Bagna Cauda Salad

Raw beets? Raw turnips? Raw radishes? In a salad with anchovies? I wasn't sold but the picture looked so pretty I decided to try it anyway, mostly because I had so many turnips in my fridge.

Turns out, Curtis and I both love it. I've made this twice now. I've rotated some different winter veggies in to the dish as they show up in my CSA box (and then crisper). If you have it on hand, you can also use 1/4 small butternut squash (seed and peel it--the send end is preferable) and 8 trimmed brussels sprouts. Thinly slice the squash and pull all the leaves off the brussels sprouts.

This recipe calls for a lot of thin slicing. If you are not adept with a knife to cut the vegetables paper thin, use a mandoline. Just watch your knuckles---slicing your thumb knuckle on a mandoline because your kids have lost the protective guide. I'm not talking from experience or anything. :) Almost all your prep time is spent cutting and slicing the vegetables. The rest goes quite quickly.

Just a note on the beets. If you don't care if your turnips and cabbage turn pinkish, you can stir in the beets as enthusiastically as you desire. However, if you want your whites white, stir a little dressing into the beets before you add them to the salad. Toss the salad very gently just to incorporate the beets.

Bagna Cauda Salad

adapted from Amanda Hesser's recipe on Food52.com

2 small carrots, trimmed (peeled if store bought, not necessary if just picked)

2 radishes, trimmed

2 small turnips (or 4 very small turnips), trimmed and peeled

2 small beets (or 4 very small beets), trimmed and peeled

2 - 3 leaves of cabbage, sliced thinly

1/4 c parsley, chopped

4 anchovy fillets

2 small (1 medium) garlic clove

salt

2 T lemon juice

5 T good extra virgin olive oil

Prep the veggies: The radishes, turnips, and beets should be sliced as thinly as possible using a mandoline or your wicked knife skills. These veggies should be translucent. Put the radishes and turnips in a small to medium sized serving bowl. Set the beets aside in a small mixing bowl. Cut the carrots into 3" long matchsticks (each matchstick about 1/8" thick or so). Add the carrots, cabbage and parsley to the radishes and turnips in the serving bowl. Mix with your hands to combine vegetables.

The dressing: You have several options. If you have a good mortar and pestle, that is sufficient. I don't. You could also use a mini food processor or blender. I don't have those either. Using a knife (or one of the other methods which involves the equipment I don't have), finely mince the anchovies and garlic. Combine to make with the salt to make a paste. Place in a small glass jar, add the lemon juice and olive oil, and shake vigorously. Season with salt and adjust the amount of lemon juice and oil as needed.

To create salad: Pour half of the dressing over the vegetables (not the beets yet) and blend with your hands, separating the vegetables as necessary. Mix very well. Taste and add more dressing if you would like. Once seasonings are how you like, very, very gently mix in the beets. Let rest for 15 minutes or so before serving.

Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese and Herbs

My kids love roasted and boiled beets. Seriously. (By the way, if you have toddlers eating lots of beets, don't be alarmed when you change their diapers---sorry, if it's too much information, but a beet-eating kid's diaper can be a little worrisome the first time you see it). As a result of my kids love of beets, I usually do nothing to them but roast them and lightly salt them. On occasion though, I want a grown up beet recipe that involves herbs and goat cheese.

Years ago, my husband used to get a beet salad he loved at a now-closed restaurant in town. I tried to replicate it, but at the time, I didn't like beets, so I never actually tried it. (That is not a good idea by the way. You can't create a recipe for something that you've never tried if it is trying to imitate another recipe.) I digress. I overseasoned the beet salad I attempted. This one is much better--the herbs don't overpower the beets and the wonderful roasted beet flavor shines through.

My kids didn't like this, wouldn't even try it, in fact. They like their beets unadulterated by things like thyme and goat cheese. Curtis and I liked it.

This will serve 4 - 6 as a side salad.

Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese and Herbs
adapted from Williams-Sonoma Cooking from the Farmers' Market

1 1/2 lbs beets, greens removed. Use a variety of colors of possible.
1 t fresh thyme, chopped
1 t fresh chives, chopped (optional)
3 T extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
2 oz fresh goat cheese, crumbled (keep refrigerated until using, don't bring to room temp)

Wrap the beets in an aluminum foil packet and place on a cookie sheet. Roast in preheated 400 degree oven for about an hour, or until tender when pierced with a fork. Allow to cool. When cool enough to handle, slip the skins off the beets. If the beets have been cooked long enough, the skins should slip right off without needing a vegetable peeler or a knife. Cut beets into 1 - 2" size pieces (I only halved and quartered my small beets). Put beets in a medium-sized shallow bowl.

In a separate small bowl, mix together the thyme, chives, and olive oil. Drizzle over beets, season with salt and pepper, and toss beets gently. Top with crumbled goat cheese. Serve immediately. (Don't over mix beets after adding goat cheese, otherwise, beets will get a creamy goat cheese coating instead of being brilliantly colored).

Greens with Beets and New Potatoes

I am finding our CSA box isn't going as far as it once did. At first I thought it was because the box size was smaller. I've since realized that I am feeding more people with the box than I did when I first started several years ago (feeding three instead of five!). I am needing to supplement with finds at the farmer's market. I love that Johnson's is at both of our area farmer's market and I support them there as well. Last weekend, I found beautiful bunches of small beets there and bought three bunches since my family loves beets. I also had this recipe in mind.

At one point, I had been planning on using my dill in this, but having using the whole bunch of dill in the lamb stew earlier in the week, I had to leave it out. I think next time, I may clip some of my fresh cilantro (all my herbs survived the freeze--yippeee!!!) to add a little more flavor. I varied greatly from the original recipe--I made the whole thing less fussy and more simple. It made me happy to know the whole salad came from Johnson's.

Curtis and I thought it was great. Again the vinaigrette was nice and light. I set some roasted veggies aside for M, J, and I to eat alone. It's a great salad which reminds me slightly of the nicoise summer salads. With these proportions, this recipe should serve 6 - 8. I made a whole recipe of beets, potatoes and vinaigrette. However, I only used as much lettuce as I thought Curtis and I would eat and saved the other ingredients for salad another day.

Greens with Beets and New Potatoes
based on a recipe from Gourmet

2 medium beets (1 lb with the greens, 14 oz without the greens), stems trimmed to 2 inches
1 lb small new potatoes, scrubbed well
1 t olive oil
1/8 t salt
7 oz (14 c) greens (Bibb, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, baby arugula, meslun, baby spinach or a mix)
1/3 c fresh chevril, dill, and/or cilantro leaves, chopped (optional)
1/3 c fresh tarragon leaves (optional)

1 1/2 T white wine vinegar
1/4 t dijon mustard
1/2 t salt
1/8 t black pepper
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

Wrap beets in foil and roast on a baking sheet in upper third of a preheated 425 degrees oven 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Once beets have roasted for 30 minutes, toss potatoes (whole) with oil and salt, place on a baking sheet, and roast in lower third of the oven until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Carefully unwrap the beets, cool slightly, and slip off and discard skins and stems.

Meanwhile, whisk together vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified (or use the shake in a little jar method---add all vinaigrette ingredients and shake vigorously until well blended).

Cut beets into 1/3 inch dice and put in a large salad bowl. Cut potatoes into 1/3 inch slices (cutting the slices in halves or quarters if they are rather big) and add to the bowl. Add the greens and herbs (if using). Add vinaigrette and toss gently to coat.

Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

I think I am coming around with beets. I like this
recipe quite well. Maybe it's the addition of goat cheese. Goat cheese makes about anything better. Curtis also really like it. The kids, not so much, but I wasn't really surprised. Next time, I think I will increase the amount of red wine vinegar I use.

Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

4 - 6 medium size beets
3 T extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 c red wine vinegar
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c goat cheese
a bed of salad greens (I used both arugula and spinach)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash the beets and trim the tops off of them. Toss with extra virgin olive oil and season with sea salt. Place the beets on a piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet and make a pouch for them, sealing it tightly. Bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour (or until they pierce easily with a fork). Remove from the oven and let the beets for 10 minutes. Open the pouch and let the beets cool slightly. Peel the outer skins off the beets. Dice the beets.

Combine beets, onions, vinegar, and olive oil. Arrange the beets over the bed of salad greens. Sprinkle the cheese on and around the beets. Serve at room temperature.

Shrimp Scampi and Beets

Thankfully, I remembered today that I had a pound of shrimp in the freezer. We blew through our CSA box this week and going into this evening all I had left was the three beets and a little of parsley (plus all those cabbages I can't quite bring myself to cook. Enough with the cabbage!!!). I reverted back to the standby of mac and cheese and a chef salad last night. A quick run down of the meals for the past several days:

Saturday: Spinach Souffle
Sunday: Mac and Cheese and chef salad (with carrots, hard boiled eggs, and bacon)
Monday: Shrimp Scampi and Beets
Tuesday: Who knows.....

Shrimp scampi is always a hit with M who loves shrimp and J who loves pasta (but not so much the shrimp).

The beets were the biggest hit though. I've found if I wash, peel, and then dice them (into about 1/2" chunks) and through them in a pot of water, they get quite tasty. They need to cook for at least 30 minutes to be good and tender so be sure to give them enough time. I also think a liberal dousing of salt improves them a lot, it cuts the sweet. (No one else in my family salts them, that's just me who isn't a huge beet fan).

Who knows I may come down and make cabbage of some sort for dinner tomorrow night. I have to use it sometime and I don't have anything else that is begging to get used.