Beet it ;)

I had the very good fortune to receive a bundle of wonderful summer veg today from Stonelane Orchard - they sell their pesticide-free produce at local market gardens; including the St. Norbert Market.

Among the lush kale, chard, tomatoes, peas and so on, was a spectacular, large bunch of red beets with perfect leaves. I said to Stonelane co-owner, Rick, "OMG, these are the most beautiful beets I have ever seen!" and he remarked, simply "Our beets always look like this." Too cute - nice to know that vegetable heaven can be enjoyed here on Earth - at least through the short summer growing season! Needless to say, I was inspired and I couldn't wait to get home and start cooking. I surfed the net for a short while, wondering if I could find something new and exciting, but my tastebuds were yearning for some traditional Russian favourites: borscht and beet leaf rolls (holuptsi)

As things got underway in the kitchen, my daughters began swarming - wondering when the soup would be ready. Nice to be popular- if only for sustainance LOL.

I make my borscht using chicken or vegetable broth, preferring this to the pork-based version my German mother makes (sorry, Mom - just not a pork fan...). Here are the recipes for Beet Rolls and Borcht - I hope you will try the recipes and enjoy some local beets in season.

Pam's Russian Borcht

INGREDIENTS:
Large bunch beets with greens, 6-8 medium-size beets
1 medium onion, chopped finely
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cups chopped kale or cabbage
1.5 tsp. salt
Pepper, to taste
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
3 tsp. sour salt, or to taste
8 bay leaves, or to taste
2 cups diced carrot
1 large tomato, diced
2 cups diced new potatoes
1 can baked beans in tomato sauce
8 cups chicken or vegetable broth

METHOD:
Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a soup pot, stirring in the onions. Cook onions until clear, but don't brown. Stir in salt, pepper, tomatoes, carrot and potatoes, along with 1/3 of the broth. Cook 15 - 20 minutes. Meanwhile grate the beets and chop the leaves and stems finely - add these to the soup, along with the remaining broth, beans, dill and sour salt. Simmer for 45 minutes and serve hot with a dollop of sour cream or natural yogurt.

Beet Leaf Rolls

INGREDIENTS:
36 large beet leaves, washed and trimmed
1 tsp. salt
Pepper, to taste
1/2 cup fresh dill, minced
1 medium onion, chopped finely
1/3 cup butter (approximate), divided use
1/2 cup 18% cream

Melt 3 Tbsp. of butter in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add in salt, rice and 2 cups of water - cook rice, covered for 40-45 minutes. Meanwhile, saute the onion in another 3Tbsp. of the butter. Stir softened onion into the cooked rice along with pepper and dill, to form the beet roll filling. Rice the leaves and cut off any tough ribs. Place leaves in a colander and blanche by pouring 1.5 litres of boiling water over them - leaves should be softened but not mushy. Spoon 2-3 teaspoons of filling on each leaf and roll tightly, pushing in each end with fingertips to seal. Butter a small baking dish with 2 tsp. of the butter. Place rolls with seam down in the casserole dish. Pour cream over all. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit, and bake for 30 minutes, loosely covered with foil. Serve warm with or without sour cream or natural yogurt.

NOTE: if the leaves are too small or tattered, or if you are pressed for time, try making a lasagne-style casserole, beginning with a layer of the softened beet leaves and then a thin layer of filling; repeat. End with a leaf layer and pour cream over all. Bake for same amount of time.

May 24, 2010

Soggy, Sunny, Windy -- Holiday Survival
Well this was supposed to be the hottest May long weekend in Canadian history -- but we had some pretty changeable weather and although the temps were pretty pleasant, it did not reach the high 20's Celsius that was predicted. It was definitely one of those weekends where you had to be prepared for just about anything, in terms of dressing for the weather! My "girls' camping weekend" was fun, nonetheless, but we had to keep improvising our plans and acting on the fly :) Good thing I am a bit of a daredevil...

Yes, I Might be Losing It...
Tonight I am waiting for the rain to let up a bit so I can get out for a short walk. I am feeling a bit cooped up after a 3+ hour ride home from our campsite today. We did stop for coffee/water/snacks and a stretch, but it still was a bit less active than my typical day. I have been using the Lose It app on my iPhone and finding it is a great way to keep my honesty alive in the ongoing quest to balance work, children, nutrition and activity. If you are unfamiliar with Lose It and have similar goals to mine, you may find this app to be a great help.

Lose It is free (yay!) and allows great personalization/flexibility. It is easy to set up and use the tool to monitor your weight loss goals and to balance food intake with activity. Another great feature is that is doesn't only track calories, it tracks nutritional balance also: fats, protein, carbohydrates, sodium, fibre etc. You set your course and enter your daily food and exercise while ensuring you do it in a healthy way -- it's that simple. You can also set up Lose It to prompt you at specific times of the day; for example I have a personal default set to msg me if I don't enter my food by 8 p.m. each day.

Similar to Weight Watchers, I am enjoying the flexibility of eating from a wide variety of food groups as long as I manage my portion size and/or "earn" additional food intake daily with activity, but no lost time sitting thru meetings or embarrassing public weigh-ins!

Beeting Boredom
Let's be honest -- I love food: preparing food, trying new things and keeping my meals balanced and healthy. Food and dining are an art in my view, and are a daily priority. Lately, I have been looking for ways to include one of my favourite root vegetables: beets.

I have enjoyed crab cakes in a local restaurant chain that come served on a luscious burgundy bed of thinly grated spirals of raw beets. I am not sure how they make this "beet spaghetti", but one of my girlfriends has told me they must use a Madeleine-style grater. Once I get the scoop, I will share...

Until this fairly recent discovery of raw shredded beets, I have always eaten beets in cooked form -- in borscht, in my root vegetable bake, in pickled form or as whole steamed baby beets (including the tender stem and tops/greens).

Last week while reading an issue of Blush in the doctor's office, I found a great cupcake recipe that contains -- you guessed it -- beet puree! The thought was, similar to carrot cake, you can tip the scale toward health by incorporating some hidden veg in a chocolate cupcake. Here is the recipe -- hope you will try and let me know what you think. xo

Beet These Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 ounces - 60 g dark chocolate
1/2 cup - 125 mL unsalted butter
1 cup - 250 mL unbleached, all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. - 4 mL baking soda
1/4 tsp. - 1 mL each of baking powder and sea salt
3/4 cup - 180 mL lightly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. - 2 mL vanilla extract
1 cup beet puree

Yield: 12 cupcakes

To make the beet puree, boil or roast unpeeled beets until tender. Peel the beets after cooking -- cooking with the skin keeps the beets from bleeding out all of the lovely purple colour. Buzz in a blender or food processor until finely chopped. A slightly chunky texture is preferred for this recipe over baby-food-smooth!

Line muffin tins with paper cups and preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit/190 Celcius. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave, stirring in 2 Tbsp of the butter as the chocolate begins to soften. Set aside to cool slightly.

Combine flour with soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream the remaining butter with sugar, egg and vanilla. Add beet puree and then the cooled chocolate. Gradually add in the flour mix.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake for about 30 minutes -- a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin will come out clean. Cool in tin for five minutes, then turn out to cool completely. Ice with your favourite cream cheese or chocolate frosting or try the Tangy Icing recipe, below.

Tangy Icing Recipe:

Beat 4 ounces spreadable cream cheese with 1 Tbsp. of softened butter and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup of sifted icing sugar, stirring until smooth and creamy. Spread evenly over cooled cupcakes.

Note: 278 calories per cupcake, 2g protein, 14 g fat (0g saturated fat), 26g carbohydrate, 1g fibre and 171g sodium -- data for you Lose It App :)