Tastes Like Dirt

 

I know I keep claiming that this is a gardening blog as well as a recipe blog, so I figured I’d better have some photo evidence!  This was the first beet of the harvest, and I was able to pick about 5 more for the harvest dinner.  Freshly picked beets, washed and pocketed in foil, roasted at abou 425° until they give a little when you poke them.  As you can see, the peels come right off after being roasted and then you can slice them up.  I had planted a variety of beets, and it looks like the candy-striped ones turned out the biggest.  Season with salt (some people like to add vinegar to combat the sweetness of the beets, but I’m not one of them – bring on the salt) and enjoy.

To complete our feast, I had all those chard stems reserved from the lasagna, and it’s a shame to let those go to compost.  I also had more greens to use up, so for this meal, I made my standard greens saute.  Very easy – olive oil, pressed garlic and red pepper flakes, then add the stems.  They’ll take a little longer than the greens, so add the greens last and cover.  It takes about 3 minutes to cook from there and is ready to go.