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Market Days - Beet Salad

I learned this recipe in the whole foods cooking class that I took at Bastyr University. The original is in the cookbook “Feed the Whole Family” by Cynthia Lair.

Beet Salad with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

1 bunch of beets
1 bunch beet greens, washed and chopped into bite size pieces
¼ cup pumpkin seeds, toasted (I bought them this way, but instructions for tasting your own are included)

Heat oven to 350◦. Wash beets. Place beets in an oven proof dish. Add ¼ inch of water to the bottom of the dish and cover. Roast until the beets are slightly soft to the touch, 30-40 min. Remove from the oven and let cool. Slide off skins under running water. Cut beets into bite size chunks.

Wash beet greens by submerging the bunch in a sink full of cold water. Shake off water and chop the greens into bite size pieces.

Add chopped beats to bowl with beet greens. Coat lightly with dressing, reserving extra dressing

How to toast nuts and seeds
Toast pumpkin seeds by placing seeds in a dry skillet (do not use any oil) over medium heat. Move the skillet back and forth over the heat with one hand; stir the seeds using a wooden spoon with the other hand. This will toast the seeds evenly and prevent burning. When seeds begin to pop and give off a nutty aroma they are ready. Remove seeds from skillet and set aside.

Dressing for Beet Salad
(This is Cynthia Lair’s exact recipe. I tend to mix it to taste, with lots of mustard)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
¾ teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1-2 cloves garlic, diced (optional)

Mix ingredients together.

Market Days Recipes - Grilled Squash, Sauteed Greens and Sweet Sticky Rice

 Grilled Summer Squash and Zucchini 

Jill and Chris from Jill Jack Sun Farms provided the vegetables for this dish.  The dressing recipe is from one of my favorite Whole Foods cookbooks: “Feeding the Whole Family” by Cynthia Lair.  I was lucky enough to study with her at Bastyr University out in Seattle, WA.

 

1 tsp    extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp    organic lime juice

4-5       squash and zucchini washed and cut into ½ inch chunks

  

Mix the olive oil and lime juice together in the bottom of a large bowl. 

Toss the squash and zucchini chunks in the mixture. 

Dump onto a pre-warmed, greased grill pan.

Grill, stirring and turning every few minutes, until the vegetables are soft. 

Remove from heat and toss with Lime-Olive Oil Dressing

 Lime-Olive Oil Dressing 

Juice of ½ lemon or lime

2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce

1 clove garlic peeled and split in half

¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

  In a bowl whisk together the lemon juice, oil, and tamari with a fork.  Add the garlic clove and pepper.                                            

Sautéed Greens with Onions 

Ed provided some tender Swiss chard for this recipe.  Sautéing is an easy, speedy way to prepare greens for dinner.  You can preserve the vitamins (and the taste) by cooking them until they just turn bright green. 

 

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

8 cups chopped raw greens, stems and all

 

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a skillet

When warm add the chopped onion

Cook until the onion is transparent, about 5 min

Add the chopped greens to the skillet. The greens will overwhelm the pan at first, but they wilt down quickly.

(For tougher greens- like Kale or Collards- I add a ¼ cup of water to the skillet after adding the greens.  The steam helps the greens cook quickly without damaging their vitamins.)

Cook, stirring occasionally, until they greens turn bright green.  This will only take a few minutes.

  

Sweet Sticky Rice with fresh Georgia Peaches

(Serves 8 +)

 

I learned how to make sweet sticky rice on a trip to Thailand.  There this dish is served with fresh mango; since we are in Georgia I used tasty fresh, local peaches.   As long as you remember to soak the rice, this is an easy, light summer dessert.  Though the sauce is very high in calories, you actually eat very little of it per serving.  Coconut milk is a good source of short chain fatty acids (SCFA) which actually help with weight and appetite control.

 

3-4 ripe Georgia peaches

5 cups sticky white rice (long grain), soaked in water for at least four hours or overnight

1 cup coconut cream

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (not imitation)

 Sauce

½ cup thick coconut milk

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

½ teaspoon salt

  

Add vanilla extract to the water in a steamer.  You may need to line your steamer basket with cheese cloth to prevent the rice from falling through the holes in the basket.

(At the market I had trouble getting the temperature high enough to steam the rice, so I just mixed the soaked rice with 5 cups of water and 1 tablespoon vanilla, brought it to a boil, and simmered it until the water was gone, about 10-15 min.)

Remove the rice from the steamer (or the pot) and spread it out on a rimmed cookie sheet.  You want it to cool quickly so it doesn’t become mushy.

Mix the coconut cream, sugar, and salt together and simmer over low heat for five minutes

While the rice is still warm, add the rice to the coconut cream mixture, combine thoroughly, and remove from heat and leave to “rest” for 20-40 minutes.

Combine the sauce ingredients together and boil for two minutes or until the sugar is dissolved.

When ready to serve, divide the sticky rice into 8 portions on separate plates.

Slice the peaches and arrange them on top of the sticky rice.

Drizzle sauce over rice and peaches and serve.  

See you this Saturday. 

Dr. Brenna Murphy

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