farmers market – Rainy Saturday Creative

First Farmers Market of 2022: what I cooked day 3, all about the beets!

Posted on June 20, 2022 by jsunrain

Today is the dreaded day. Facing my fear of beets. I don’t know if I had some traumatic day in my youth with beets, but I don’t remember it if there was. So far as I know I have never ate cooked beets before. They look gross and I have some imagined way they might taste. Now many years ago I did get a beet in one of those produce delivery boxes. I whimped out and cut raw into small dices and used then in a tossed salad the way you would a radish. It is fine raw.

This year at the farmers markets I go to I want to challenge myself to try things I never had before. This time of year at the farmers markets in Wisconsin there aren’t a lot of pickings yet, but there I was faced with beets. I wasn’t ready yet. But the vendor lady was so sweet and we started talking. She had never had a beet raw before. So we made a deal, that she would try a beet raw and I would try one cooked. She sold them in groups of three. She gave me a bunch with three different kinds. I forgot to get her name and tell here it would be two weeks before I would be back as I will be out of town this weekend. First recipe was my wimp recipe and the second one was roasting a traditional beet in the oven and eating it simply.

One friend suggested root vegetable hash. Was a lovely delicious choice, though using a variety of vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, in addition to the beets, so nothing, but maybe the white potatoes really stands out. I have no regrets. I used that little orange black tool that turns my veggies into matchsticks. The onions I thinly sliced and the beets I had to matchstick by hand. I then mixed them all in a bowl with oil and spices. After that I put them on a sheet tray and put into a 350° F oven stirring every 10 minutes for a half hour. Next time I may leave it in for 20 minutes, stir, then leave in 20 minutes. I wasn’t following a recipe. I put a serving full, maybe one cup, on the stove top (put the rest in the fridge to cook later), to finish crisping up. I then put a fried egg on top. Super good.

Now to face my ultimate fear. Eating a cooked beet. One of those one everyone eats and seems to love. I roasted it in the oven in foil for 45 minutes at 400°F. I cut it into fours to make it easier to remove the skin. It isn’t as bad as I thought but I still don’t like it. At least I tried. I am sure many will say but try it this way or that way, but for now at least, I am not motivated. Maybe we can revisit it next year. Or maybe not. But I still like the sautéed beet greens.

First Farmers Market of 2022: what I cooked day 2

Posted on June 19, 2022 by jsunrain

I am really not in a cooking mood today, but I did so much yesterday. There are still two things I cooked.

First I made toast. Not rocket science of course. But I put on it the buckwheat honey I bought yesterday. I love buckwheat pancakes, but I had never heard of buckwheat honey and didn’t know what to expect. It is so much darker. The flavor I would say is dark and bitter. I didn’t like it. I might still try it in cooking for things like almond cake or bulgogi, two places I use regular honey.

Then I made fried rice. I used the green beans I bought and cooked yesterday. I cut them up into smaller bite sized pieces. I also cute up some of my red scallions. I was lazy and used microwave sticky rice. Though I normally use my rice cooker with short grain rice. I cooked all the ingredients together in a mix of canola and sesame oil. I like my fried rice on the more oily side, but we all know sesame oil is delicious but strong. I also added some previously sautéed onions. When it was done I put serving in a bowl and added some fresh chopped scallion. I almost called it a day, but then realized I forgot the fried egg. The yolk sadly broke but I tried to keep it together as much as I could. I normally love a runny yolk. I can’t find my furikake which is normally a nice addition. I added instead garlic sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

I must make sure to cook the beets tomorrow. I am scared of really hating it. I have three beets. One I will roast in the oven. The other two I will use a friend’s suggestion and make a root vegetable hash. Did you know there is such a thing as beet cakes? But I don’t have enough beets for that. Maybe another time.

First Farmers Market of 2022: what I bought and what I cooked day 1

Posted on June 18, 2022 by jsunrain

I went to the first day of Fox Point Farmers Market of 2022, located in Fox Point Wisconsin. This time of year the pickings are slim, but I knew it would challenge me more. Well into “middle age” I am still picky like a five year old except I hate chicken nuggets. But I love things many adult friends don’t like; steak tartare, sushi with raw fish, and a Wisconsin tradition, cannibal sandwich! Look it up. 🙂

I am getting sidetracked. The only two not challenging foods for me today are red scallions and green beans. The challenging foods are beets and bok choy! I also picked up buckwheat honey which looked intriguing. The egg and chorizo burrito was breakfast I got there, very delicious! I am sorry I didn’t get the names of the people I bought from. I will be back in the coming weeks. I will have other farmers markets I will go to.

I will start off with the green beans and beats from one vendor. I am really scared of cooked beets. I was telling the woman I have only had beets raw, diced up and put in a salad like you would a radish. She has never had raw beets. So I promised to cook beets and she promised to try them raw. I haven’t cooked them yet. I will either roast them in the oven and/or go with a friend’s suggestion of a root vegetable hash. The vendor woman also suggested sautéing the beet greens. I did that the same way I did the bok choy below. I am not really into cooked greens in general, but this was successful. I was pleasantly surprised. I basically cooked them in oil, onion, garlic, soy sauce, a splash of water thrown in.

The green beans cooked almost the same way but they were boiled in water first. A little different for me since I usually steam them. The important thing is that in the end they are al dente. You will never want frozen or canned green beans again.

The red scallions and bok choy were from another vender. The scallions I just chopped up to use wherever. Probably salad and fried rice. I have seen bok choy cooked and look delicious. I used a Bon Appetit recipe cooking it in oil, onion, soy sauce, a touch of water. Unfortunately too bitter or something for me. I don’t think it is how I cooked it, I just don’t think I would like it regardless. But at least I tried it. Where is my gold star? 😺