Beets seem to have become the “go to” vegetable this summer. We’ve eaten some of the ones that we have grown and I’ve picked some up at the various farmer’s markets in our area. No matter where the beets come from, I think that this is our favorite preparation (from Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin)…
- Roast the whole beets in the oven or in foil on the grill…about 45 minutes.
- The skin should just slip off- cut the beets into half inch chunks.
- Toast some whole cumin seeds on the stove for a couple of minutes and then grind them using a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder.
- Add the cumin powder to 1/4 cup olive oil, a dash of salt and a couple grinds of pepper-let this mixture sit a little while for the flavors to release into the oil.
- Meanwhile, fry some thoroughly drained chick peas in a couple of tablespoons of canola oil until they turn golden brown and are a little crunchy. Drain them on a paper towel lined baking sheet.
- Toss the beets with the oil mixture and add some diced shallot.
- Spoon the beets onto a plate, add some feta or ricotta, the chick peas and some parsley…
…for those of you who are scrutinizing- we already had the chick peas, cumin, oil, salt and pepper in our cupboard before starting the challenge- all fair game!
-Josh
One of the by-products of the larger dinners that we do is that we have all these little bits of leftovers floating around in the refrigerator…which can easily turn into multiple meals for the following week…add some greens from Friday’s market and all those tomato, radish and beet pieces can build a pretty substantial salad…
