Beet Salad

Recipe for the beets and salad, continued from here:

Ingredients:

1 bunch medium beets (about 3)

1 tablespoon olive oil

10 ounces mixed greens (I like a blend of frisee, radicchio and mesclum)

3 ounces goat cheese

1/2 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped

Directions for the beets:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Wipe or scrub the beets clean then trim stems down to one inch (leave "tails" on). Place beets on a large piece of foil; drizzle with olive oil, then wrap foil around them to form a neat packet. Roast directly on rack in middle of oven until tender, about 1 hour. Test for doneness by piercing the largest beet with a knife. If it enters easily, it's done. Unwrap beets and let sit until cool enough to handle. Use your hands or a paring knife to peel skin, then cut into 1/2-inch dice (I usually do this right on the aluminum foil but you can also use a stain-proof cutting board or plate). Set aside.

Directions for the salad:

Plce the greens in a large bowl, drizle with about half of the vinaigrette and toss to combine. Add as much of the remaining vinaigrette as desired and toss again. Divide the greens onto plates, then sprinkle with beets, walnuts, and goat cheese. (The reason you don't just mix it all together in a salad bowl is that the beets would cause the whole salad to turn pink.) Serve immediately.

Adrienne's Note: Our goat cheese turned bad on us; otherwise, it would be in here! Next time....

Another Beet Salad

Here is another take on the same salad, using the lighter beets that we received in the CSA box and macadamia nuts (but once again, no cheese). We paired the salad with an Irish Beef Stew that we bought from Costco.

Rainbow Chard Fried Rice; Rainbow Chard Quesadilla

We made Willie's Fried Rice and wilted shredded rainbow chard into it instead of tat soi. Delicious!

We also made the quesadilla using shredded rainbow chard. Also very yummy!

As for what the rainbow chard looked like before we used it, I must have had a brain fart, because I didn't take a picture of it.

Hakurei Turnip Gratin

Hakurei Turnip Gratin

Recipe from GF-Zing! found here. Melt 1 tbsp of butter into a non-stick 12-inch skillet (make sure you have a top to fit the pan).

Wash one bunch of white hakurei turnips well, top and tail them, and slice them in 1/4 inch slices. Save the turnip greens for another recipe. You don't need to peel the turnips. Layer the slices in the pan. Sprinkle the sliced turnips with 1 teaspoon dry thyme, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper, and 1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper.

Cook for 3 minutes over medium heat, then pour 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup gluten-free chicken stock over the top. Cover and cook the turnips over medium heat for 20 minutes. The turnips will be completely cooked through, but there will be considerable liquid left in the pan. Remove the cover and cook to reduce the liquid. (Adrienne's note: jostle pan frequently) When most of the liquid has reduced, (about 5-10 minutes. Adrienne's note: more like 15 to 20 minutes), and the sauce is thickened, grate finely 1/2 cup of fresh parmesan cheese evenly over the top. Watch closely as the cheese melts and make sure that the liquid does not entirely cook away.

Adrienne's Note: It was hard to tell if the liquid had totally cooked away, because the bubbles that you can see between the turnip slices look like pools of liquid. It turned out my liquids had cooked away long before I noticed it, and my turnips were burnt solid on the bottom. I salvaged some of the better-looking slices for the photo above, but next time, I will be more vigilant. The salvaged slices did taste good, though! UPDATE FROM 4/3/11: Once the lid comes off the pan, jostle the pan to help the liquids evaporate. At around 15 or 20 minutes in (not 5 to 10 minutes like this recipe says), the liquids will suddenly thicken. Add parmesan cheese and take off heat.

Purple Eggplant Tempura

Purple Eggplant Tempura

Ingredients:

Fat man and little boy (eggplants, left) sliced into third-inch rounds. No need to salt or soak these.

An inch of vegetable oil in a small frying pan

Store-bought tempura mix

Directions:

Heat the pan of vegetable oil over medium heat. Follow the directions on the store-bought tempura mix to create the tempura battter. Coat the eggplant slices in the tempura batter. Fry over medium heat in the vegetable oil (about 2 or 3 minutes per side) until the eggplant slices are light golden brown. Serve hot with white rice and tempura sauce.

Spinach and Hakurei Quesadillas

Spinach and Hakurei Quesadillas

Recipe is available here from food.com.

Ingredients:

• 4 flour tortillas (like whole grain)


• 1 tablespoon butter


• 2 green onions, chopped


• 1 1/4 cups monterey jack cheese (or more to taste) or 1 1/4 cups monterey jack and cheddar cheese blend, grated (or more to taste)


• 1 bunch fresh spinach, chopped (about 3/4 cup when cooked)


• garlic salt


• chili powder
  

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a skillet and place a tortilla on it.


2. Add half of the cheese to the tortilla.


3. On top of the cheese, add half of the green onion and spinach.


4. Sprinkle with half the garlic salt and chili powder.


5. Top with another tortilla, turn over and fry in skillet until the cheese melts.


6. Slice into quarters (or 1/8's for appetizers) and serve hot.


7. Repeat with next 2 tortillas.


8. Good served with salsa and sour cream!


9. This would be great served with guacamole on lettuce and refried beans or/and rice. Adrienne's Note: I sauteed diced hakurei turnips (about 8-10 small ones) in the garlic before adding the spinach. For the recipe for the guacamole, see here.
   

Lime-Marinated Steak

Lime-Marinated Steak Marinate over night a 3 lb flank steak in a combination of the following, enough to cover it: shoyu, olive oil, Montreal seasoning, red pepper flakes, steak sauce, Sriracha sauce, and the zest of one lime. The next day, grill it in a Foreman grill for five minutes. This steak was cut against the grain and served with massaged kale salad (recipe here) and garlic-parmesan-cream mashed potatoes. To make the mashed potatoes, boil 2 Idaho potatoes until fork-tender. In a separate saucepan, heat up 1 tbsp olive oil, saute two minced garlic cloves, and add in 1/2 cup cream and 2 tbsp butter. Reduce over medium heat. Melt in 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese to thicken the sauce. Mash the potatoes into the cream-butter-garlic-parmesan sauce. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste.