Red As A Beet

These are the beets I made for dinner tonight. They were fiilllthy! when they arrived from the farm. I scrubbed them with the green side of a (new) Scotch Brite sponge, just as hard (if not harder) than I've lately been scrubbing the tea/coffee stains out of my mugs. Which is to say: pretty hard. Once the dirt came off, they were a gorgeous red color - bordering on fuschia.

Before tonight, I'd never made beets before. I've eaten beets, but usually pickled from a can and buried in a salad. Before tonight, I wasn't sure how much I really liked beets, or if I even liked them at all.

Turns out, I like them alright, but I don't love 'em. What I do like are the greens, with the spiky stems removed (who knew beets had spiky stems?), sauteed with garlic, spinach, and onions in a bit of olive oil and salt. Deeelicious! The subtle crunch of the perfectly browned onions and greens, combined with the soft juiciness of roasted beets and potatoes - a lovely meal.

One that I forgot to take a picture of. Sorry!

On the deck: Radishes. A whole bunch of 'em, dirty as hell, came in this week's CSA. Perhaps a soup is in the forecast?