The Vulgaris Beet

One of my favorite vegetables is in season right now. If you think of a tin can when you think of beets, then you haven't experienced beets in all their glory.

When you purchase a bunch of fresh beets from the local farmstand or in the produce department of your grocer, you are taking home a truly versatile vegetable.

Beets can be eaten raw, grated into a salad or slaw, covered with water and boiled in a saucepan, roasted in the oven, or pickled. I have even seen them made into cakes and ice cream! The green tops can be cooked separately in a little water and served like spinach.

Like many people growing up in the city in the 50s, the only beets I tasted were out of a can. They were quite bland and not at all memorable. Years later, while traveling through Europe I was served fresh beets, and they were an entirely different story. Beets are much more popular in Europe, and I looked for them in Germany, Belgium, and Scandinavia. I tasted them in soups, relishes, and pies. They were wonderful, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Related to Swiss chard, spinach, and the sugar beet, the common garden beet (beta vulgaris) was initially developed from a leafy Mediterranean plant.

Ancient Romans ate only the leaves. Later on, they bravely nibbled on the bulbs. Nineteenth century horticulturists developed the fleshy globe-shaped roots familiar to us today.

In recent years, these beets have been crossbred with sugar beets to give them more sweetness.

In addition to red beets, there are golden-yellow, and pink-and-white-ringed beets. You can find seeds to grow these yellow and white beets in seed catalogs. These are good choices to grow alongside red beets as they won’t tint other ingredients if used in salads and other mixed vegetable dishes.

I happen to love the color, though you have to be careful when cleaning beets, lest your kitchen look like a crime scene.

The best way to cook and clean beets are to scrub them in the sink, nip off the roots and leaves about 2-inches from the root. Be careful not to break the tender skin of the beet, or the rich red juice will be lost in cooking. Cover the beets with water and boil for about 45 minutes.

After they are cooked, drain them and peel them under cool running water by rubbing them (you can do this with paper towels to avoid staining your fingers). The skins should slip right off.


Beetroot Chutney
I found this recipe in a little Scottish cookbook during my travels. This makes a colorful tasty relish to serve alongside roast turkey or baked ham. This recipe calls for a lot of sugar. I feel that halving the amount of sugar would not harm this recipe at all.
3 pounds beetroot
2 pounds apples
2 onions
1 pint vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 pounds sugar
1 lemon
Wash the beets, and boil unpeeled for 1 1/2 hours. Allow to cool in the water, then peel them and cut into small cubes. Peel and chop the apples and onions. Squeeze the juice from the lemon. Put the apples and onions into a pan with the vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and ginger. Boil for 20 minutes. Add the beetroot cubes and cook for another 20 minutes. Allow to cool; spoon into hot, sterilized jars and seal. Makes about 4 pints.

Hot Spicy Shredded Beets
2 pounds beets, trimmed, peeled, and coarsely grated
1/2 cup coarsely grated onion
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup dry red wine
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Simmer all ingredients, covered, 25 to 30 minutes until beets are tender and flavors well blended. Stir once or twice during cooking.
Serves 4.

Baby Beets with Beet Greens
Select young beets when they are not larger than a shallot; the tops will then be just the right age to be tender and sweet. Wash thoroughly in running water. Be careful not to break the skin of the beet, or the rich red juice will be lost in cooking.

Put them in enough slightly salted boiling water to well cover them and boil quickly until tender; it should require from thirty to forty-five minutes. Take them out of the pot when done and plunge the beets only, not the tops, into very cold water; the skins will very readily rub off with the fingers.

Drain the greens and cut them up, not too fine; add plenty of melted butter, a tablespoonful of vinegar or lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.

Mix lightly with a fork, arrange them on a shallow dish or platter, cut the beets in halves, and lay them in a border around the greens. To make the dish more ornamental the beets may be alternated with slices of hardboiled egg. Serve with the following sour cream dressing, or any mayonnaise-based dressing of your choice. Ranch dressing is a good choice.

Sour Cream Dressing
1/2 pint sour cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 scant tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon or to taste prepared mustard
Stir the sour cream until smooth. Gradually add the remaining ingredients, mixing well as you do so.

Crustless in the Catskills

Here is an example of how crazy the weather has been this year: This past weekend I started to prepare my garden for the upcoming colder weather; cutting back perennials, piling on mulch, etc. I arrived at my rhubarb patch, and lo and behold, there was a new crop of rhubarb ready for picking.

Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, I picked all the stalks I could and brought them in the house to make a cobbler.
    
I didn’t get any zucchini this summer (now, that’s really strange), but I got two crops of rhubarb. That’s just plain crazy!
    
The monsoon we experienced July, August, and September, seemed to have had a positive effect on apple tree growth. The apples this year are scrumptious.
    
I love stopping at local farmstands and loading up on a variety of apples. My favorite is the Macoun, but my new second favorite is the gala. Not only are they just so pretty with red, orange, and yellow blending together, but also they’re crisp and delicious.
    
Trying to avoid pie-making (not an easy thing to do), I’m on the lookout for other ways to sweeten my life with apples.
   
I make a mean mulligatawny soup using apples and curry. Acorn squash stuffed with chopped apples, a little cinnamon, and a drizzling of maple syrup is an autumn favorite. Don’t even get me started on the attributes of apple and peanut butter. With apples around, who needs pie crust!


Apple Ratatouille
Here is a variation on traditional ratatouille. This would also made a delicious filling for acorn squash. Just slice the squash in half, par-cook it in a pan with an inch of water until it is softened. Turn it over, drain the water out, and fill the hollows with a few spoonfuls of apple ratatouille. Put it back in the oven for another 20 minutes or so to heat through.
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 bell peppers, sliced
2 medium zucchini, sliced
6 ripe tomatoes, quartered
2 medium cooking apples, diced
Heat olive oil in a large skillet and add onion. Crush garlic directly into skillet and sauté for 5 minutes. Sprinkle in basil, oregano, allspice, and black pepper. Stir bell peppers into onions, and sauté for 10 minutes. Add zucchini and tomatoes to the skillet. Stir, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add apples to the ratatouille, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve hot.
Serves 8.
 

Grated Apple Fritters
For a real autumn taste, drizzle these with some maple syrup.
1 large cooking apple
2 large eggs
1/2 cup flour (you can use whole wheat or white, or a mixture of the both)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Butter, margarine, or vegetable oil for frying
Powdered sugar and whipped cream for garnish, optional
Peel, core, and grate apple into a medium-size bowl. Separate the eggs. Drop the whites into a large bowl, the yolks into a small bowl. Whisk yolks until light and stir into grated apple. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices; stir to combine.
    
Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into apple mixture. Heat butter, margarine, or vegetable oil, 1/4-inch deep, in a hot skillet. Drop batter by heaping tablespoonful into hot fat. Cook for 1 minute, turn, and cook 1 minute more. The fritters should be golden brown. Drain on paper toweling, and serve immediately or keep warm in a low oven. Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar, and/or a little bit of whipped cream.
Serves 2-4.

Sandwich Accoutrements

Since switching to low-carb bread, I have found that my sandwich is in need of a little help in the flavor department. Scanning the condiment aisle in the local supermarket, I have come across many trendy flavored mayonnaise dressings. Basically what you are spending top dollar for is plain ole mayonnaise mixed with horseradish, or wasabi, or relish, or you name it.

I thought, hey, I could do that at home for a fraction of the cost.

With the money I saved, I purchased jars of hot pepper slices, thinly sliced pickles and a good jar of Dijon mustard.

I load my tasteless low-carb bread with assorted healthy cold cuts, slices of hot peppers and pickles, and a choice of my very own gourmet dressing. Remember, these are great on any kind of sandwich or wrap. This is what I came up with.

Cha-Cha-Cha Salsa Mayonnaise
Stir 1/2 cup your favorite salsa (drain the liquid) into 1 cup mayonnaise.

Neigh-Sayer Horseradish-Dill Mustard
Stir 1 tablespoon horseradish and 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill into 1 cup Dijon mustard.

Bee-Bee King Honey Mustard
Stir 2 tablespoons honey into 1 cup Dijon mustard.

Special Sauce Mustard Mayonnaise
Stir together 1/2 cup grainy mustard with 1/2 cup mayonnaise until well blended.

Something Fishy Sandwich Sauce
This makes a whole lot. Just store it in a container in the refrigerator. Not just for fried fish filet sandwiches, this is great on hamburgers, hot dogs, and roast beef sandwiches.
1/2 of a red onion
1 small green bell pepper (and I mean small)
2 stalks celery, leaves as well
1 tablespoon chopped garlic, maybe more
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper.
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper,
2 teaspoons paprika
1/4 cup spicy mustard
2 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons catsup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
One to two jalapeño peppers, chopped (to taste)
1 tablespoon Tabasco, or your favorite hot sauce, or to taste
Juice of half a lemon or lime
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Process all ingredients in a food processor until quite smooth. Drizzle in white vinegar until the mixture is spreading consistency. You can change amounts to suit your taste. I like mine spicy.

This is as good a time as any to post an update on my low-carb diet. I started this diet at the end of March. The first two weeks, I kept to it very strictly. About end of July, I reintroduced bread, brown rice, and fruit into my diet. I use low-carb bread, or make my own whole-grain breads. When I have a bagel in the morning, I make it a whole-wheat one and have only 1/2 of a bagel. I haven’t had pasta since March, nor sugar in my coffee. However, I do make cakes and muffins substituting half the sugar with a sugar substitute.

So, all and all, I’m not fanatical about it being low, low-carb. However, I am more aware of what I eat now, and I think I make better food decisions.

That being said, since the end of March I have lost 23 pounds and I feel great. I also think if I could do it, anyone can do it. If you use the low-carb premise of reducing white, processed flour products, and sugar from your diet, and use common sense, you can definitely drop at least 10 pounds in a couple of months. If you add an hour of exercise a day (which I admit, I haven’t), you can lose much more.

You Said a Little Mouthful!

A favorite early autumn treat is a plate of thickly sliced fresh tomato, layered with slices of fresh mozzarella, fresh basil leaves and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

The tomatoes and basil are from my garden, and the mozzarella and olive oil are from a foray to Brooklyn or the Bronx.

Fresh mozzarella is different from the regular packaged mozzarella. When you go to a deli in NYC, you will find them in either little balls, called bocconcini (translated as “little mouthfuls”), or assorted shapes of about one pound, floating in lightly salted water. Sometimes if you are lucky, you will get to watch them making it right then and there.

Authentic fresh mozzarella, (buffalo mozzarella), originated in the southern Italian region of Campania, and is made from the milk of the water buffalo. The water buffalo was introduced from India to Italy in the 16th century for farmwork. Fresh mozzarella is best eaten uncooked and the same day it is purchased.
Low-moisture mozzarella is the type most often found packaged in supermarkets. It is made from whole, part-skim, or skim milk, formed into a block, and cut into half-pound or one-pound rectangles.

Most small producers who make the cheese by hand offer only the whole milk type, still not a very fattening cheese at 100 calories per ounce.

It takes five quarts of milk to produce a single pound of curd. When the curd is made for mozzarella, the whey that is drained off is used to make ricotta cheese. This is why most commercial producers make both mozzarella and ricotta cheese.

Low-moisture mozzarella is excellent for cooking. You will also find low-moisture mozzarella formed into sticks, string, or braids, as well as filled with prosciutto or pepperoni and rolled up jelly roll-style. Slice these and serve on cheese trays as appetizers. Unusual variations are flavored with black peppercorns or pistachios, smoked, or marinated with olive oil and red pepper.

Once considered a poor man’s food, mozzarella is placed up on a pedestal in my house. This mild-flavored cheese makes fresh, ripe tomatoes sing.


Caprese Mozzarella and Tomato Salad
4 cups mixed greens
4 large beefsteak tomatoes, sliced
4 yellow tomatoes, sliced
1 cup fresh basil leaves
8 ounces fresh mozzarella balls, sliced
Salt
Pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Place greens on large serving platter. Place tomatoes and mozzarella in a concentric circle, alternating with red tomato, yellow tomato, mozzarella slice, and so on. Place basil leaves on top. Sprinkles with salt and pepper to taste, and drizzle with olive oil.
Serves 8.


Fresh Mozzarella Filled with Spinach and Roasted Peppers
4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese
3/4 pound fresh spinach, steamed
2 roasted red peppers sliced lengthwise
2 cups mixed salad greens
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Flatten fresh mozzarella to 1/2-inch thickness. Layer with spinach, and roasted peppers. Roll up jellyroll fashion from longest end. Slice and serve with greens and tomato slices drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
Serves 4.