Beets!

My favorite way to eat beats is to roast them.

(dont forget- the green tops are delicious. treat them like any other green).

There are two ways to roast beets:

	Roast first- then chop	Chop first- then roast
What you do:	· Wash the beets well, trim off the ends. (peel, if you want) · Cut the beet into quarters · Wrap in aluminum foil and place in the over at 375˚ F until soft (about an hour) (Note- the oven time is flexible. I try and roast beets while I am cooking something else in the oven)	· Wash the beets well, trim off the ends. (peel, if you want) · Chop the beets into small cubes · Place on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil · Roast in oven at 375˚ F- first 15-20 minutes covered, then 10-20 minutes uncovered. (oven temperature can be up to 400˚ F)
Advantages:	· Its much cleaner- few things are messier than chopping uncooked beets- the juices get everywhere and can stain · Its easier to chop- uncooked beets are very hard, and this method saves you chopping time	· Less cooking time · More slightly crispy/ caramelized edges · You can add flavors while roasting- like citrus, garlic, or herbs · You can roast with other veggies (see below)
Disadvantages:	· Takes longer to cook	· Its much messier- few things are messier than chopping uncooked beets- the juices get everywhere and can stain · Its harder to chop- uncooked beets are very hard, and this method saves you chopping time

what to do with roasted beets:

• serve with goat cheese!
• serve with citrus vinaigrette or honey mustard vinaigrette
• serve in a salad (or in a salad with goat cheese)

Sweet Beet & Veggie Roast

• chop the beets (see above)
• chop parsnip & carrots & red onions
• optional- garlic cloves still in the peel (see below)
  
• place in lasanga pan
• drizzle with olive oil
• roast covered, and then uncovered in a 375˚F oven
  
• veggies are done when they are super tender (time will depend on how many veggies you have, but its usually at leats 40 min)

Savory Beet & Veggie Roast

• chop the beets (see above). but beets are optional.
  
• chop parsnip & carrots & onions & turnips
• add garlic cloves- peeled or unpeeled. see below.
  
• optional- chop a fennel bulb
  
• place in lasanga pan
• drizzle with olive oil
• optional- mix in crushed dried rosemary, dried oregano, dried basil, (any of the above, all of the above, or other herbs of your choice)
• optional- mix in chopped greens (like beet greens, collard, kale, chard, etc). volume of veggies should be around 1/3 volume of whole dish when raw. Maximum 1/2 of dish)
  
• roast covered, and then uncovered in a 375˚F oven
  
• veggies are done when they are super tender (time will depend on how many veggies you have, but its usually at least 40 min)

Note about the garlic:

• you can roast the garlic peeled or unpeeled
• if you peel it, the garlic will better flavor all the other veggies
• if you roast the individual cloves while still in the peel, the cloves will get soft and caramelized, and will pop right out of the peel when fully cooked
• I like both- so I always put in some cloves peeled and some unpeeled.
  

Greens!

Some people don’t like greens- but that’s usually because they’ve had greens that are either (1) cooked into a mush or (2) undercooked, and therefore tough and bitter. Here is how to easily cook your big leafy greens so that they are well cooked, not mushy, and delicious

Ingredients:

· 1 bunch of Greens (can be collard, mustard, kale, turnip, beet, chard, etc. all are delicious)

· 1 large onion or 2 medium onions

· garlic cloves, chopped (2-8, depending on your taste)

· olive oil

· 2 tsp salt (kosher or coarse sea salt, preferably not table salt).

Directions

· utensils:

o use a pot or pan with as much surface area on the bottom as possible. Pan should be stainless steel or cast iron (NOT non-stick/Teflon- unless that’s all you have). Pan MUST have a lid. my favorite is the glass lid chicken fryer (image on the right):

· chop the onions

o chop into slivers or dice it into cubes (around ½ inch cubes work- doesn’t have to be super fine, but bigger pieces take a lot longer to cook)

· sautee the onions till translucent

o heat about 3 tbsp of olive oil in the pan. When the oil sizzles when you splash a drop of water into it, add the onions

· wash and chop greens while onions cook

o greens can be be very sandy- so they need to be washed well. Some methods include:

§ running each leaf under a stream of water

§ filling your sink with water and letting them soak so that the sand falls to the bottom

§ if you're using a textured green like Kale, then make sure all the sand is gone from the harder to wash textured parts of the leaves

o chop leaves in a checkerboard pattern- cut them vertically and then horizontally so you have manageable sized pieces. Chop stems into small pieces.

· add greens to the onions, add 1/3 c water, 2 tsp kosher salt. stir and place lid on

o greens are very tough, so allowing them to steam for a while softens them and reduces your cooking time.

o The salt sucks some of the moisture out of the greens and allows them to soften further

· when greens have shrunk significantly, open the lid and stir. Add another splash of olive oil (approx 2-3 tbsp) and stir more.

· At this point your goal is to cook the greens to that they are almost brown without burning them.

o if you kept steaming them, they would turn into unpleasant green mush. So now you want to sauté them to make them a bit crispy and full of texture.

o this requires frequent stirring so that all pieces get time on the bottom of the pan, and adding another splash of olive oil while cooking, and possibly some more salt to your taste

· When the greens start to brown, add the garlic and another splash of olive oil and stir.

· When finished, your greens should be:

o A very very dark shade of green

o Smell very fragrant (garlic, and onions and olive oil- yum!)

o Be very very well cooked. Its hard to overcook greens once you stop steaming them, so keep them on the stove top for as long as possible until they are to your liking!