Balsamic Glazed Beets

Wow, this was amazingly good. This little dish of baby golden and albino beets was my first serving idea for this yummy vegetable. Then I was trying to figure out what kind of salad dressing to make for dinner (one that wouldn't clash with the strong flavors in the beet glaze) and I came up with plan B, which was to dump the beets and glaze over the garden lettuce and sprinkle on a little chopped bacon. Oh my - it was a winner!
---based on a recipe printed in the Washington Post 6/6/07

Ingredients:
16 baby beets
(this recipe would work with regular beets, but they would need a longer roasting time)
fresh rosemary sprigs
1/2 C balsamic vinegar - I used white balsamic for my lighter varieties of beets
2 Tbs. brown sugar
2 Tbs. butter

Step 1
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Trim the beet tops down to about one inch, leave on the root end, and gently scrub the outside of the beets. Wrap the beets and rosemary sprigs in enough heavy foil to make a packet that seals. Place the packet on a jelly roll pan or something else with sides. Roast for about 30-40 minutes for small beets. You should be able to pierce the beet easily when they're done. Let them cool completely, then trim off both ends and peel off the skins. Discard the rosemary. Step 1 can be done up to a day ahead of time.

Step 2
Combine the vinegar, sugar, and butter in a small saucepan. Heat gently until slightly reduced. Add the beets to the sauce and heat through. Serve warm, or use on a lettuce salad with added crumbled bacon.

Shrimp and Pineapple Teriyaki with Swiss Chard

This was tasty! I messed around with the original recipe, of course, and added more veggies. This makes two servings. We had it over brown Jasmine rice, with a side of steamed Swiss chard, fresh from the garden. Swiss chard is good with a little toasted sesame oil drizzled over it, or Balsamic vinegar, or lemon juice, or... Fit the flavor to the kind of food you're cooking, and you'll never get tired of it. It's very versatile!

1/2 lb. uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 C sliced celery
1 C sliced carrot
2 green onions, sliced, with whites and greens separated
1 1/2 C pineapple chunks, fresh is better
1/3 C Teriyaki sauce
1/3 C orange juice
1 Tbs. lime juice
1 Tbs. corn starch
1-2 Tbs. oil

Mix the Teriyaki, orange juice, lime juice, and corn starch in a shallow bowl. Add shrimp and marinate for about 15 minutes in the refrigerator. Remove shrimp from marinade, set aside, reserving marinade.

Heat 1 Tbs. oil in a large skillet. Quickly saute the celery, carrot, and white parts of onions. Add pineapple and saute until pineapple begins to brown slightly. (You may wish to add a touch of sweetener to help the pineapple caramelize. One suggestion-raw sugar has a great taste with fruit.) Add more oil if needed. Then add shrimp and cook until almost done. Stir the marinade again, and add to the shrimp mixture; continue cooking another few minutes, until the sauce thickens. If you are steaming chard or another green to go along with this dish, you can steam it right on top of the shrimp while the sauce is thickening. Don't stir the greens into the shrimp mixture, just put a lid on the skillet and let them wilt down on top of everything else. Then remove the greens from the top of the skillet, and serve along side the main dish. Serve the shrimp dish over rice, sprinkled with the green parts of the onions.

Pad Thai

We love making homemade Pad Thai, which uses any assortment of veggies and meat you have on hand. It's a great meal to make when you have a surge of veggies coming out of the garden too. Other than having the right kind of Thai noodles, the most important thing is figuring out the sauce recipe that you like. It takes just a few unusual ingredients, which are well worth hunting down, and they last for a long time as well. We've experimented a lot and have come up with this recipe for sauce:
1/4 C fish sauce
1/4 C soy sauce or tamari
1/4 C tamarind sauce
1/2 C white vinegar
1/4 C sugar
2 tsp. chili paste
2 tsp. paprika
Stir together all of these ingredients and set aside. This is enough sauce to coat a 16 ounce box of Thai noodles.

Soak the Thai noodles in very warm water while the meat and vegetables are cooking. Stir them around now and then to keep them from sticking together.

Meat possibilities: chicken, shrimp, beef, or pork - about 2 lbs. will make 4 big servings
Vegetable possibilities: sliced red or white onion, thinly sliced carrots, bell pepper strips, shredded cabbage, snow peas, bok choy, spinach leaves

The basic method is to stir-fry your veggies and meat in vegetable oil, then add the sauce and bring to a boil, then add your softened noodles, and cook until the noodles are done, stirring until the sauce is thickened up and absorbed by the noodles to your liking.

The toppings we like are:
fresh bean sprouts, cucumber matchsticks, or shredded carrot
scrambled egg, cut into strips
unsalted peanuts
lime juice
fresh cilantro

Check out what's up in your garden, or waiting in your refrigerator and get creative!

Homemade Salad Dressings

Since there are so many good uses for salad dressings in the summer months, I've put a couple of recipes here to get you started. Dressings are really easy and there are a myriad of recipes on the internet. They are so, so much better for you than the commercial dressings. Treat your family to better taste and healthier dressings!


1. Tarragon Dressing:

1/2 C olive oil
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
2 Tbs. white wine vinegar
1 Tbs. chopped, fresh tarragon, or 1 tsp. dried tarragon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. honey

Combine all ingredients in a shaker jar, cover and shake well for a creamy consistency.


2. Ranch Dressing:

1/2 C sour cream, or plain yogurt
1/2 C mayonnaise - we use a canola oil mayo to avoid soy
1/3 C buttermilk
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. chopped chives or green onion tops
1 Tbs. chopped parsley

Whisk first 8 ingredients until smooth. Stir in chives and parsley. Adjust flavor with salt or pepper if needed.

Chinese Chicken Soup with Baby Greens

Ingredients:

Group A-
2 C cooked chicken, cut up into medium pieces or shredded
8 C chicken stock
1 C sliced mushrooms
1.5 C sliced bell peppers
1 C thinly sliced onion, (I used a Mandolin)
2 cloves garlic, grated
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
10 ounces of rice noodles, or use Ramen or fresh stir-fry noodles

Group B-
3 T sherry
2 T tamari or soy sauce
2 tsp. sesame oil
1 T sugar
1 T rice wine vinegar
1.5 tsp. chili garlic sauce (in the Asian foods isle)

Group C-
4 C baby greens, such as Tatsoi or spinach
2 T chopped, fresh cilantro

The first step is to bring the ingredients in group A (except for the noodles) to a boil. Then reduce to a simmer and cook the veggies until nearly done; return the soup to a boil, and then add your noodles. Plan your vegetable and noodle cooking time according to what you have chosen to use - some noodles will need very little cooking time. Next stir together all ingredients in group B and add to the soup. Finally, just before serving, stir greens and cilantro into soup and just let it wilt down. Don't overcook the greens!

This recipe is very flexible and I hope you'll tweak it to your liking and according to what you have on hand. You'll feel instantly healthier after eating this - I hope!