![\"\"](\"http:\/\/melodydworak.com\/wp-content\/images\/beet.jpg\" "\\"Cross-section")
Although failing tonight to cook the kale and collards I bought from the farmers market last Saturday–it was my goal to be eating these cooking greens each night this week–I’m still living on the beet dish high from last night. It’s one of those dishes where I really should have saved leftovers so I could eat it in multiple sittings but was too delicious not to finish it off completely.<\/p>\n
I cooked a cup of quinoa for the base; the protein makes it a favorite among my repertoire of grains. I wanted some slabs of fried tofu to accompany the beets, too, and I did those up by lightly cooking them in olive oil and rubbing sage, coriander, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes on both sides as their tops and bottoms fried. Omnivores can substitute their favorite meat–I suggest something lighter to offset the heavy savoriness of the beet dish.<\/p>\n
When I make this recipe again, I’ll keep better track of portions of the ingredients used. For now, here is the rough recreation of last night’s vegetable gobble fest.<\/p>\n
Ingredients<\/strong><\/p>\n Of course the beets need to be rinsed and the bulbs peeled. Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian<\/a> says the size of a beet doesn’t affect its flavor as much as it would for other vegetables and recommends using larger beets because they are easier to peel. I only had smaller ones and, after last night’s peeling, recommend Bittman’s recommendation.<\/p>\n My tactic was to fry up the seasoned tofu slabs first and then start the beets up in the same pan. Pouring the vegetable broth (or bouillon and water) in the saucepan first preps it for the main attraction. The beet strips will simmer in the vegetable broth for about 10 or 15 minutes–poking them with a fork or doing the “teeth test” (i.e., can I eat them yet?) shows if they’re done or not. The onion and beet greens (I opt for smaller cuts for the stems and larger for the leaves) should be added next and covered.<\/p>\n Beet greens, Bittman also writes, are a more tender cooking green and don’t take as long to steam as something like collards do. For me they were done in minutes, which meant I could then add the garlic and olive oil. I normally don’t wait till the end to add the olive oil, but it just felt right to add that liquid gold. I wanted the sauce to be a bit fuller and must have been channeling Mario Batali<\/a>. Finishing it off is the salt and pepper to taste. I’m a sea salt and cracked pepper junkie myself.<\/p>\n Sadly, we were too hungry to take a photo of this before we started shoving it in our mouths. Next time, beets. Next time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Although failing tonight to cook the kale and collards I bought from the farmers market last Saturday–it was my goal to be eating these cooking greens each night this week–I’m still living on the beet dish high from last night.…<\/span><\/p>\n\n