Beets Beeter Beetest

I love beets. Mr. Lemon does not. So when beets crop up in the CSA line up (a little agri-humor for you), I get excited, but know that there's a dinner challenge ahead. Hearts and stomachs must be won over with some creativity:

Beet this.

What's great is that in one lovely fresh bunch of beets you've got two veggies with two different flavors. So off come the tops to become the centerpiece of a quiche and into the oven the pretty magenta roots go for an hour of roasting to make them soft and sweet.

I've made quiche before with swiss chard and liked how the creaminess of egg and the nutmeg worked out the kinks of a bitter green. So the beet greens were an experiment. Also an experiment? A potato crust. I've wanted to try one of these out for a while and I would definitely make it again. While I am quite familiar with my rolling pin, sometimes make a pastry crust seems a little fussy to me. And with the potatoes, there's starch for sure, but not the fattiness of a full butter crust.

And as it turned out, this us an unbeetable combo for a healthy, but filling veggie dinner.

Potato Crusted Beet Green Quiche

4-5 red potatoes, medium, peeled and grated

2-3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 bunch beet greens (tops), washed and rough chopped

3 cloves garlic, grated

1 leek, sliced thin and soak to get out any grit

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup low fat milk

freshly grated nutmeg

salt and pepper

Heat oven to 425F. Grate 4-5 medium sized peeled red potatoes. Mix this with olive oil to coat (about 2 Tablespoons) and add salt and pepper. In a cake pan or tart pan with a solid bottom, brush lightly with olive oil and press the potato mixture into the bottom and up the sides. Mine was pretty thick (about 1/2 inch thick) but I'm betting you could cut down on the potato. Bake for 30 minutes. Mine could probably have gone longer in order to get the "crust" out more neatly. Next time I might also add a little flour or egg to glue the potato together better.

In a saute pan, add a drizzle of olive oil and the beet tops, rinsed thoroughly and chopped into 1 inch pieces. Saute over medium high heat and add 3 cloves of grated garlic. When the greens are wilted and the stems look day glow bright, pull them off the heat and into a bowl or plate to cool. In the same pan add a little more olive oil and add 1 leek, rinsed and sliced into disks. Over medium high heat, these leeks will cook quickly and any brown bits on the bottom will come up and combine with the leeks. Cook until soft and add to the greens.

In a separate bowl, whisk 4 eggs and 1 cup low fat milk. Grate fresh nutmeg (more than you might expect) and some salt and pepper.

Scatter the greens and leeks into the potato crust and pour the egg mixture over it. Pat down any stems that pop up and pop the whole thing in the oven at 350F for 30 minutes until a knife inserted in to the middle comes out clean. Let sit for five minutes then slice and serve!

Meanwhile, there are those lovely pink globes of goodness roasting away...

Roast Beet and Arugula Salad

5-6 beets, tops trimmed

2 cups arugula

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

Trim off the tops and rinse the beets. Wrap each individually in tin foil and put on a baking sheet. Roast these at 425 for 45 minutes, while you're baking the potato crust and then a bit longer while the potato crust is cooling. Let cool in the tin foil and use a paper towel to rub off the skin. Slice and dice and add to a vinaigrette of 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard + 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar and 2 Tablespoons olive oil plus salt and pepper. Serve over arugula.

Some Salads by the Sea Shore

We've been talking a lot about the beach in Lemon-land these days, and how we've pretty much been beach-less this summer. With August flitting by, a seaside visit was mandatory. And so last week, we hopped the LIRR and a ferry for a day trip to Watch Hill, which is, by far, one of the most beautiful beaches near NYC.

Normally, I find a day at the beach the perfect excuse to break out salty treats, sweet drinks and a big old hoagie (yes, my early beach memories are from the Jersey Shore.) But we've been trying to eat a bit heathier so some sea-side salads were called for and of course I had some CSA veggies to inspire me.

What we needed were salads that can be made ahead, don't require too much refrigeration (no mayo) and will leave us feeling sated. I turned to an old favorite, Orzo with Pesto, Artichokes and Tomatoes which makes ahead beautifully. And then I found a new salad friend:

Beet and Bean Salad

3-4 medium red beets

1/2 lb. green beans, trimmed

2 small scallions, sliced thin

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 lemon, juiced

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper

Parlsey to garnish

Heat the oven to 375F. Trim off tops of the beets and wash. Then wrap them individually in tin foil. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Take out the beets when they are tender and a knife goes into them easily. Set aside to cool and use that same baking sheet for the green beans. Push the oven temp up to 400F, place the beans on the baking sheet (tin foil works here, too), and add some olive oil and roast for 10 minutes.

To peel the red beets, use paper towels to rub off the skin. It really does come off easily, but your fingers will get a touch red. Slice the beets into bite-size pieces. Do the same for the beans and add them in a bowl along with the scallions.

In a small bowl mix together the mustard, lemon juice, salt, pepper and olive oil. Dress the beets and bean mixture and chill. Before packing this up for the picnic, add the parsley.

Orzo with Pesto, Artichokes and Tomatoes

So easy, this dish doesn't need a full recipe and is entirely forgiving, so add away.

[In a food processor: 10-12 basil leaves + 2 cloves garlic + 3 Tablespoons olive oil] + 1/2 cup orzo pasta (cooked and drained) + 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar + sliced tomatoes + 1 can artichoke hearts, quartered

A few ziplocs full of salad, some cherries and grapes...and yeah, I broke down and bought a bag of chips. It was a beachy good time.

Tally:

A heathy picnic for us daytrippers

This was a no-shop, pantry-inspired meal = thrifty

Feeling light, but full in our bathing suits. No bloat for these beach bunnies!

To Marrakesh, Stat!

Long before the drag queens, er I mean Ladies, of Sex and the City 2 ventured into a desert in their caftans, I was truly taken with Moroccan culture. (In case you want to see those dunes and souks they featured in the movie, it was filmed in Morocco.) I loved the tiles, the fabrics, the little leather slippers, the poof-like footstools and, of course, most of all, the food.

After many years of hunting Moroccan food in Manhattan, I had the chance to go and try the real deal: Casablanca, Fez, Marrakesh. It was a whirlwind trip and everything you imagine a trip to an exotic locale will be. And the food? Divine.

With the recent heat wave, I've been thinking a lot about that trip to the desert and the cool refreshing dishes that Moroccan feasts kick off with. The traditional five salad starter has dozens of variations, so the combos are seemingly limitless, and are all veggie-loaded and health-friendly.

Plus they use a lot of the same ingredients in different combinations, so it's easy on the budget. Here's the ingredient list for the whole thing:

Veggie drawer: beets, carrots, eggplant, onion/scallion, cucumber, celery, tomato,

Fridge staples: garlic, parsley, mint, yogurt, capers, *always* lemons

Pantry pals: cumin, cayenne pepper, olive oil, vinegar (white, balsamic), bulgur wheat

These are all so easy, I went with some recipe short hand.

Moroccan Beet Salad

Roast cleaned, trimmed beets (3-4) at 375F for 1 hour individually wrapped in foil. Cool. Peel: the skins rub off with paper towel, which also protects your hands from getting dyed. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

Combine with 1/2 teaspoon cumin + half the juice of a lemon + 2 Tablespoons olive oil + 1 clove garlic, minced + salt and pepper.

Make at least 2 hours to one day ahead.

Cucumber Salad

Peel and dice 1 small or 1/2 medium large cucumber.

Combine with 1/2 cup plain yogurt + salt + half juice of a lemon + 1/2 clove of garlic, grated + 6 mint leaves, cut into a chiffonade

This can be thrown together quickly right before serving.

Moroccan Carrot Salad

This is my favorite of the bunch and the salad I'd been dreaming of for a while. I found this About.com recipe with video instruction. I'm not sure what it is about this video, but I find the chef so charming. He seems to care a lot about these carrots. Maybe I'm projecting.

I cut his recipe in half and skipped the cilantro. In short: steam 4-5 sliced carrots. Mix while hot with 1 Tablespoon white vinegar + 1 Tablespoons olive oil + 1 cup parsley minced fine + juice of half a lemon + 4 grated cloves of garlic + sprinkle cayenne pepper + 2 teaspoons ground cumin + salt.

Let it sit overnight. The carrots soak up the sauce. Yum.

Eggplant Caponata

Ok, more Med than Moroccan, but it was too hot to roast the eggplant for Baba ganoush.

Saute half an onion, diced, and 1 rib celery, diced, in 2 Tablespoons olive oil.

Cut 1 small-medium eggplant into 1-inch pieces and add to pan. Salt and pepper, and cook stirring until eggplant turns yellowish brown and is soft. Over medium heat this takes about 15 minutes. Then again, I have an electric stove, so gas-guzzlers you'll be done in no time.

Add 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar + 1 Tablespoon capers and lower heat. Add 1 tomato, diced. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Tabbouleh

Pour 1 cup boiling water over 1 cup bulgur wheat. Bulgur wheat is a Always Lemons Allstar: a cheap, healthy, quick, pantry dweller. Let stand 15 minutes.

Mix in: juice of 1 lemon + 2 Tablespoons olive oil + 1 scallion sliced into disks + 1 cup parsley minced + 1/2 cucumber peeled and diced + 2 cloves of garlic grated.

I have a lot of variations on this. Sometimes I add mint. Sometimes I add celery in place of cucumber. I've seen recipes that add tomato. The main flavors are the wheat, parsley, lemon and garlic. Add what you like. Feta, olives, and so on.

Serve with pita.