Beets Baby!!

This is no big surprise, but I absolutely love beets.  If you eat a lot of beets you will probably pee red.  I know, too much information, but last Tuesday I was pretty sure I was dying of kidney failure (even though I felt fine), so I thought you needed a warning.

The first recipe inspiration came from Jackie Kruse - she tried this combination at Ryan Braun's restaurant and she sent the ingredients to me.  It's absolutely fantastic!

Beet Watermelon Feta Salad

Watermelon Beet Salad
2 cups of warm beets
1 cup watermelon
1 tsp. tarragon
1.5 cups baby lettuce
1 ounce goat cheese
1 ounce walnuts
Drizzle with raspberry vinaigrette

If you love pickled beets like I do, you'll love this great recipe passed on to me by my Grandma.

Grandma Evelyn's Pickled Beets

Grandma's Pickled Beets

Boil 16 beets until tender (45 minutes) and peel skin

In a saucepan boil 1 cup of vinegar, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of pickling spice.

Refrigerate overnight. 

As I've been eating the pickled beets, I've been adding more beets to the jar.  This is soooooo good!

Next up I made an interesting but good Beet Salad with Orange Vinaigrette from Jackie Kruse:

Beets with Orange Vinaigrette:

3 pounds fresh beets or 3 15 oz. cans of baby beets drained
2 T. raspberry vinegar
2 T. freshly squeezed orange juice
3 T. olive oil
1/2 t. sugar
1 1/2 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. pepper
1/2 c. small diced red onion
zest of 2 large navel oranges
segments of 2 large navel oranges

Boil beets until tender. Drain and cool to handle.
Peel and dice the beets into 1/2 in. cubes.
While warm place in mixing bowl and add the vinegar, oj, EVOO, sugar 
salt and pepper,
red onions, orange zest and orange segments.  Mix well, taste for salt 
and pepper and
serve cold or at room temp.

Last but not least, I will add the Beet, Carrot, Mint Salad from last week.  I just had the last of the leftovers at work yesterday, and I was tempted to lick the bowl.  It's that good.  Yum.

Look at our harvest tonight:

Does anyone have an easy-to-use grater or veggie shredder?  Call me a wimp, but my hands and arms are sore from grating zucchini every day.

Until next time,

Kristin