoy the bounty of my vegetable garden. This week we've eaten Blue Lake green beans, heirloom "Chioggia" striped beets & beet greens (which have been fantastic!), rainbow colored Swiss chard, King Midas carrots, colonial era heirloom peas from the Philadelphia botanical garden, green leaf lettuce (pictured) and vine-ripened tomatoes. We've also had great zucchini, tiny-sweet strawberries, dill & mint.

Just about ready is the acorn & "cream of the crop" squashes and lots more tomatoes. Later in the summer we'll have (hopefully) blue potatoes, brussel sprouts, gerkin cucumbers, heirloom purple-tipped leeks, an onion and sugar-baby watermelons. The little watermelons are already on the vine -- they look like watermelons shrunk down to the size of an apricot!

For the most part, I haven't been cooking the veggies very much. The green beans I roast briefly with olive oil, salt, pepper & slivered almonds. The chard & beet greens I usually saute with garlic, ginger & olive oil. The beets themselves I roast for an hour or so at about 400 in a covered casserole dish until tender, then peel. The dill comes with us in our lunches to go with cheese & crackers. The mint has made great tea -- just a handful of leaves in boiling water is great in the evenings!