Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Beautiful, Yummy Eats

This year James and I joined the local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program and we're really loving it! I would highly recommend it if you have one in your area,  it's such a win win. Support your local farmers and have fresh, just picked produce delivered every week. I feel so much more satisfied doing this knowing that it is supporting our local economy and that we are getting the nutrients we pay for. Maybe it's just me, but it always bothers me going to the grocery store and buying fruits and vegetables, (which can be quite expensive since we eat a lot) spending the extra money to eat healthy, but KNOWING that it has likely traveled for a few days, if not a week or two and has lost a huge chunk of it's nutritional value. Lots of money. Trying to eat healthy. Little nutrients. : ( I hate it. So it makes me love getting my local veggies even more!


We bought a "small share" which gives just enough organic produce for the two of us. It says it feeds four, but obviously we consume a lot more veggies than most because it is just perfect for us. I love the surprise of not knowing what will be in our box, it's always something different every week. It's a great thing because it challenges us to try new veggies (fava beans anyone??) and cook things we wouldn't normally. This week it was beets! Usually I juice them, but this week I thought I'd try something new.


Pasta with Beets, beet greens and Goat Cheese

I'll admit, I was a little bit skeptical. Beets in pasta? It sounded interesting though, and anything topped with goat cheese is amazing so what the heck. : )We ended up loving it! Different but very delicious! The recipe is from a cookbook called Simply Organic. I would highly recommend this book if you love eating locally or in season. This book is organized seasonally and has recipes for EVERYTHING to take you through the year as they are ready for harvest. I LOVE it! 

Here's the recipe:

2 bunches of beets with greens (about 8) we used 5 and thought it was perfect
1/2 C olive oil
2 med onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves minced
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano
2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 pound of whole wheat pasta
6 ounces soft goat cheese crumbled
3 ounces Parmesan Cheese grated
Salt and pepper to taste


Cut the greens off the beets, wash and coarsely chop. Wash and trim tops and bottoms of beets and put in a large pot. Cover with water and simmer for 20mins to 1 hr depending on the size of the beets. When the beets are cooked, remove, run under cool water using your hands to slip off the skins. Cut into bit sized wedges.
Bring another large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. I decided to go with this rye pasta, but use whatever your family likes. 


In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil and add the onion and the garlic. Cook for 5 mins or until soft. Add the vinegar, oregano and rosemary and cook for another min. Cook the pasta according to directions, adding the chopped beet greens during the last minute of cooking, drain. Add the beets and the onion mixture to the pot of pasta, tossing gently to mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with cheeses and top with ground pepper. Delish!!

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go scrub my beet stained counters...





1 comment:

  1. *grin* Too bad they didn't give you albino beets and yellow beets like I grew this year! You would've missed out on the counter scrubbing! Sounds DELISH! I want to try this! I am LOVING beet greens this year! I made a crustless quiche with them, and it was AMAZING!

    ReplyDelete