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2010-07-21 1:01 PM

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Subject: I <3 my CSA box, or; What the heck is this vegetable, and what do I do with it?
So Pat and I have signed up for a Community Supported Agriculture box through a programme called Isidore foods. It's hosted by our church (yes, my priest is awesome and talks about riding bikes and sets up CSAs). Basically, we subscribed to a weekly box of veg, and we can order additional items (eggs, chicken, cheese, milk, etc) a'la carte if we'd like, or subscribe to them as well.

The only thing, and this was part of the allure, is that we have no say in what comes each week. Last week we got some different variety of lettuce (which was well nice), carrots, sweet corn (the best I've ever had), zucchini, green beans (omnomnomnom), new red potatoes, pickling cucumbers (which are in brine as we speak) and then...BEETS. AUUUGGH!

Beets. Bloody beets.

I don't like beets. In fact, I'm somewhat traumatized by an incident from my childhood involving pickled beets. So pickling their butts is out. I'd hate to waste these beautiful vegetables, but man, I don't know if I can eat them raw. If you've got a good beet recipe, let me know.

Anyone have any good CSA stories to share? How'd you deal with the funky vegetables you got? Did you eat it all every week? Did you have to do a work share (where you go and farm for x amount of hours)?



Edited by phoenixazul 2010-07-21 1:06 PM


2010-07-21 1:06 PM
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Subject: RE: I <3 my CSA box, or; What the heck is this vegetable, and what do I do with it?
We have a CSA exactly like that here.  Certain times of year, you just have to expect to receive beets every week.  I like beets roasted, especially with goat cheese and walnuts on a salad- they're SUPER yummy.  We've also tried baking them, cut up like french fries... and although they did not come out like fries at all, they were semi-crunchy and quite tasty with salt.

Edited by megtrow 2010-07-21 1:06 PM
2010-07-21 1:07 PM
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Subject: RE: I <3 my CSA box, or; What the heck is this vegetable, and what do I do with it?
BEETS! (you sure posted this in the right forum ...)

I like creamed beets (I think it's a Jewish thing, though I'm only JBA) ... try searching Google for a recipe you think you might like. I like sour cream as part of the creaming, as well. Anyhow to me they taste like creamed kohlrabi, which I really love.

BORSCHT is lovely!!!

If you want them raw, I think they taste nice grated, in a salad, but they are best with those creamy, fatty, dressings.
2010-07-21 1:08 PM
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Subject: RE: I <3 my CSA box, or; What the heck is this vegetable, and what do I do with it?
megtrow - 2010-07-22 2:06 AM We have a CSA exactly like that here.  Certain times of year, you just have to expect to receive beets every week.  I like beets roasted, especially with goat cheese and walnuts on a salad- they're SUPER yummy.  We've also tried baking them, cut up like french fries... and although they did not come out like fries at all, they were semi-crunchy and quite tasty with salt.


I've only had that in restaurants, but it is DIVINE.
2010-07-21 1:09 PM
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Subject: RE: I <3 my CSA box, or; What the heck is this vegetable, and what do I do with it?

Over the In early July the NY times has posted some beet recipes in the Health Section - there is one that they claim even dedicated beet haters will like (Grated Raw Beet Salad).   Here's the link: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/series/recipes_for_health/beets/index.html

Can't vouch for any of them since I can't stand the texture of beets.    Good luck!

2010-07-21 1:27 PM
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Subject: RE: I <3 my CSA box, or; What the heck is this vegetable, and what do I do with it?
TriAya - 2010-07-21 2:07 PM

BEETS! (you sure posted this in the right forum ...)

I like creamed beets (I think it's a Jewish thing, though I'm only JBA) ... try searching Google for a recipe you think you might like. I like sour cream as part of the creaming, as well. Anyhow to me they taste like creamed kohlrabi, which I really love.

BORSCHT is lovely!!!

If you want them raw, I think they taste nice grated, in a salad, but they are best with those creamy, fatty, dressings.


This is a TOTAL PIA to make, but ohh so good!



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2010-07-21 1:30 PM
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Subject: RE: I <3 my CSA box, or; What the heck is this vegetable, and what do I do with it?
Beets are my favorites! I do love them with goat cheese and usually we use pistachios with balsamic drizzled on top. Just individually wrap them in foil and put them in the oven for an hour at 350 - this skin magically comes off if you just rub them and slice them up. They're also great with blue cheese dressing or crumbled blue cheese on top. Good luck
2010-07-21 1:41 PM
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Subject: RE: I <3 my CSA box, or; What the heck is this vegetable, and what do I do with it?
Or you can juice them, and not need to apply lipstick for 4 days.  After my first serving of beet juice, my manager said I looked like a bad drag queen who forgot to finish taking off her makeup.  So go with a straw to drink your beet juice, or suffer magenta lips for quite a while.
2010-07-21 1:53 PM
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Subject: RE: I <3 my CSA box, or; What the heck is this vegetable, and what do I do with it?
My violin teacher is Russian, and as part of a traditional Russian meal, she made this beet salad.

Boil 2-3 beets until tender. Let them cool. Grate them.
Cut up prunes--1 c.
Chop walnuts--3/4 c.

Mix the beets, prunes, and walnuts. Stir in enough mayonnaise to bind it all.

So good. Earthy and dark and rich.

i also like beets roasted in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Yum.
2010-07-21 3:53 PM
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Subject: RE: I <3 my CSA box, or; What the heck is this vegetable, and what do I do with it?
AlexB - 2010-07-21 2:09 PM

Over the In early July the NY times has posted some beet recipes in the Health Section - there is one that they claim even dedicated beet haters will like (Grated Raw Beet Salad).   Here's the link: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/series/recipes_for_health/beets/index.html

Can't vouch for any of them since I can't stand the texture of beets.    Good luck!



That actually sounds really good.  I don't even know if I like beets or not, but this sounds like a good thing to try.
2010-07-21 4:30 PM
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Subject: RE: I <3 my CSA box, or; What the heck is this vegetable, and what do I do with it?
Like a couple others have suggested, roasted beets are awesome. They are VERY easy to make too.
How I do them:

peel them (better if you do this in a bowl in the sink, your hands won't stain red)
dice them in big chunks
drizzle with a little olive oil
pepper, little bit of salt

Roast for 375ish until tender, turn a little darker. They will be soft. I prefer them to be a little on the "burnt" side.

Sprinkle some goat cheese and nuts if you wish on top! I usually sautee the beet greens (you only have about 2 days to do this if your greens are on your beets) in some oil and garlic, then serve the roasted beets on top.

YUM!
 



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2010-07-21 5:33 PM
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Subject: RE: I <3 my CSA box, or; What the heck is this vegetable, and what do I do with it?

Today is CSA day and now I am hoping it will have beets...

My biggest surprise "like" was the kohlrabi.  I had picked up some hummus from the coop (where we pick up our box) and decided to use the raw kohlrabi to transfer it to my mouth.  Wow, that was much tastier than I thought it would be.

My husband and I lose more produce than I should admit.  The strange stuff is set aside to figure out later and then it dies.   We have started bringing it in to work.   There's always someone who wants the extra bunch of mizuno.  

But overall, we've gotten a lot more adventurous.  Our farmer sends a newsletter with instructions and recipes - thankfully!

We get a kick out of how fast we can "process" a box - we're very well trained greens washers and the Salad Spinner has more than earned it's keep.

2010-07-21 6:14 PM
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Subject: RE: I <3 my CSA box, or; What the heck is this vegetable, and what do I do with it?
But overall, we've gotten a lot more adventurous. Our farmer sends a newsletter with instructions and recipes - thankfully!


Ours does that too, along with a list of what every "level" of box got, and where it was from, and if it was organic or not.
2010-07-21 6:44 PM
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Subject: RE: I <3 my CSA box, or; What the heck is this vegetable, and what do I do with it?
3 things I like to do with beets, both red and yellow.

Raw beet and orange salad (shredded beets, orange segments, dried cranberries and sliced almonds with an orange juice and olive oil dressing)

Roasted beets on the BBQ (drizzle beets with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper roast on the BBQ until you can insert a knife easily, cool, remove skin and then slice into salads)

Beet and goat cheese risotto (peel and dice raw beets, cook 1 shallot with a little olive oil and butter, add beets, once on the softer side add 1 cup of aborio rice and stir well, add 1/2 cup of vegetable stock at a time, stir until absorbed then add more, risotto will take 3-4 cups of stock, once rice is cooked with just a little bite stir in a couple of ounces of goat cheese, in a separate pan saute beet greens an serve on top of risotto). This is a very bright side dish.
2010-07-21 8:26 PM
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Subject: RE: I <3 my CSA box, or; What the heck is this vegetable, and what do I do with it?
I'm obviously in the minority here, but I can't stand beets. No matter how they are prepared, to me they taste like dirt. This is also our first year in a CSA, and we've found our coworkers are always happy to take our unwanted veggies (like beets - did I mention I don't like beets?).
2010-07-21 8:32 PM
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Subject: RE: I <3 my CSA box, or; What the heck is this vegetable, and what do I do with it?
LOVE beets! I usually just eat them in the goat cheese salad. It's really quite tasty. If I'm feeling lazy, I'll boil the beets ahead of time and let them cool, then just use your fingers to push off the skin and slice or dice. I also like pickled beets, but since you mentioned you don't like them I won't go any further. I would say, though, that homemade pickled beets taste quite different than storebought ones.

I did see a recipe for beet chips (crisps?) I think from Gourmet magazine (there was an online tutorial I think), made in the oven, that looked really awesome, but a single beet would make like a whole batch so it wouldn't do much to get rid of your supplies.

My bane so far this season is kale. So much kale I can't possibly eat it all! I've done everything, but there's only so much kale one can eat. Luckily, it tends to stay good for a while in the crisper drawer.


2010-07-21 8:50 PM
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Subject: RE: I <3 my CSA box, or; What the heck is this vegetable, and what do I do with it?
We did a CSA this summer and have really been enjoying the bounty lately.  I even picked our quart of blueberries the other week!!  YUM!

As for the beets, I like beets, but had to figure out how to use them in a way other than on a salad. So here's what I came up with.  Beet quinoa salad. 

Cook 1 cup of quinoa. 
Roast 4-5 small beets or 2-3 large beets with olive oil/s&p until tender.  You can choose to skin or not to skin after roasting.
Let beets and quinoa cool.

Mix quinoa, with beets, feta and chopped walnuts to taste and proportion.  EAT!

Even if you don't like beets, this is just a super yummy dish and has been served a lot in our house.  I'd love to know how to cook the kholrabi that we took home tonight.  Looks like I'll be doing a little exploring on the interwebz.
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