Monday, May 31, 2010

Sauteed Beet Greens

I stopped at the Mount Joy market the other day, and stopped at the Creekside Farm stand to chat with Josh. My eyes fell upon some beautiful baby beets, and I picked up a couple of bunches. Josh said, "You're going to eat those greens, aren't you?"
It hadn't really dawned on me, to be honest, so I asked him if he had any suggestions on cooking them. He told me I was going to be back next week for more - and he might be right.
His suggestion:
Cook a couple of strips of bacon and some spring onions (which he just happened to have - this boy is no fool), and then toss in the chopped greens. A little salt and pepper, and that's it!
Around here we just don't use a lot of bacon, preferring ham hocks for the traditional regional dishes that we grew up with, so bacon is more of a ... ahem... condiment. Because of that, I generally have some of the crappy pre-cooked stuff in the fridge.
Using that meant 2 things - this dish took less than 10 minutes to whip up, and also it required a splash of olive oil.
After the gastronomical excesses of yesterday, this was a perfect meal.
That's the thing about farm markets. You talk to the person who grew the food, and they can usually suggest ways to cook it. In fact, the first time I roasted beets was at the urging of another farmer.
One note - Next time I will use red onions, because they pick up red from the beets. I know in my brain that it doesn't make one bit of difference, but have a "thing" about onions taking on odd colors from other ingredients. Well.. mostly reds and purples.
Try this if you get the chance - it is delicious!

3 comments:

Sarah Head said...

I used my beet greens to make an iron rich soup last year with nettles for friends who were off to travel to Michu Pichu. I'm hoping to find them again this year!

Unknown said...

I have some beets in my teeny tiny garden (beets, carrots, sugar snap peas and lettuce - that's the whole garden!) and I was wondering how you fix the greens. Thanks!

Tina Sams said...

our favorite CSA farmer is always saying that everyone should garden - it doesn't matter how big it is, only that they grow *some* food.