Too Many Cukes

I hate to say it, but I'm tired of cucumbers and green beans.  I'm not quite sick of tomatoes, but it's getting close.

The garden is overflowing and I can't keep up.  Even with salads and pickle-making, the amount of cucumbers coming in is ridiculous.

I'm getting a lot of tomatoes right now, but my plants aren't doing so hot- I'm guessing they'll be done by the end of the week, especially with frost headed our way.  So I'm still enjoying having lots of tomatoes.  I need to make tomato sauce this weekend, and  I'm excited to use my food mill this year and bypass all that tomato peeling!

I was happy to skip over the cucumbers, green beans and tomatoes tonight in favor of beets!  I'm so excited to have plenty of beets from the garden.  I'm the only beet fan in the house, but everyone ate them for dinner tonight and (I think) liked them pretty well.  I used a recipe from The Vegan Gourmet (by Susann Geiskopf-Hadler and Mindy Toomay) that is totally magical.  For some reason it sticks in my mind, and I often think of how crazy good this recipe was when my bud Morgen and I first made it.  It sounds almost too simple, but it's so satisfying.

It's simply brown rice, steamed beets, sauteed beet greens and a dressing of tahini, lemon juice, miso, garlic and cayenne.  I also threw some marinated tempeh on the grill that I had tucked in the freezer.

More Vegetables, Please

Continuing on the theme of eating lots of vegetables, here's what I have prepped for eating in the next couple of days:

Steamed Beets

Sure, not that exciting.  But I love beets like nothing else and can eat them steamed plain!  Maybe I'll make these into a salad for my lunch this week.

Beet Greens

This was a huge bunch of beet greens from the garden.  I sautéed a locally grown shallot in some Driftless Organic sunflower oil and then wilted the greens.  On top is some toasted locally grown sunflower seeds.  I like to toast the seeds in a cast iron skillet and then sprinkle with salt while they're still hot.  It gives the greens some crunch and brings tons of minerals and protein to the dish.

Salsa

Fresh corn is going in everything these days and salsa is no exception.  These are heirloom garden tomatoes with fresh (uncured) garlic, super hot chiles and corn.  Only the corn isn't from my garden- It's from Wheatfield Farm. Just a splash of vinegar and salt and it's a rockin' good salsa.


Lest you think I'm eating too healthily, here's a photo of that giant blackberry biscuit I made a couple days ago.  Just regular biscuit dough with fresh blackberries and sugar pressed into the top.

Eat this.

I try not to buy too many packaged convenience foods, but it's really hard to resist frozen vegan ravioli when it goes on sale. Tonight I picked up the Rising Moon creamy artichoke and olive flavor. It made a super awesome dinner for me with leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

The sauce on the ravioli is just onions sauteed in Earth Balance with cremini mushrooms, olives marinated in hot chiles, and garlic.

The salad is local red leaf with toasted walnuts and the pickled beets from the Fourth of July and a lemon-flax oil vinaigrette.

For real, this dinner took about 20 minutes to make and tasted all fancy schmancy. Perfect for a lazy night of watching The Office and It's Always Sunny in Philedelphia. Everyone should make this.

Vegetable Love 2009

Just under the deadline, I present my submission to FatFreeVegan's Vegetable Love 2009 Challenge.  If you like my submission, then vote for my by clicking on the link and using the voting survey there.  But be sure to look at all the other entries, too.  There are some seriously amazing dishes!

No big surprise that I used beets here.  I used them in last year's submission, too!  I just can't help it.  I think beets are the most romantic vegetable out there.  

Don't believe me?  Check out this poem by Robert Samarotto, printed on my most prized set of greeting cards. 

(Cards I will probably never give away because I love them so much.)

Beet

Queen of the garden 
you rise from the poverty of earth, 
you wound me with your ripening 
bringing your sweetness nearer my hunger. 
All night – my little bonfire – you keep me awake, 
all night I burn in flames of jealousy.

I am suspicious of all your vegetable lovers, 
the way they mingle their roots with yours. 
Rain washing over you scalds my soul. 
Your leaves dancing to the wind drive me mad. 
I envy the beetle – the worm – the slug, 
vines that creep in the night.

O heart of hearts 
listen to my vegetable talk. 
Come with me to the cutting board 
let me discover your charms – slice by slice. 
Leave me with the stain of summer on my hands 
- then like Macbeth 
will I prepare for a winter’s madness.

Robert Samarotto

Now that you're all hot and bothered for beets, here's my recipe.  It's a spring roll inspired by the flavors of a banh mi sandwich, right down to the creamy sauce spiked with hot chiles.

Springy Beet Rolls

Makes about 4 spring rolls

4 spring roll wrappers

2 oz. thin rice noodles, prepared according to package

(usually just soaked in hot water for 6-8 minutes)

a big handful of cilantro, chopped

2 Tbsp. thinly sliced mint leaves

2 Tbsp. thinly sliced basil leaves

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 carrot, shredded

1 beet, shredded, about 1 cup

1 1/2 Tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar 

(regular rice vinegar with a pinch of salt and sugar will do)

a pinch of salt

2 Tbsp. Veganaise

2 Tbsp. plain soy yogurt

pinch salt

2 jalapenos, minced

*Thinly sliced beets for garnish

I know these look like a lot of ingredients.  Don't worry- It's easy!

First prepare your rice noodles according to the package directions.  Then rinse in cold water, drain, and set aside.  Prepare the green onions, herbs, and carrots and set out on the area where you will be making the spring rolls. 

In a small bowl, mix together the beets with the vinegar and a pinch of salt.  It will get juicy and more flavorful very quickly.  Place this in your prep area.

In another small bowl, whisk together the Veganaise, yogurt, jalapenos, and salt.  This will be your dipping sauce.  

One by one, soak the spring roll wrappers in warm water until softened.  Place a small amount of beets, carrots, noodles, green onions, and each of the herbs in a line across the middle, horizontally.  Fold in the sides of the wrapper, then start rolling up from the bottom.  Roll snugly, but not so tight as to break the wrapper.  

*If you want the heart shaped beets inside, just use a metal heart cookie cutter to shape the thinly sliced beets.  When making the spring rolls, first lay down the beet hearts, then top with the noodles for a pretty presentation.

Serve with dipping sauce.

If that hasn't convinced you, then look at the leftovers!

Who doesn't love a pink Vietnamese noodle salad made from spring roll leftovers?

Horseradish Beet Salad and a Midwest Sundae

Tonight's dinner totally hit the spot for me. I had just finished doing some yoga outside and watering the garden (lovely, except for my first mosquito bites of the year) and I wanted something fresh, cooling, and not overly filling. This avocado toast and Horseradish Beet Salad was exactly what I needed.

The avocado toast is just a mashed avocado, the juice of 1/2 a lime, and salt and pepper spread over very crisp toast. I ended up putting the beet salad on top of the avocado on the toast, which looked really beautiful and tasted even better.

Horseradish Beet Salad
1 large beet, grated (about 1 1/2 cup grated)
1 Tbsp. minced fresh dill
2 green onions, chopped (about 2 Tbsp.)
1 Tbsp. Veganaise
1 tsp. grated horseradish
1/2 tsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 Tbsp. raw sunflower seeds

Stir together all of the ingredients. Take care to make sure the horseradish and Veganaise are well distributed throughout the salad. I like to let this for about 30 minutes before eating to let the flavors meld together and the beets get juicy. Just before serving, sprinkle the sunflower seeds over top of the salad.

I should thank my coworker/friend Nick for the idea for the beet salad, because last week he mentioned trying a flavor of chips called (I thought) "Beet and Horseradish". I thought, "Awesome! Beet chips with horseradish flavoring!". Alas, I misheard him and they were really Beef and Horseradish chips. But the flavor combo is a winner.

Here's the first use of the rhubarb syrup I made on Monday. This is a slab of cornbread topped with Rice Divine Very Vanilla ice cream and rhubarb syrup. This has got to be the most Midwestern ice cream sundae you could make.

Vegetable Love

I thought long and hard about Susan's Vegetable Love contest. I usually think of springy, fresh vegetables as being romantic, but I can't imagine eating anything but steamy hot soup in this cold February weather. So I decided to feature roasted vegetables in my favorite dal soup recipe.

Squash and Beet Dal

1 cup squash, cut into large chunks
1/2 cup beets, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/2 onion, sliced thinly
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp whole coriander, crushed
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. fennel seeds
1 tsp. brown/black mustard seeds
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup small red lentils
1/2 tsp. asafoetida (if you can't find it, it's okay)
5-6 cups water
1/2 cup diced tomatoes (I just threw in leftover salsa I made last night)
2 tsp. salt
crushed red pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 F. If you want heart shaped beats, use a metal cookie cutter to cut out heart shapes. Then toss onions, squash, and beets in 1Tbsp. of the olive oil and season with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Place in a glass baking dish and roast for about 30 minutes, until both are tender and starting to brown. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 Tbsp. oil in a medium saucepan. Add coriander, cumin, fennel, and mustard seeds and stir cook until the begin to pop. Quickly cover with a lid. When popping begins to subside, add garlic and red lentils. Stir to coat lentils with spices and oil. When everything smells really awesome, add the water, tomatoes, salt, and asafoetida. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes, until the lentils are falling apart and the broth has thickened up a bit. Add in the roasted beets, squash, and onion, reserving a couple of heart shaped beets for garnish. Remove from heat and puree if you want a creamy soup or leave as is. Top with beet hearts and crushed red peppers to taste.

Too bad my sweetie hates beets and won't be sharing this romantic meal with me!

Highlights of last week's food

Last week was really busy! Every weeknight we had something going on and the weekend was full of more commitments, plus I got a stomach flu. I'm back to normal now and have some pictures to post:
This was, according to Mike and the kids, one of the best meals ever. It was roasted potatoes covered in Yogurt-Ranch sauce, baked tofu smothered in barbecue sauce, and garlicky kale. I thought it was pretty good, but not in the top 10. Mike ranked it in the top 5!

When I planned on making roasted beets I didn't plan on doing anything special with them...but Valentine's day is approaching and I thought, "What the hell- Why not make them heart shaped?". A cookie cutter sliced right through the slices of beets and I roasted them with onions, balsamic vinegar, agave nectar, kosher salt, and black pepper. After they were done I slipped a few leaves of fresh sage into the pan and covered it. This infused the beets with a lovely sage aroma. These were perfect on a salad for lunch!


Below is a Shitaake Dashi from a yoga themed mini-cookbook I did a year
or two ago. It is so simple and comforting. Plus it uses a ton of kelp, so I always feel like I'm getting good minerals from this soup. That's Trouble kitten in the background, chewing on my chopsticks.-00000000000 {the O's were her doing as well}Below is just one of the reasons why I love my sweetie. He always brings home a treat when he comes home from work (we both work at a co-op). This night it was ingredients for a strawberry malt!