So where did the beets go ?

I haven't forgotten about this blog, I've just been... busy. As it frequently happens with two young children, friends coming over, and way too many projects on my hands.

A while ago, I posted about finding raw red beets. They've been cooked and eaten ! Here's how...

Potée aux betteraves (red beet stew)

2 red beets

about the same volume pumpkin

2 sweet potatoes

2 onions

1 saucisse de Morteau (a very large smoked sausage)

Proportions don't need to be precise, and don't hesitate to mix things up a bit !

Peel and slice the onions. In a large cooking pot or a dutch oven, preheat a dash of oil, add the onions. When the onions are translucent, add the diced Morteau (you can pretty much substitute any nicely salty, smoked or not sausage(s) )

Peel and dice the beets, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin and add them as you cut them to the pot. Stir some more. Add water until it almost covers the ingredients. Cover and let the stew simmer over low heat for.. a long time. One hour is a minimum. Beets take a long, long time to cook, and the more cooked it is, the better the stew will taste.

It is done when the vegetables turn to mush under the fork. And yes, it's very purple. Very, very purple. :)

Mama's note : mix it all together for a baby-proof meal. See background of the picture for proof.

Now, you can perfectly use pre-cooked red beets for this, the tastes won't mix exactly the same but it will be very good, too. I tend to prefer using my cooked beets in salads like say...

Winter salad, take 142358

1 red beet

1 endive

1 apple

1 handful corn salad

1 hard boiled egg

1 handful walnut

Dice or slice the vegetables, hack the walnuts and generally cut everything into small bits that can be easily mixed together. Yes, even the salad. If you're using something with bigger leaves like lettuce, pre-cut the leaves with your kitchen scissors - it makes for easier eating. Serve with a salad dressing made with a dash of walnut oil.

Winter greens

Granted, the winter is fleeing the country at full speed today, but we still haven't seen many spring vegetables yet. So what do we eat right now ? I recently bought a salad sprouter, and we've been eating tons of winter salads with sprouted seeds. Mustard seeds are my current favorite, I love the bite they add to my salads.

I'm sorry I don’t have any pictures today, I didn't have time to photograph it before it was eaten up. I hope this won't happen too often around here, but well... sometimes it does.

Winter salad (with some not so winter-y imported stuff, yeah, I know, I know...)

1 apple

1 handful corn salad

1 handful baby lettuce

1 red bell pepper

1/2 Belgian endive

1/2 handful sprouted mustard seeds

1 handful gizzards (you can substitute some bacon strips)

Wash and cut the salad leaves in small pieces, put them in a large salad bowl. Wash and cut the pepper and endive into small bits, add them to the salad. Do the same with the sprouted seeds.

Dice the gizzards (or bacon, or any small salty meat bits you fancy), grill them in a pan with a dash of oil until they turn lightly golden. Let them cool and add them to the salad.

Serve with salad dressing (don't add the dressing directly to the salad bowl, it "cooks" the salad leaves and any leftovers you would have would look pretty terrible on the next day).

WhileI'm at it, I can add a simple basic...

Salad dressing (a list of possible ingredients)

Strong mustard

Red wine vinegar / Tamari / Honey

Olive oil

Sunflower oil

Salt

Pepper

My recipe tends to change every time I make it, but the theory mostly stays the same. Take a small bowl. Start by thoroughly mixing 1 tablespoon mustard with vinegar. You can also add tamari or honey. Then, very slowly, add the various oils, stirring all along - you can do this with a simple fork. The dressing will get thicker and opaque as you add the oil. Add salt et pepper to taste, other spices if you want.

Sometimes, the dressing just doesn't ant to build a real emulsion, and the ingredients don't blend well together, or the oil separates form the rest after a while. Just mix again right before using the dressing, and don't worry, the taste will be the same. :)