vegetable – Page 3 – Goboroot.com

Beet & Chocolate Muffins

Whether or not you are a beet lover, if you are looking for the way to someone’s heart, try these red muffins. They are fun to make, and even better the naturally intense colour of these muffins makes them an attractive as well as nutritious treat!

The idea of perfecting this recipe came after I gently nagged a local chocolatier, my farmer’s market friend, demanding that he create beet flavoured chocolate to accompany their unique kale, tomato and other vegetable flavours. He explained that any additional flavouring added to chocolate making has to be strong and distinctive enough to overcome the taste of chocolate.

Since it didn’t seem like the chocolatier was inclined to try this experiment, I decided to create my own concoction. Since beet has an earthy, subtle taste, after a couple of trials with grape seed oil and/or brown sugar and/or whole wheat, I have settled on a mixture of butter, cane sugar and white flour that gingerly brings out the earthy flavour of the beet. A chocolate piece is then inserted inside the muffins, and the slightly roasted coconut flakes placed over top helps create the perfect match in your watering mouth. The dream team of my imagination finally came true!

Beet & Chocolate Muffins

Makes 8 muffins

1 cup cooked beets (about 3 large beets), cooled and finely shredded

100g butter, room temperature

140g cane sugar (fine texture)

2 eggs, room temperature, slightly beaten

200g unbleached white flour

¼ teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons milk, room temperature

8 pieces of dark chocolate

Shredded coconut flakes

Preheat the oven to 350F. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder.

Cream the butter in a large bowl and add the sugar in a couple of instalments. Continue to stir until pale and fluffy.

Add the eggs 1 at a time and continue to stir until combined. Add the beets and mix well.

Add half the amount of flour mixture and stir until mixed, then add the rest and gently fold with a spatula in a circular motion. Do not stir too much.

Divide the batter into prepared muffin cups in a tin. Insert one piece of chocolate inside each muffin. Sprinkle with coconut flakes on top. Bake until done, about 25 minutes.

Transfer the muffins to a rack and let cool.

Celebrating the Last Week of Summer

I can’t think of any other way to celebrate the last week of summer than by making these salad dishes to enjoy every bite of the intense sun ripened ingredients. Today’s post is meant to help compile ideas for what you can do with these amazing summer fruits and vegetables to create simple dishes to enhance your garden party table or even a small kitchen table for two.

Heirloom Tomato & Bocconcini Salad

Serves 4

6 large heirloom tomatoes, quartered

1 clove garlic

4 bocconcini cheeses, sliced into ¼ inch pieces

A bunch of basil

Good quality extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Place the tomatoes and garlic clove into a large bowl. Using a pestle, smash the garlic clove and then roughly crush the tomatoes in order to let the garlic permeate.

Discard the garlic or save for another use. Transfer the tomatoes and their juices to a large platter. Scatter the cheese and basil leaves, drizzle with the generous amount of oil and adjust with salt and pepper.

Serve immediately with a piece of crusty bread.

Cantaloupe, Prosciutto & Bocconcini Salad

Serves 5 to 6

1 large cantaloupe

20 pieces prosciutto

4 bocconcini cheeses, sliced into ¼ inch pieces

A few leaves of Italian parsley, chopped

Good quality extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Prepare the cantaloupe. My favourite way to cut a cantaloupe is to remove both ends first and place it on a cutting board sliced side down. Then I peel the skin using a fruit knife, slicing downward from the top (the other cut side) all around the fruit till finished. Next, quarter and discard the seeds trying to save as much juice as possible. Slice the quartered wedges into ½ inch slices.

Place the cantaloupe and its juice, prosciutto and bocconcini on a large platter. Scatter with the parsley, drizzle with the generous amount of oil and adjust with salt and pepper.

Serve immediately.

French Pole Bean Salad

The secret to making fabulous French pole bean salad is to only use the very youngest, tenderest beans!

Serves 4

2 ears of corn, cooked and kernels stripped

2 lb young French pole beans, ends trimmed off

6 slices bacon, fried and sliced into ½ inch pieces

½ red onion, chopped finely

½ cup olives, sliced

1/3 cup white wine vinegar

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Cook the beans in a pot of boiling salted water until soft but firm for about 3 to 5 minutes. Don’t over cook them. Using a colander, discard the hot water, and then plunge the beans in a bowl of cold running water to stop further discolouring. When cool, drain well and pat dry.

Place the onion, olives, vinegars and oil in a large bowl and whisk well to combine. Adjust with salt and pepper.

Toss the beans, corns and bacon in the vinegar mixture and marinate for about 10 minutes.

Transfer to a large platter and serve immediately.

Labour Day Weekend

To be honest with you, we rarely go out to eat because once you experience eating quality homegrown food, it is hard to find anything that measures up. Of course, we are very happy when chefs or foodie friends treat us with their crafts! However, this weekend we went to two restaurants in and around Vancouver area in one day! We were invited to a friend’s birthday lunch and another bon voyage dinner. The food was good but there was something lacking: “satisfaction.” My relationship with food starts from me sowing seeds on the ground and ends with composting the peelings from a meal I create. Nonetheless, the time we spent with friends was priceless. We had such a great time.

As if to recuperate from the weekend affair, the very next day we gulped fresh beet juice, sautéed Swiss chard, and devoured a roasted tomato and aubergine dish. The distinctive smell of freshly harvested Thai basil and the film of greasy oil coating the slightly burned edge of hard earned summer vegetables: this is why we cherish eating at home! We mopped the remnant of the richly flavoured exotic sauce with a crusty baguette from the plate, and savoured the taste of victory.

I appreciate all kinds of summer fruits, but especially melons, specifically cantaloupes. However, until they are ready, we’ve been enjoying honeydews from Red Barn Plants and Produce. We also recently picked up some eggplant which didn’t take off in my garden this year (by the way, I like calling them aubergine due to its romantic sound), a few colourful heirloom tomatoes and tomatillos for my roasted vegetable dish (recipe follows).

Fresh Beet Juice

We just discovered in our cupboard The Big Book of Juice and Smoothies 365 by Natalie Savona. This is a book that makes you feel energized by just flipping through its beautifully arranged coloured pages, which are organized by each fruit and vegetable. We’ve been making smoothies with seasonal fruits, and occasionally with veggies. With beets in season, it seemed like a good time to bring back an old favourite.

Serves 2 to 3

2 large beets, peeled and quartered

1 large carrot, chopped in a few pieces

1 organic apple, halved

2 oranges, peeled

6 ice cubes

Throw them in a Vitamix and blend. Add water as needed. Alternately, you can use a juicer but you will lose all the goodies (pulps).

Adapted from The Big Book of Juice and Smoothies 365.

Sautéed Rainbow Swiss Chard

Serves 2-3

2 garlic cloves, chopped finely

A big bunch of rainbow Swiss chard, rinsed, pat dried and cut into 2 inch pieces

A sprig of thyme

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

Parmesan cheese, ground

Warm up a large pan over medium high heat with plenty of olive oil. Sauté the garlic until fragrant then add Swiss chard. Turn the heat on high and sauté for a few minutes. The key here is to coat the vegetables with the hot oil and let them wilt in a short time to preserve the moisture in the chard. If cooked for a long time on low heat, they become watery.

Adjust the taste with a dash of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the cheese to finish. Serve immediately.

Roasted Tomatoes and Aubergine with Harissa

I adapted this recipe from my favourite book The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater. He uses chickpeas for its Middle Eastern originality but I used the potatoes since they are in abundance in our household.

Serves two hungry big eaters

A big bowlful of assorted heirloom tomatoes, halved or quartered if large

5 medium aubergines (eggplants), cut into 1 inch pieces

6 tomatillos, peeled and halved if large

3 garlic cloves, chopped finely

120ml olive oil

50ml red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

Salt and pepper

3 large potatoes, cut into ½ inch cubes and pat dried

Olive oil

1 to 2 teaspoons harissa paste (Tunisian hot chili sauce)

A bunch of Thai basil

Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the tomatoes, aubergine, and tomatillo on a cooking sheet. Scatter with the garlic, drizzle with the oil and vinegar, then sprinkle with the cumin seeds, and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Roast until tomatoes’ edges are slightly charred about 45 minutes.

In the meantime, in a large bowl, coat the potatoes well with some olive oil and place on a cooking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast until golden brown about 25 minutes.

Lift the vegetables with a slotted spoon to a large bowl. Reserve the juice in a small bowl and stir in the harissa paste.

Gently mix the potatoes into the vegetables and pour in the harissa sauce.

Transfer the vegetables to a platter and scatter with the whole basil leaves. Serve with a piece of crusty baguette.