Root Vegetable Hash

I swore off cooking beets for a while...but I had to try this recipe. And I discovered that if you peel the beets before cooking them, they create much less of a mess. All of the other times I've cooked them, I followed Mark Bittman's advice that the best way to cook them is to bake them unpeeled and wrapped in tin foil - but they are a disaster to peel afterwards.

I made this a few weeks ago and have been pretty lazy about blogging lately. Oops! This recipe did last me a good week though - and it's very delicious! Maybe not a good summer recipe, but it was appropriate a few weeks ago when it DIDN'T feel like summer...remember that? (I don't really.) This was another great find from the Moosewood cookbook - and it even says you can eat this for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner!



Seasoning Mixture:
2 teaspoons dried marjoram
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1.5 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Hash:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2.5 cups chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 cups carrots cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cups sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cups beets peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cups turnips and/or rutabaga peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 tablespoons water


Stir together all of the seasoning ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

In a 10-inch or larger skillet on medium-high heat, warm the oil. Cook the onions and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add all of the vegetables and stir well. Sprinkle with the seasoning mixture and water and stir well. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.


From "Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health"

Beet and Yogurt Salad

This is a pretty simple and nice salad, but I am totally over cooking beets. I ended up with beet juice mostly everywhere. I roasted the beets according to Mark Bittman's technique (wrap in tin foil and peel them afterwards), but peeling the beets after they cook is always a disaster. I may try a different method of roasting (there are a few), but I'll probably be taking a rest from beets for a while - canned beets aren't SO bad.


4 medium size beets, roasted
1.5 tablespoons sherry vinegar, white wine vinegar, or cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 to 2 garlic cloves (to taste)
1/2 cup thick Greek style yogurt or drained yogurt
2 tablespoons minced dill

1. Roast the beets, peel and cut in wedges or slice into half-moons. Stir together the vinegar, sugar, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss with the warm beets and allow to marinate for 2 to 3 hours at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

2. Place the garlic in a mortar and pestle, add 1/8 teaspoon salt, and mash to a paste. Stir into the yogurt. Stir in half the dill. Add salt and pepper to taste. Drain the beets and stir some of the marinade into the yogurt (to taste). Toss with the beets, or arrange the beets on a platter and drizzle the yogurt over the top. Sprinkle on the remaining dill, and serve.


Original recipe here 

Beet and Avocado Salad (Mark Bittman style)

 

I am a horrible person, and I have never cooked beets before. They scare me. However, after tackling the red velvet today, I thought I could handle some red beets.

I bought the beets from Market Basket (aka hell) yesterday, and the only kind they had were called "Candy Cane" beets, and I was curious as to why (they looked normal on the outside, maybe just a bit more pink than most). But, once I cut into them, it was obvious why they were named "Candy Cane!"

 

I am so excited to cook beets more often now that I know how easy they are to cook. Beets are definitely on my list of top 5 favorite foods (maybe I'll actually make one of those someday). MB's recipe called for cooked beets, either boiled or roasted. I chose the roasting method, as MB advised this was the way to get the best flavor. It was great because after roasting them, the skin just peeled off by hand, so there was no messy peeling involved.


Ingredients:

4 small beets or 3 large beets
2 avocados, ripe but firm, peeled, pitted, and diced
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
salt and pepper
one small red onion, diced
1 tarragon leaf, minced (*I bought tarragon and realized it smelled like anise, which I hate, so I left this out)

Heat oven to 400F. Wash beets, wrap in aluminum foil, and place on a baking sheet. Bake the beets for 45-90 minutes, or until a knife can be inserted with light pressure.

Allow beets to cool, then peel skin off (should come off by hand). Chop beets and layer with avocados.

For the vinaigrette, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. According to MB, you need to put this in a blender, but I just stirred by hand and it was fine. Add the onion to 1/2 cup of the vinaigrette, and pour over the salad.


(Recipe from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian")