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Favorite vegetable


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Kim WB

If they have them at your market, get pink-skinned Chioggia beets (golden beets are very similar) instead of plain red beets. Chioggias are sweeter and have less of that earthy flavor you don't like. They're also a lot less mess since you don't get red beet juice all over.

I like to roast them with the skins on, peel, slice, and eat with just good olive oil and good salt.

Jim

olive oil + salt

Real Good Food

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But will roasting intensify the stringiness?

As celery is really cellulose and water, will it taste like....boiled plant cells and boiled water?  :blink:

SA

Nope. Spicy. Peppery.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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OK, got the golden and the red beets. I will make Jim's goden beet suggestion for lunch, as it sounds a little quicker and I'm hungry, but Suzanne's suggestion will work out for dinner: I can do the roa sting now, let them cool while I play Mom's taxi service all afternoon,, and then peel and finish the salad off before dinner.

As I was buying hte beets, this woman comes up to me and starts raving about them, she bought some Saturday and had to come back for more, they were so wonderful, etc. I nodded politely, but wondered if indeed there is some kind of underground beet conspiracy rearing its ugly head.

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Kim, even if you're not sold on the beets, the beet GREENS are absolutely wonderful, stewed with garlic and caramelized onions, a dash of red pepper flakes and crisp-fried or rendered pancetta, and served as a pasta sauce with either penne or other similar shaped pasta.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

They taste nothing at all like dirt. :wink:

SA

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Golden beets were moderately successful, thinking they will never become a favorite, but were not repulsive to me like a red beet is. Nice texture, filling, substantial.

Time constraints limited my red beet experiment, but I will have them for lunch today.

And I have always wondered about rutabagas myself.

Jin, when prepping the greens, do you use only the topmost dark green part and pull them off the stalk, or use them on the red stalk?

Edited by Kim WB (log)
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I'll try the beet suggestions as soon as I got to the store again. I've only had them pickled from Grandma's garden (and that's been a while!!!) My fav veg (right now) is eggplant. You can roast, bake, fry or braise it. Delish

One question - is broccolinni worth the price? My store has it for 1.99 for a small bunch that might serve 2 who aren't too hungry. We love broccoli, and it's much cheaper. I'm always looking for something different, and if it's really good, I'd try it.

Stop Family Violence

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Ok, the beets are roasted. I can't even stand the smell of them cooling, I put them outside on the deck. Jeez, the things I do for e-gullet. Suzanne's salad will be made for dinner, along with roasted cauliflower and brown rice. And all the components of a green salad ready to go, in case peeling hte bets exceeds my abilities. :raz:

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Broccoli and asparagus, both with hollandaise sauce! Green beens with lemon, toasted almonds and butter sauce

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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OK, I no longer hate hate hate red beets. I don't really like them, but they are somewhat palatable if mixed with lemon and basil, and are cold. It would never be my vegetable of choice, but I will no longer gag at the thought of them....and golden beets are not totally terrible, either.

Beet Greens, however, are quite good, sauteed in oil and roasted garlic. lotsa salt. actually have a smoother bite than full leaf spinach. I realized that I have eaten them in green mixes, but never solo.

Roasted green beans are still my favorite. Like french fries, to me.

Edited by Kim WB (log)
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GRACIOUS BOW, GRACIOUS BOW, GRACIOUS BOW.

Kuddos accepted. Hubby was scheduled to work late, but came home due to a cancelled meeting...the kids were having a pasta with EVOO and roasted garlic, plus some leftover roasted chicken heated through...I had a head of Jim Dixon's cauliflower,and a bit of brown rice ( trying to get used to it)..and the beet salad, all set to go. When hubby came home, quicky defrosted some beef consomme, made some orzo, andadded a few portobellos to the heating soup. ANYWAY, when he saw the beets, he's like" Why ar e you eating them, don't you think they taste like dirt??" I explained the whole e-gullet challange of sorts, and he declared me crazy. Perhaps. but having hi m there really helped me verbalize things: The lemon helps. It's not really DIRT, its more like EARTH. Basil's good. It was fun..I sometimes have egullet in the back of my thoughts during the day or during the meal...today, they were the INSPIRATION. IT was fun, in a geeky kind of on line way.

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heh, well maybe now we can challenge Kim (j/k) on trying some of the beet salads as presented by Alice in her Chez Panisse Vegetables

hey, maybe borscht is a new thing!

seriously, glad it worked out for you.

maybe beet ice cream is next? :blink:

SA

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Carrots. Boiled /roasted /steamed /raw/ cake. Closely followed by Swiss Chard. I am declaring potatoes and onions hors de concours.

Beets are always a royal PIA to prepare, any way you prepare them. Oh, the ruined aprons and tea towels! I buy a jar of pickled beets once a year , Christmas Eve, to accompany my tourtiere. I like them in a good vinegary salad. Otherwise, too bland and sweet. But not dirt tasting.

BTW, we stopped growing and cooking beets after we read...somewhere, wish I could give the attribution, that beets have fewer nutrients of any kind of any vegetable. Even celery. The nutrients are in the greens, which I do like.

Kim: Good for you anyway!

Margaret McArthur

"Take it easy, but take it."

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

A sensational tennis blog from freakyfrites

margaretmcarthur.com

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In order of preference, or at least in order of how often I eat them, based on the season:

Artichokes (must have had lots of pre-natal appreciation here, as I was born from an artichoke farmer's daughter)

Brandywine tomatoes (home grown)

Arugala

Jerusalum Artichokes (a fairly recent discovery -- simply roasted with EVO, s&p, and whatever herb is available)

Parsnips

Kale and any other bitter greens like Mustard, Chard, etc. (I steam up a big pot of it, chill it, then dip the leaves in vinegar for a late night snack) (I love all cruciferous vegs including broccolli, cauliflower, cabbage)

Corn (local farmer only, no grocery store)

Bok Choy

Butternut Squash and Cheese Pumpkin

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BTW, we stopped growing and cooking beets after we read...somewhere, wish I could give the attribution, that beets have fewer nutrients of any kind of any vegetable.  Even celery.  The nutrients are in the greens, which I do like.

Kim: Good for you anyway!

Like Kim, I am also not a fan of beets. Maggie's post below gives me further ground to avoid them. Love the greens in salad, though. Still I always have celery around to make any sort of psuedo Mario Batali dish.

I am late to this game on favorite vegetables. But, here goes:

Arugula (Steve Martin: "Its a vegetable" (Uncooked)

Parnsips

Summer tomatoes (especially homegrown ones eaten at the DuPont market witih salt)

Asparagus (of course)

Swiss chard-anyway- great with garlic oil;

Kale- great in soups or sauteed with ginger

Okra (especially fried)

Fresh corn with lime and chili powder

Edited by nerissa (log)
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