recipes – Rainy Saturday Creative

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.

I have been subscribing to Bon Appetit for a few years now. I don’t subscribe to magazines so much anymore, so I get super excited when Bon Appetit comes in. I don’t ever cook as much as I think I will, but it is still eye candy!

I received the June/July 2022 issue on Friday. On Saturday I made the curried tomato sandwich on page 56. Today I made the grilled corn with chaat masala on page 54 and tomato salad with jalapeño ranch on page 53.

The curried tomato sandwich was super easy. You are basically toasting bread on the stove top in oil and curry spice. Then you make your tomato sandwich as usual. I did like the recipe and just used mayo and tomatoes, but it would be good with additions like lettuce, bacon, or avocado. However you like your sandwich. You can also use your favorite spice if curry isn’t your thing.

I had to make some adjustments to the grilled corn with chaat masala. The first being that chaat masala has too much of a licorice taste I don’t like. I used Chana masala instead. I also don’t have a grill. I used two frozen mini ears of corn, wrapped them in wet paper towel and microwaved them for five minutes. Separately I combined the butter and Chana masala. Seemed like too much spice to the amount of butter, so I added more butter. Then I heated some oil in a pan on the stove so I could get that charring. Then on the plate I rubbed the corn in the Chana masala butter and added some shredded Mexican queso cheese, I couldn’t immediately find cotija cheese. It was all really good. I will save the Chana masala butter for when I make it again. I am sure I can use it for other things.

One might argue I did not make the tomato salad with jalapeño ranch. I didn’t use jalapeño and I didn’t have any chives. I forgot to add them to the shopping list. So I added more onion spices. I also didn’t rub the tomatoes with oil and garlic. I am sure that is delicious, but I like tomatoes as is too. I used the ranch as a dip. To be honest I think it is kind of weird to throw them on top. It is really good. Maybe next time I will make it more proper, but still leaving out the jalapeño.