Lisa attended a Super Foods class tonight, and I was inspired to create a quick side-dish featuring one… beets! The dish, from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, sounded super easy to make, and it was — roasted beets are sliced along with avocado, and spooned over the top is a lemon vinaigrette with tarragon and red onion. Perfect — and should only take about 15-20 minutes, right? Right! Unfortunately, I totally zoned the fact that, um, yeah: I’d have to roast the beets first. Gah! That’s like an hour just for that step! So there went my relaxing, look-how-quick-this-was side dish. Oh well, the good news was that Lisa wasn’t going to arrive until late anyway, so I was able to finish up dinner just a few minutes after she walked in the door. Note to self: Think through recipes before deciding when to start!

Lisa says:

That class made me so hungry — a few hours talking about nothing but food!

Chris says:

Well, you can start on this now…

Lisa says:

Hey, did you know beets were a super food?

Chris says:

I knew they were a super-delicious food…

Lisa says:

I heart this dish… and… for once, I don’t think these beets taste like dirt!

Chris says:

Hooray for CSA beets. This is a great combo… the avocado is perfect. Just a little firmer than one I’d pick if I was making guacamole.

Lisa says:

Mmmm-hmmmm… this is excellent.

Beet and Avocado Salad
3-4 medium beets
1 very large avocado
1 small red onion, minced
1/3 cup light olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
pinch dried tarragon
salt and freshly ground pepper

Set the oven to 400 degrees and wrap each beet in aluminum foil. Place the beets on a cooking sheet and into the oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until a knife pressed into a beet gives little resistance. (The beets may cook at different rates). Remove and set aside.
To make the vinaigrette, place the olive oil, lemon juice, and a tablespoon of warm water into a blender and pulse until emulsified. Pour into a bowl with the minced onions and tarragon.
When the beets are cool, peel and slice them. Pit, peel, and slice the avocado. Arrange the beet and avocado slices in alternating layers in a dish. Whisk again the vinaigrette and spoon over the beets and avocados. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.

4 Servings

Lisa and I are both big potato salad fans, as long as they’re not super-mayo affairs.  We needed to come up with a side dish to bring to a BBQ this weekend, and this recipe from The Border Cookbook seemed like a nice twist on the standard summer potato salad.  A vinegar and oil dressing replaces the usual mayonnaise, and  onions, tomatillos, and carrots provide an interesting flavor and texture combination.

Lisa says:

It’s sweet!

Chris says:

Yeah I like it, too.

Lisa says:

No, I mean — it’s sweet. As in, the dressing.

Chris says:

Ah! Yep, you’re right. The tomatillos seem to add some sweetness, and the vinegar gives it a nice tangy flavor.

Lisa says:

It’s definitely different. I like all the carrots.

Chris says:

The flavors seemed to intensify as it chilled — the recipe calls for you to refrigerate it for at least a couple of hours.

Lisa says:

So *that’s* why you wouldn’t let me taste it earlier…

Baja Potato Salad
1/2 cup rice vinegar
10 peppercorns
4 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 small head of garlic, minced
3 oz tomatillos, husked and chopped
4 carrots, grated
4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, boiled in salted water until tender, diced
1 jalapeño, seeded, minced
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
3/4 tsp oregano
salt and fresh ground pepper

In a small saucepan, bring the vinegar, peppercorns, cloves, and bay leaf to a boil. Remove from the heat and set aside to steep.
In a deep skillet, warm the oil over medium heat, then add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent. Add the tomatillos and cook an additional 5 minutes. Finally, add the carrots and cook an additional minute, or until the carrot wilts.
Place the potatoes in a bowl and spoon the carrot mixture over the top. Strain the vinegar and pour over the mixture. Add the jalapeño, parsley, and oregano, and mix again. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking. Refrigerate, covered, for at least two hours.
Serve chilled.

6-8 Servings

We received our latest CSA shipment today, and an internet search returned a few promising recipes that would utilize our fresh veggies and wouldn’t require any trips to the grocery store. The Lemon-Pepper Chicken over Garlicky Spinach recipe is slightly modified from this one on RecipeZaar, and the carrot dish comes from Quick From Scratch Herbs & Spices. We really enjoyed this combo!

Chris says:

I love last-minute dinner ideas that don’t require me to go out!

Lisa says:

But you did have to go; we were out of lemons.

Chris says:

Shhhh! Don’t ruin the story! The point is we got to use all our fresh veggies. Anyway, these carrots rule.

Lisa says:

I know it — and I really like this spinach stuff.

Chris says:

I think it’s just a tad sweet… maybe needs a bit more lemon juice?

Lisa says:

Maybe you need to get back to the store?

Chris says:

Funny.

Lemon-Pepper over Garlicky Spinach
One large, or two small chicken breast(s) (about 12 oz)
lemon-pepper seasoning
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 large shallot, chopped
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 small tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 bunch spinach, washed
salt & pepper

Season chicken breast on both sides with lemon-pepper seasoning. Using a little olive oil or cooking spray, heat a skillet over medium heat. Saute the chicken until done (internal temp of about 165-170). Set aside and keep warm. In the same pan, saute mushrooms, shallot, garlic and tomatoes until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the wine, lemon juice, and 1/3 cup of water. Continue to cook until liquid is reduced to a thin sauce. Add in the spinach, folding in as it wilts. Season with salt and pepper. Place the spinach on a plate and top with the chicken.

2 Servings

Sauteed Carrots with Lemon and Marjoram
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 bunch carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch slices
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
2 tbsp lemon juice

In a medium nonstick frying pan, heat 1/2 the oil over moderately low heat. Add the garlic, carrots, sugar, 1/2 the salt, the pepper, and the dried marjoram. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Uncover the pan. Raise the heat to moderate and cook, stirring frequently, until the carrots are very tender and beginning to brown, about 8 minutes longer. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the remaining oil and the lemon juice.

2 Servings

Two new dishes for us tonight: baked cauliflower with a delicious tahini sauce, and ground turkey meatballs with a pomegranate syrup. We had originally planned to make this cauliflower dish (from Lebanese Cuisine) as part of the Lebanese feast last weekend, but there was already way too much food, and so we made an excuse to try again this week. The kebabs are listed as a variation on a turkey burger recipe in the How to Eat Supper cookbook; it isn’t exactly “authentic”, but the kefta was delicious all the same. To round things out, Lisa made baby bok choy sauteed with plenty of onions and garlic.

Lisa says:

This turkey kefta is way different than the versions I had growing up… but you’re right, it’s really good.

Chris says:

Yeah — no pine nuts or bulgur in this one… Yum, I really like the way the cauliflower is cooked — I don’t think I’ve ever had it any other way than raw or steamed. I strayed from the recipe and used Jenn’s baking method instead of the one in the book.

Lisa says:

…that taratur sauce on it rules.

Chris says:

Oooh — the sauce is actually also good on the kefta.

Lisa says:

I like how there’s not really a ton of tahini in it, but the sesame flavor really comes out.

Chris says:

I like how there’s not really a ton of kefta left, because most of it is already in my belly. The flavor really went in.

Turkey Kefta Kebabs
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
1 large tomato, diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 lb ground turkey
1/4 dry white wine
pomegranate molasses

Heat a tablespoon of the oil in a nonstick skillet, and cook the onions and tomatoes, sprinkled with salt and pepper, over high heat until the onions start to wilt and brown, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
In a large bowl, add the ground turkey, onion-tomato mix, salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, cilantro, and wine. Mix together well and form into small balls. The mix will feel *really* delicate and sticky.
In the skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs, and rotate every 30 seconds or so until all sides are seared. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the meatballs reach an internal temperature of 150. Serve on a plate and drizzle the pomegranate molasses over the top.

Makes ~14

Cauliflower with Taratur
1 head cauliflower
olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp water
1/3 cup lemon juice
powdered red pepper

Heat the oven to 450F. Break the cauliflower into florets and place into a small bowl. Drizzle a little olive oil over the cauliflower and add a pinch of red pepper. Toss until all the cauliflower is coated, then place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes or until browned and tender.
In a bowl, mix the crushed garlic and the salt. Add the tahini and blend well, then add the water and mix thoroughly. Add the lemon juice and blend until the sauce is whitish and smooth. Add red pepper to taste. Pour the sauce over the cauliflower and serve.

We’re always looking for new ways to use up the last of our veggies from the CSA box; this recipe from Quick from Scratch Herbs and Spices was easily adaptable to what we had left: broccoli and leeks! It comes from the “Spices” half of the book, and features Turmeric, which we’ve never really had as the main spice/focus of a dish: usually it’s used simply to add color. Not that it didn’t do the same here!

Chris says:

I’ll say it again — the recipes in this book are quick indeed.

Lisa says:

What are those little discs?

Chris says:

Those are the broccoli stems — you cut ‘em like coins… good, eh?

Lisa says:

I like the crunch.

Chris says:

Me too. I like the leeks in this; I’d almost make that a permanent alteration.

Lisa says:

Well we certainly seem to get them often enough in the CSA box…

Chris says:

Yeah, it’s kind of comforting… secure. Wait, ha! It’s a –

Lisa says:

Please don’t say, “Security Leek”

Chris says:

I’ll just go back to eating now.

Broccoli with Turmeric and Tomatoes
2 tbsp canola oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 large leek, thinly sliced
1 1/2 lbs broccoli (about 2 large stalks), stems peeled and cut crosswise into 1/4 slices, tops cut into florets
1 cup drained canned fire-roasted diced tomatoes (yield from 1 15-oz can)
1/3 cup water
3/4 tsp salt

In a large, deep frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and leeks and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions and leeks are very soft, about 5 minutes longer.
Stir in the turmeric to coat the onions. Stir in the broccoli, tomatoes, water, and salt and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the broccoli is tender, about 10 minutes.

4 Side Servings