More Beets!

I've got lots more beets. I woke up this morning having dreams about picking and cleaning beets from my garden.

Ed suggested I make a Roasted Beet Salad as found in Betty Crocker's cookbook. That one calls for orange slices and goat cheese. I just used the beets and some toasted walnuts.

This salad went nicely with some Fresh Brewed Jasmine Green Iced Tea.

Chicken Roll-Ups

I saw this one on Everyday Food on Saturday. Chicken Roll-Ups. Their recipe was with Arugula and Goat Cheese, instead I used Spinach, Ricotta Cheese, and Red Pepper, and I added some steamed broccoli on the side.



Their picture looks much better than mine, when I cut them they really fell apart - but that didn't change the flavor. Yum, I'll definitely make this one again.

Garden Fresh Beets

These fresh beets from my garden just became Roasted Beet Borscht.

The recipe is here.



I asked Ed if he thought I should make this recipe - he said "I love Borscht." So I decided that was as good a reason as any to give it a try. Plus, I've got a lot of beets to do something with.

I'd never even heard the word Borscht before little Benjamin fell asleep over "Too Much Borscht" back in January. According to Wikipedia, Borscht is the Yiddish word for soup. More here.

Mine doesn't look anything like the pictures on Wikipedia, but I followed this recipe exactly. (All except for I didn't use dill, and I used yogurt instead of sour cream.)

This was actually much like the Carrot Ginger Soup. So if I made it again, I might not blend it up quite so much - just for something different. I also used Ed's idea of toasting a Pita with a little EVOO for a nice bread to go with it.

If you like beets - you'll like this! Yum!

Let me know if you try it.

Sara

Trying to Beat the Heat

So my air conditioner is on the fritz. (Not a great thing when you live in Nebraska, in July.) So that makes my nightly cup of hot tea sort of a stupid idea.

Lately I've been taking to brewing a couple of pints of tea in the evening and letting them sit. Before I go to bed I stick them in the fridge. Then the next day I add ice and enjoy this freshly brewed Iced Tea.

Obviously not a new idea by any means, but new for me. I've always hated iced tea (or thought I did) because my dad always made the mixed stuff with the creepy artificial sugar taste. This is just so much better. Tonight I'm brewing a cup of Moroccan Mint Green tea, and a cup of a tea called "The Magic of Hawaii" its an herbal brew with some tropical hints. Delicious!

Speaking of nice summer time drinks I wonder if Linda will share her Mojito recipe . . that sounds good right now too!

I'm also enjoying a bowl of ice cream tonight, that's keeping me cool too!

Sara

I hear Ed's got a great new idea for a quick and delicious pizza crust - I can't wait til he blogs it and we all can learn something new!

Transition

I've gotta rip a line off from a blog I just read because it articulates fairly well my own continuing adventure in the food department.

I love The Oven. It is probably the most important restaurant in my transition away from the limited diet of my youth to the expanded, diversified diet I enjoy today. For that reason it will always hold a special place in my heart.

For me it wasn't The Oven, but a restraunt called Tandoor (also Indian, also in Lincoln). Mara made me go there one day (she paid, so I didn't put up too much of a stink) and I loved it. Of course I'm still pretty far away from having a truly expanded diet (with in the last week I have been labeled a "culinary nightmare") but I'm getting closer. Thanks to Tandoor which got the ball rolling!

Sara

btw - I didn't link to this person's blog because they went on to give a bad review of The Oven, I didn't find that all together helpful and I made an executive decision that you wouldn't want to read it either!

Carrot Cake

A Carrot Cake for the 4th of July. I guess they don't really go together, but its what I had the ingredients for! Yum! I can't wait to dig into this one. Hopefully it makes the trip to Filley without getting too much frosting on the upholstery of my car.

Both the Carrot Cake and the Cream Cheese Frosting are in the Betty Crocker Cookbook, everybody has that one right?

Happy 4th!