Posts Tagged beets

Halloween pasta

October 27, 2012 at 8:54 am · Filed under pasta & noodles ·Tagged , ,

Why do I call this Halloween pasta, you might ask? Well, because it sort of looks like food fit for Dracula, garlic notwithstanding.

The beets dyed everything a deep pink reminiscent of blood, the tomatoes took on a nice red glow, and the brussels sprouts became brilliantly green in contrast.

Yusuke began by sautéing minced garlic in olive oil to bring out the aroma. He added chopped tomatoes and cooked them for a while to reduce the water. He also added a pinch or two of sea salt at the same time.

Next came sliced (fresh from the earth!) beets and (fresh from the earth!) brussels sprouts and let it all cook until soft. He seasoned the melange with pepper and a bit more sea salt and served it over pasta.

We looked suspiciously vampiresque with the traces of beet juice on our lips… Gross colour, perhaps, but great taste and fantastic viz. vitamins.

P.S. I learned this very morning that those funny round veggies are “brussels sprouts” rather than “brussel sprouts.” Who knew? Maybe I’ll stick with chou de bruxelles.

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Beet stir fry

August 28, 2012 at 5:23 am · Filed under general soup, stir fry ·Tagged , , ,

I’ve been in beet heaven of late with our CSA baskets. Again, though, sometimes they are more of a radish texture and light orange in colour. Regardless, they are très délicieux. Here, Yusuke combined the beets and greens in a lovely stir fry with abura-age (deep fried tofu sheets. Pronunciation, sort of: ahboorah-ahgay).

He first sauteed the beets in sesame oil and cooked them a fair bit (about 80%). Then he added the age and the beet leaves and stems. The seasoning was: 1 tbsp of mirin, a bit of dashi, and 1 tbsp soy sauce.

The abura-age and beets made the dish subtly sweet.

On the side, we had soup with a Better than Bouillon brand veggie stock (thanks, Mom!): about 2 tsp in 1.5 or so litres of water and a pinch of black pepper. The veggies were:

  • Baby potatoes
  • Fresh sweet carrots
  • Glistening red/purple onions
  • Green leaves of onions

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Cold pasta

August 18, 2012 at 9:09 am · Filed under pasta & noodles ·Tagged , , ,

We don’t have pasta super-often in comparison with near-daily rice, and so this dish ended up looking pretty fancy with all CSA basket veggies.

First, Yusuke sautéed chopped beets and their greens in olive oil and fresh garlic. The beets were not the stereotypical red/purple that we would expect, but were rather more orange and especially crunchy.

Next, he sliced gorgeous deep purple onions and soaked them in water to reduce bitterness.

After draining the onions, he mixed them with the beets and fresh basil and added balsamic vinegar, soba sauce, and lime juice.

It was all served over the room-temperature pasta, spaghettini to be precise. Most tasty for summer.

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Nifty soba

February 18, 2012 at 5:50 am · Filed under pasta & noodles ·Tagged , , , , ,

This was an unusual soba dish that I can only describe as nifty.

The original recipe focused on a ゆず / こしょう sauce (citrus/black pepper) and included bacon. Fortunately, Yusuke made modifications.

The soba (buckwheat noodles) was boiled as usual. The toppings were:

  • sweet potatoes: cubed and steamed in the microwave
  • beet greens: chopped and boiled
  • leeks: shredded and raw

The sauce was assembled as follows:
Fresh minced garlic was sauteed with sesame oil until aromatic. Next came chopped tomatoes, cooked until heated. The liquid portion of the soba sauce was:

  • dashi
  • soy sauce
  • mirin
  • sake
  • lime juice (as a substitute for yuzu)
  • black pepper (こしょう)

N.B. Soba must be slurped, loudly. I am slowly developing the technique.

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Shocking pink tonjiru

October 30, 2011 at 6:55 pm · Filed under miso soup ·Tagged , , , , ,

Tonjiru with beets #1

We’ve been blessed in our weekly csa basket with beets. It’s amazing how such rough little buggers become so magically sweet and tender. We’ve also frequently used the greens as a substitute for spinach. Very tasty.

Tonjiru is a popular type of miso soup characterized by pork and root vegetables, usually potatoes, carrots, daikon, etc. and onions. It’s definitely one of Yusuke’s favourites.

He decided to put our beet bounty to good use by making tonjiru with a twist. The iteration above includes daikon, carrots, white onions, and of course beets. The pink effect is somewhat startling, but it’s incredibly tasty. He also used chicken instead of pork.

The second batch included carrots and leeks in addition to chicken and beets.

He typically begins the soup by sauteing the onions, followed by the other veggies, before adding water, miso paste, and dashi.

Tonjiru with beets #2

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