Beet Greens Before & After

  Among the veggies left in my frig to try to eat by tomorrow when the CSA veggies arrive were beet greens! I’d already roasted the beets themselves and have them ready for the cold Borscht soup to follow. But the greens? So attractively bright green! Surely that means that they’re super-good for us? Oh, right, anything disagreeable sounding is bound to be good for us!  But, yes, indeed, they are good for us. Beet greens are loaded with nutrients, super chucked with all good things. Check this out for yourself and see what you’ll gain if you try a few:  http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2352/2 So I agree that beet greens are not a vegetable I’d approach with enthusiasm! Ah, hah! Surprise!  They turned out to be so delicious and easy to prepare. It reminds me that we really need to think of how we can eat just about  everything attached to any vegetable: the fruit, the stem, the leaves. Not just for thrift, but most important, for their nutritive value and basic yumminess! Now it’s not  always equally true across  all vegetables that the leaves and stems are as  yummy as the main fruit , but as a rule , the stems and leaves are so much more than we think!  These were simply faulouso!

Here’s What I did:

Sautéed Beet greens

1 bunch of beet greens, separated from the beets

2 Tablespoons olive oil 1 cup diced red onions

1 clove of garlic 1 bouquet garni (2 stems of parsley, 1 stem of thyme, 1/2 bay leaf tied in a washed piece of cheese cloth)

1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Directions: Wash a bunch of beet greens, through several waters (they can be gritty) Separate the stems from the leaves and chop roughly Roughly chop the beet greens Add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil to a medium size frying pan Simmer 1 cup of diced red onions in the olive oil for 10 minutes under low heat Add a clove of garlic finely diced Add the beet stems that have been chopped into 1 inch peies Add the herb bouquet Raise the heat while you stir the mixture together  and cook for 10 minutes, Reduce heat and simmer for an additional  10 minutes Add the greens; simmer for 20 more minutes Remove from the heat When the mixture cools add ½ Tablespoon red wine vinegar Simmer 5 more minutes Cool mixture to room temperature Pour into a blender and blend thoroughly Add the vinegar Blend again for 1 to 3 minutes Reheat gently when ready to serve Serve with soft pan-fried  fish and soft boiled potatoes

Pan-Fried Fish

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

a dab of butter

1 bouquet garni of thyme, basil & oregano (fresh or dried), pepper (tied in cheesecloth into a small bundle)

1 fillet of flounder or other white fish without bones!

Directions : 1. Heat olive oil until it’s foaming; add butter

2. Add fish to pan, place bouquet garni on top of fish

3. Saute for 3 minutes

4. Flip fish over and put bouquet  garni on top of the fish  again

5. Saute for 3 minutes on this side.

6. Remove bouquet  garni

7. Serve fish on plate.

How simple is that! And delicious. I seem to have a tiny piece of some herb on this photo, but it should, of course, be removed before serving to any one with a swallowing disorder. Bones are a worry, but I’ve found that fish fillets hardly ever have any bones when they’re packaged and sold.  And we all  know that we should be eating fish more often. We do know this, right? Make sure you don’t overcook so the fish remains soft and moist.

As for the soft boiled potatoes: These were not the starchy potatoes, but by over-cooking them for a minute, you can make them soft and easily mashed with a fork with no hard edges. Beat a smidgen of butter into them and you have another delicious side.

Red Potatoes

Half three or four small red potatoes. Cover with water in a small pan (ceramic if you use a microwave), simmer for 4-5 minutes if microwaving and 8-9 minutes if boing on the stove. Remove from heat. Cool enough to handle. Turn each potato over, cut side down. Mash

Remove skins by mashing them with a fork and then lifting off each potatoe. Mash potatoes again, mixing in a small dab of butter.  Serve . Remember: skins are among the worse foods for people with swallowing disorders, so we need be sure we’ve removed any trace.