|
HOME What is a CSA? How do I join the CSA? CSA Member Feedback What do we grow? Where is the farm? Who are we? Volunteer opportunities Photos Guide to using fresh produce Farm History Contact us Links Sign Our Guestbook |
BEETS
Until I started growing them myself, the only beets I ever had were pickled beets. What an injustice! I know
some of you probably like pickled things, but they've never been one of my favorites. So when I had my
first beet from the garden, I was amazed at how sweet and delicious they were. We grow a variety of beets including
the traditional red beets as well as golden and pink/white striped varieties.
Beets will be distributed in bunches of 4-6 and the greens will sometimes be left on. Beets are the same species as swiss chard, so their greens are delicious and have a flavor similar to swiss chard. I will sometimes cut the leaves off and add them to the salad mix if I have time. If not I'll leave them on for you to do with as you please. The leaves will begin to yellow and wilt in the fridge after about a week. keep them in a closed plastic bag to prolong their life. Beet roots, on the other hand, will store for MONTHS in your fridge if you keep them in a plastic bag. They may even start to grow a little bit (kind of like carrots do). FAVORITE RECIPES: Roasted Root Vegetables 2-3 beets, diced 2-3 potatoes, diced 2 turnips or one rutabaga, diced 2-3 carrots, diced 1-2 parsnips, diced 1 stalk celery, diced salt and pepper fresh or dried herb--pick one (rosemary, thyme, sage) olive oil Wash and dice vegetables. All the various root vegetables are optional (and I know, celery is NOT a root vegetable . . .), just use whichever ones you have on hand and don't feel like you need to use all of them. You can use more or less of certain ones that you like or don't like as well. If you want crispy vegetables and are willing to use more oil, arrange them in a single layer on a cookie sheet. If you prefer a more healthy option that ends up with a texture more like steamed vegetables, use a coverd roasting pan and you can pile the vegetables in there as deep as the pan allows. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and herb of your choice. Drizzle olive oil all over (the more you use the crispier they will turn out, but you don't really want them sitting in a lake of oil). Stir to coat vegetables evenly. Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown on top. If you are using the cookie sheet "crispy method", you may want to take them out and stir them around once or twice while they are cooking. Sorry I don't have a cooking time on this I've never timed it. It definitely takes longer (~1hr?) if you do the coverd roasting pan method--but you can cook more at one time. The single layer on a cookie sheet probably takes more like 20-30 min. We made this recipe up thanks to Kristi Snyder (CSA member 2007). We had never grown turnips or beets before and were puzzled with how we should go about consuming our abundant harvest. She suggested roasting them and we've never looked back! |