Do you like beets? I would say that at least half of our readers would respond with a hearty no!
So, I set out to find the most outrageous recipe using beets, one that most of my gardening friends had never heard of before.
The winner of our search for the most unusual beet recipe is fresh beet cake, furnished by one of my students in the Carlsbad Senior Garden Class. It knocked the socks off of everyone who tasted it, and everyone wanted the recipe.
Francesca Thomas of Carlsbad found this delightful recipe, and part of the secret is in the combination of beets and chocolate in the cake, which looks like a traditional red velvet cake.
If you have beets in your garden, the best time to harvest is when they are the size of tennis balls. Anything larger than that will taste dry and mealy.
FRESH BEET CAKE (adapted from a recipe by Delphine Fortune)
For the beet cake:
- 2 medium beets, peeled and grated (about 1.5 cups)
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2-3 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder (to taste)
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt
Instructions for the beetroot cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 9×9 pan with parchment, or use cupcake liners in a tin
- Peel and grate the beets finely and squeeze them lightly to remove the excess juice. Set aside.
- Whisk the oil with both sugars a few minutes in a bowl. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
- Mix together the dry ingredients and stir them into the wet mixture along with the grated beets.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for about 25-30 minutes (for cake) or 18-22 minutes (for cupcakes) or until a toothpick inserted in its center comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.
IS THERE KALE IN YOUR DIET?
Kale was a bit of a rage in dietary circles about 10 years ago because it contains large amounts of vitamins A, C and K as well as minerals such as calcium, potassium and iron.
The only problem is that for most people it tastes like spinach with a horrible permanent! I have tried numerous times to steam, bake and fry this vegetable and have finally arrived at the most edible and nutritious version of a vegetable stew.
Kale lentil stew is not only hearty but takes care of one of those huge bunches of kale that are growing right now in everyone’s spring garden. If you don’t have a garden, it is available at most produce stores.
KALE LENTIL STEW (from Jano’s Garden)
Ingredients:
- 1 large bunch of curly or flat-leaved kale (from garden or produce store)
- 1 cup green lentils
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 Russet potatoes
- 2 tbsp. olive oil (add more to taste)
- Fresh lemon juice
- 1 quart chicken stock or vegetable stock
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Harvest leaves of kale from the garden; you need at least 10 large leaves. Strip leaves from the inner vein. Chop into bite-size pieces.
- Start lentils. In a heavy 2-quart pot, half fill with water, add 1 cup green lentils. Bring to boil, cook for 15 minutes.
- Slice Russet potatoes into ½-inch slices, add to pot of lentils and continue to boil until lentils are soft, usually for one hour.
- Sauté yellow onion in olive oil. Add chopped kale, cook until wilted.
- Add both vegetables and lentils to large soup pot or crock pot. Cook at high heat in strong chicken stock for at least one hour. The advantage of the crock pot is you can leave it on low and serve throughout the day.
- The stew is ready when the kale is wilted and lentils are softened. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, salt and more olive oil to taste.
SEARCHING FOR VEGETARIAN RECIPES
Cookbook author Mollie Katzen was one of the cooperative owners of the then-famous Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, New York, in 1970. She has written a series of cookbooks chronicling the rise of the vegetarian movement in the 1970s and ’80s.
Back then, no one had the creativity to make entire meals based entirely on fruit, vegetables, grains and nuts. She and other writers did the research to prove that the protein derived from meat and poultry could be replaced by a vegetarian diet.
Her books “Moosewood Cookbook” and “The Enchanted Broccoli Forest” have become staples on everyone’s cookbook shelf. The key for all the vegetarian recipes is to use produce from your own garden or find reputable distributors.
In her “Still Life with Menu Cookbook,” she has given us full three-course meals created from garden ingredients.
In upcoming columns, we will walk the community garden searching for ideas to create entire meals with just the fruit and vegetables at hand. Stay tuned!
Jano Nightingale is a horticulturist and Master Gardener and teaches vegetable gardening at the Carlsbad Pine Street Senior Garden. She also loves to cook at her home in Vista. For more information about upcoming classes, call the Senior Center at 442 339-2650 or contact her at [email protected].
