Candied Beets

Beets...you love them or you hate them. It seems that most fall into the latter category.

However, most in our family actually like them...only the mom does not. But she tries (to hide them in things so SHE can't tell!).

Above is something that we've enjoyed a few times these past couple weeks.

Candied Beets served on a bed of greens.

The sauce alone is like a really sweet salad dressing. The beets add a wonderful earthiness to the salad.

There is no set recipe for this...we improvise as we go along.

Here is what we did.

Scrub the beets (about 1/2 to 1 per person, depends on how much you like beets and the size of your beets), cut off the top and bottom. Cut beet in half (or quarters, if it's a very large beet).

Microwave beets until soft (we lay them out, cut side up, on a heavy paper towel).

Place beets under cold water, one at a time, and slip skins off.

Dice beets.

In Saucepan, place 1/2 cup sugar and just enough vinegar to make a thick paste. Don't add too much vinegar!

Boil sugar and vinegar until it comes to a rolling boil. Boil a couple minutes, stirring frequently or constantly.

Add beets.

Continue to boil until the sugar reaches a thick candy like stage or until you cannot wait any longer. : )

Serve over mixed greens, or meat, or??? (the other day, they were adding it to their potato leek soup...)
The boys think it's much better when it starts to get thick and shiny...and who wouldn't! It's called Candied Beets for a reason.

Since even this doesn't hide the "wonderful beet flavor" enough for the mom, she simply uses the beautiful beet colored sauce on her salad.

Mixed Veggie Pasta

Here is one of our favorite summer recipes. It is yummy and changes as the garden does.

Mixed Veggie Pasta

-your favorite pasta (we like farfalle)

-a variety of your favorite garden veggies. : ) yes, it's a very scientific recipe.

-meat as you like

tonight we used:

onions, chopped
carrots, finely chopped

beets, chopped

pea pods, cut into thirds,

swiss chard, cut into strips

(soon we will be adding beans, summer squash, tomatoes, a variety of peppers, etc)

saute onions in olive oil. Start adding other veggies from the most firm (carrots) to the most tender (swiss chard...it gets piled on top, then I simply set the cover on top). We gently soften everything...you can saute as much or as little as you like.

put your favorite pasta in a dish and layer these yummy veggies over the top. We also added a little well seasoned/herbed locally raised ground beef. yum!