including this tiny and cute Mexican cucumber that somehow got mixed into the pint of okra...it was time to make these bad boys (or girls, let's be equal opportunity here) into dinner sides...
First up, fresh okra ($2 for 1 pint, Suzie's Farms):
This was pretty simple - olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Okra looks so cool cut up - you can see the seeds and if this picture was tactile, you could also feel the little "hairs" on the pods and feel the clear "slime" oozing out. I know, that doesn't sound so appetizing, but once these are roasted, it's a different story.
Drizzle olive oil and season with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Throw it in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes (350 F). That's it!
Next up, the beets from Maciel Farms ($2 a bunch):
Peel the beets and cut off both ends. Save the greens for later.
I also roasted the beets, but also added chunks of onion, one red potato (it was lying around and I wanted to get rid of it), and some long sliced carrot chunks. I added olive oil, freshly ground black pepper and sea salt, along with a tiny bit of sugar and garlic powder. The recipe I saw online called for roasted sweet potatoes separately (I didn't have any), so I improvised. Roast it at 350 F for 35-45 minutes. Just check it once in a while so it doesn't get burnt. Stir it up if you wish. This was my favorite vegetable dish that evening. The beets and carrots had a nice caramelization going on.
The mixed beans from Suzie's Farms ($3 a lb.):
I sauteed the beans in olive oil (instead of butter) and after five minutes, got impatient, so I added some lemon juice (from our backyard lemons), a tiny bit of water and then put my wok cover over this so it could steam. While the beans came out tasting quite all right, I found that the lovely purple color faded on the broader beans.
The last recipe involves the greens from the beets! If I'm going to pay $2 for one tiny bunch of beets, I may as well make use of the tops since they ARE edible.
Olive oil, Salt 'n Pepa (Uhhhh! Push it! Push it real good!), sundried tomatoes, capers, one half of an onion, and chopped garlic.
I sauteed the chopped garlic and onion in the olive oil. Then, I added the greens (which were cleaned with hard or thick stems removed). The recipe called for the leaves to be "shredded", but lazy me just roughly tore the leaves and threw them in the pot. All those fluffy leaves will cook down in minutes.
Like this...
This was my least favorite vegetable recipe that evening because I didn't like the flavor of the capers. I used them because I actually had some and because the recipe called for it. But I regretted using them once I smelled the greens. Same thing with the sun dried tomatoes. The flavor combination was a bit too wierd for me. I think the greens would have tasted better WITHOUT those two ingredients, and also if it had sausage in it!!! Or bacon for that matter. But hey, it was worth a try and I know that if I do buy beets again, I can always tweak that recipe or make up my own. The saving grace for this dish was that both Bert and TC enjoyed it!
What are your favorite ways to prepare these types of vegetables? Inquiring minds (okay, just mine) want to know!
2 comments:
lol I thought the first pic was a mini watermelon before I started reading.
Yeah, it totally looks like one! Too bad I didn't actually taste it. I forgot about it and a few days later, it got all shriveled. :(
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