Beet Risotto

This is probably not the first time I've blogged about beet risotto.  I love beet risotto!  I make it as often as I have fresh beets (it is rare I make anything else with beets).  I used to have a recipe - and recently someone sent me a new recipe - but why bother?  (I could insert a paragraph or two about how I am done following recipes - except as a reference tool - but I just had some memory flashes of precise recipe following: enchilada sauce and baked oatmeal - so I'll wait.)

In any case, I make beet risotto differently every time.  And this time was especially delightful.

Boil 2 cups of water.  Pour over 1 cup brown rice.  Leave to sit while you go for a run.  (Or at least an hour.)

Stem and peel five small beets, reserving stalks and leaves.  Cut the larger ones into quarters, and steam until soft (pierced easily with fork.)  You could also roast them, but I'm trying to minimize the amount of time my oven is on over the summer, as it works double as a heater.

Heat 1 T olive oil, add half a head of chopped garlic.  When it is about to turn brown, throw in the drained brown rice.  Saute for a minute, then add 1/2 a cup of... white wine is what you should use but I didn't have any so used white wine vinegar.  I was very nervous about this decision, but it turned out alright.  I mean, it turned out fantastic.  I normally add acid towards the end, not the beginning (I understand acids stop some vegetables from continuing to cook - I've particularly observed it with onions - but I decided it was worth the risk.  Anyway, I recommend using wine instead of wine vinegar... but this is delicious so who knows?)

As soon as you drain the brown rice, you should throw some vegetable broth in that pan, heat it, and keep it hot.  I think I probably used about 2 and a half cups.  Maybe less.

Once the vinegar has absorbed into the rice, add about a half cup of vegetable broth, stir, and let the rice absorb it while you trim the beet stems.  I used about 5 medium chard leaves as well, so took the stems from the chard and the beets and cut them into bite-size pieces, and added them with probably the third 1/2 cup of broth.

Mince basil and oregano - about 3 T total - and add that to the cooking rice.

Rinse and drain the chard leaves, beet leaves, and a cup or so of spinach.  Take about a third at a time, roll them up, and slice down the roll, to get nice long 1/2 inch strips.  When the rice is tender enough, add the steamed beets and greens to the mixture and stir.  Add a bit more veg broth, and then cover and simmer.  When you remove the cover your greens will magically not overwhelm your pan!

The most delicious part happens now:  add 1/2 cup of the most delicious aged cheddar cheese you can find. I had some hiding in the freezer that I defrosted, and it crumbled as I sliced it, no shredding necessary.

Season generously with black pepper.  I recommend waiting for it to cool before devouring, but I think I burnt my tongue.  Also, after packaging up today's lunch, I got out the rubber spatula and licked the wok clean.  It was that good.

My risotto was actually a little soupy, because I probably added too much veg broth at the end.  But, as noted everywhere, I love soup.

Oh, and a final note:  The liquid in the bottom of the beet steaming pot, mixed with the leftover vegetable broth, made for a tasty warm beverage to tide me over until the risotto was complete.

What's Ahead:

• I pulled the enchilada sauce out of the freezer this morning - all that is leftover from last week's farm share is oregano, cilantro and green onions.  And I'm getting avocados tomorrow!
• This week is the first week of my biweekly Fruit Share.  (This is where I'm getting the avocadoes.)
• I have no idea what I'll eat for dinner, as I have no vegetables left, except maybe a little bit of salad.  This is incredibly exciting.

Tofu and Greens

As promised.  I feel really good about this week's farm share!  I'll get through most of the lettuce and arugula today, and all I have left are the beets & greens, some herbs, chard, and a bit of spinach.  Which means I'll make beet risotto tonight, and have just a few herbs leftover.  I am going to be ready for my new box on Saturday morning!  I feel especially good because I didn't pick this box up until Monday evening, so I'm really a few days ahead.

It later occurred to me that this should probably be served on a grain (like brown rice, or maybe quinoa) but it was way too late for that.  I'm serving with lettuce and arugula... since that's what I've got

For the Wok:
1 T olive oil
1 package firm tofu, frozen, thawed, drained, and cut into cubes
2 T tamari (for the tofu, you'll need more for the sauce)
4 cloves garlic
1 t red pepper flakes
1 huge bunch (2 lbs) Tatsoi (or Bok Choy, they're apparently very similar)  - separate the white stems from the greens, and chop the stems into bite size pieces.  You should also chop the greens, but keep them separate (they cook at different speeds)
3/4 lb spinach

For the Sauce:
1 T sesame oil
2 T peanut butter
1 T brown rice vinegar

Sauce - which is doubling as salad dressing today.

To throw on top:
1/2 c chopped cilantro
1/2 c chopped green onions

Heat the oil, toss the tofu in the soy sauce (frozen-thawed tofu soaks it up in seconds).  Let it sit and brown, toss it, let it sit in brown.  (I chopped the white parts of the tatsoi while it browned.)  Add the garlic and the pepper flakes, stir a minute, add the white parts of the tatsoi.
Clean and chop the green parts of the tatsoi, add them.  Do the same with the spinach.  (Spinach wilts faster than other greens so I added it last.)
Turn off the heat when you add the last of the spinach, stir, and cover.
Whisk together the sauce ingredients, and poor over and stir into the greens and tofu.
Add cilantro and onions.
Be amazed at how little food you got out of so much vegetable!

Pasta with Lentils and Herbs

I have a whole bag of arugula, which normally I might use as a salad green, but, well, I have plenty of salad greens.  Arugula has in the last year or two become one of my favorite pizza toppings - fresh arugula on top of a thin crust cheese pizza is incredibly delicious.  I was thinking of this as I biked home after my run and decided to use it as more of an herb rather than a salad green.  So I got home, started the pasta water and the lentils to cook separately, and then heated some olive oil and washed and chopped the herbs together.  The result was completely satisfying.

I do think a sundried tomato or something from the olive bar would compliment nicely here.  Or perhaps I could've used more arugula.  I just didn't want to overwhelm the flavor too much.   But now I have leftover arugula to use, with an already overwhelming mess of salad greens!

Ingredients:

4 T olive oil
6 cloves garlic
1/2 t pepper flakes
6 T fresh basil
4 T fresh oregano
2 c fresh arugula

1/2 c red lentils

4 oz whole wheat spaghetti

Directions:
Cook red lentils in 1 c of water until they're done, cook pasta according to package instructions.  Meanwhile, chop garlic, heat olive oil, wash and chop herbs.  When oil is hot, add garlic, then add herbs and pepper flakes.  Cook until it smells incredibly fragrant and the leaves are a little wilted, mix everything together, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Makes enough for dinner and the next day's lunch.

Tonight I will finally make the tofu and greens I've been imagining for the last few days (spinach, tatsoi, chard - you name it, I've got it... although I'll save some for the beet risotto that will come later this week.)  It was my intention to cook delicious greens last night, but after my run I was craving carbs.

Life Makes Sense Again! Subtitle: Spring Means Salads.

As I unpacked my first farmshare box of the season last night... well, let's just say I'm glad no one was there to see how excited I got about various vegetables.  And... I suddenly felt like life made sense again.  This box contains normalcy, and happiness, and hours of delightful cooking and thinking about cooking and eating.  It is a very exciting time for me.

Most people I know who have tried a CSA but haven't kept it up give the same reason: they like having fresh local produce, but they want a choice in what the produce is.  I respect this opinion, but I do not understand it.  All winter long, I've been going to the grocery store and just staring at the produce aisle blankly.  What do I want?  I have no idea!  I want variety!  I want to have interesting things thrust at me so that I am forced to creatively use them!  Also, the produce aisle just does not interest me anymore.  (This reflection actually makes me a bit sad, because just a couple of years ago I would've named the produce aisle of any grocery store a comforting sight - "What peaches and what penumbras!" - although I suppose now I get that feeling from looking at growing vegetables?)

In any case, as it is spring, and I received three heads of lettuce, a bag of arugula, and a lb of fresh spinach... the natural first step was to make salad.

Before I ate lunch, this container held less than half of the 3 heads of lettuce I acquired.  Salads with every meal!!

here's what's in it:
3 heads lettuce, double washed and torn
1 bunch radishes, sliced
1/2 c almonds, sliced
one head broccoli (I still can't spell this word!), broken up
5 carrots, sliced
1 bunch green onions, chopped

I would've added beans for protein, but I got home so late from picking it up (and holding a tiny baby!) that I didn't bother - I usually cook beans in my slow cooker, and the freezer was empty of cooked ones.  That's when the almonds came in.  The spiciness of the radishes as well as my general propensity to have green onions with Asian food - especially peanut noodles - as well as my desire to add a bit more protein to this mess, inspired the following dressing (amounts are approximate) which I'm head-over-heels in love with:

1/2 c natural peanut butter
1/4 c organic brown rice vinegar
2 T sesame oil
1 t cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1/4 t salt