It's hard to love food as much as I do and not weigh a kazillion pounds, believe me. But I've been trying. And since the farmer's market opened I've been trying extra hard, since I always get seduced by the pretty pretty colors and end up buying lots of produce, which I then need to find a way to use.
In my usual no-middle-ground way, I've decided that the solution is to make dinners consisting entirely of vegetables.
Let us start with that old bugbear: beets.
Now, I know a lot of people don't like beets, and I have to admit, the canned ones taste like evil. But fresh, small ones, roasted up, chilled and dressed and seasoned just right? Those are another thing entirely.
The basic prep is, well, basic. Wash them, cut off the greens (which you can eat; more on that later in the week), and put in a foil packet in the oven with olive oil and salt.
Roast for an hour or more, til they're soft when you poke a fork in. Also, don't burn the #$(@ out of your hand when you open the foil packet to peek, like I did with this batch.
Keep them in the packet to cool, and even peel them in the packet if you can. That color gets everywhere.
The carnage:
And even when you're (I'm) super careful:
And after all this, how was dinner? Tune in Thursday for the next installment.
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