For a blog named after beets, it’s been far too long since I featured a recipe based on my favorite root vegetable.

The occasion for these beets was a vegetarian dinner we hosted last weekend.  Oddly, I find it easier to plan and prepare a menu with constraints such as no meat or no dairy than one in which the whole food palette is available.  Perhaps it’s the same reason I love CSAs… when dealing with a limited set of ingredients, I tend to be more creative and adventurous with the foods I prepare.  There is a similar practice for musicians.  Musicians will deliberately put themselves in situations where making music is really the only thing to do, with few distractions and where supreme boredom is a looming possibility, i.e. move to a mountain cabin for 3-4 months.  The only thing to do is to make music.  Period.  Some of the best music in history is a result of people enforcing constraints on themselves.

Anyhow, when I made these beets last weekend they were but one component of three in a salad from David Tanis’ book A Platter of Figs.  I first saw the cookbook back in 2008 when I went to Chez Panisse for the first time (Thank You Alisha!).  The cookbook had just been released, and Tanis, a chef for half of the year at Chez Panisse, was preparing menus in the vein of his new book.  The meal was simply amazing, and is something I will remember for many, many years to come.  I had been meaning to pick up the cookbook ever since, but this Christmas I received it as a very thoughtful gift, and since then have read it cover to cover.  It is simply lovely.  It is menu based, and embodies so many wonderful ideas about entertaining.  Each menu is a collection of 3-7 recipes (or non-recipes, depending on who you ask… is a platter of figs a recipe?).  Each is designed to be served at a dinner among friends, 8-10 people or so.  Tanis presents a few simple but compelling ideas related to entertaining:

• – A gathering flows similarly to how a menu flows — plan it thoughtfully
• – When serving food, serve it on family style platters rather than individually plating everything.  It makes the experience more intimate.
• – When hosting a dinner party, the focus is people and friendship.  Food may compliment this, but it shouldn’t be the absolute focus.  With this in mind, favor simplicity, seasonality, and quality ingredients to make simple, delicious food

When the party was over and I was cleaning up, I separated the prepared salad into its’ components — beets, eggs, and watercress — since I figured they would keep better separately than in one big massive container.  Then next morning I tasted the beets on their own and thought to myself, these are so delicious!  Slightly pickled, sweet, earthy, and just a hint of mustard… since then I have been eating them on their own and loving it… on top of ricotta spread over rye, mixed with chopped egg as a pink take on egg salad, and plain spoonfuls straight out of the refrigerator whenever I feel the urge.

Whether on their own or atop a watercress salad as David Tanis originally envisioned it, these beets are superbly delicious and quite simple to prepare.  A beet lover will fall more deeply in love, and the beet averse will perhaps give the underrated vegetable a second thought.  Enjoy them thoroughly, and keep in mind David Tanis’ idea that entertaining is a joy to be shared and celebrated.

Enjoy!

David Tanis’ Beets
Adapted from A Platter of Figs

6 medium beets, greens removed, scrubbed clean
2 large shallots, finely diced
2 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. white wine vinegar
salt and pepper
1 T. dijon mustard
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
2 t. grated orange zest
a squeeze of orange juice (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Place the beets in a roasting pan with about an inch of water.  Bake, covered, for an hour, or until the beets are easily pierced with a fork.  Slip off the skins while the beets are still warm.  Roasted beets will keep for 2 or 3 days in the refrigerator.To make the vinaigrette, macerate the diced shallots in a bowl with the vinegars and a good pinch of salt for 10 minutes.  Stir in the mustard until dissolved.  Whisk in the olive oil, add the orange zest, and grind in some pepper.  Squeeze in some orange juice if desired.  Taste and adjust for acid and salt.  The dressing should be somewhat tart so add more red wine vinegar if necessary.

Dice the beets into roughly 1/2 inch cubes.  Place the beets in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.  Whisk the vinaigrette and pour it over the beets.  Toss the beets in the dressing.  Enjoy!

Note:  David Tanis’ original recipe is Watercress, Beet, and Egg Salad.  To make this, simply spread about three bunches of cleaned, trimmed watercress over a platter.  Scatter the beets over the watercress, then garnish the salad with 6 hard-boiled eggs that have been cut into quarters.  This is also supremely delicious!

Still Hungry?  Try one of these:

- Beet Towers with Farmers Cheese and Oranges

- 48 Hours in New York, 3 recipes: Nora’s Beets with Ricotta; Roasted five-spice Squash, Caramelized Onion, and Chevre Bites; The MB Hangover Cure and General Wellness Drink

I don’t have that many clothes or shoes or knick knacks, but I do have a lot of cookbooks and kitchen stuff.  A lot of that stuff I use at least once a week, if not more often.  The thought of parting with it all for 8 weeks makes my stomach do little flip flops, and not in the good way like being excited or in love or just very hungry…

I kept a few kitchen things out for the “fast box”, a box we sent by air mail late last week that will probably arrive in about 2 weeks rather than 8 — a 2 qt. dutch oven, a spatula, a wooden spoon, salt and pepper grinders, and a set of measuring spoons.  A few other things I kept out to go in my suitcase, things I would have a really hard time doing without for even a couple weeks — my favorite 8 inch chef’s knife, a small paring knife, a pair of tongs, a tiny plastic cutting board, my onion goggles (sort of questioning whether these were actually a necessity), and a wine opener.

We sent the “fast box” off on Wednesday, and our 8-week “slow” boxes were picked up this past Friday.  This means that I have exactly two knives, one pair of tongs, a tiny cutting board, and a pair of oh-so-important onion googles :) — no pots, no pans, no spices — not exactly the tools for a feast.  But, as any cliche connoisseur will tell you, where there is a will, there is a way.

I am firm believer that you don’t have to eat crap even if the world and everyone around you tells you that you are too busy to cook.  Takeout and frozen pizza be damned, I want real food.  Not only do I feel better and eat more healthfully, but I also think that by deciding to make and eat something real, even if very quick and simple, it makes me a little more sane.  During a time of uprooting major change, it’s odd how a simple tupperware container full of homemade roasted vegetables topped with a plain roasted chicken thigh can make everything seem ok (tupperware because all of my dishes are gone…)

Well, tonight is the last night in our German apartment.  We move into a hotel tomorrow for our last three days in Hannover, and then we fly out early Thursday morning (cat and all). Wish me luck on these last few days of my Great German Adventure!

Desperado Roasted Vegetables and Chicken Thighs
*tastes best when eaten out of tupperware since you have packed up and shipped all of your real dishes across the Atlantic…

1 beet, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 small (fist sized) celery root, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 large carrot, scrubbed and cut into chunks
2 parsnips, scrubbed and cut into chunks
1 white potato, scrubbed and cut into chunks
1 red potato, scrubbed and cut into chunks
5 small onions (about 2-inch diameter), peeled and quartered
6-8 brussels sprouts, trimmed
8-10 cloves of garlic, un-peeled
2 skin-on chicken legs
olive oil
salt
pepper
~ 1-2 T. prepared pesto

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Rinse chicken and pat dry.  Rub with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Mix all vegetables in a bowl (or if you’re moving like me and have packed all of your bowls, a big piece of tupperware will do), and drizzle with about 2 T. of olive oil.  Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and stir until evenly coated.  Spread vegetables onto a rimmed baking sheet covered with parchment paper.  Place chicken thighs on top, and place in the oven.  Roast for about 1 hr, stirring every 20 minutes, until chicken skin is brown and crisp, and vegetables have reached the desired tenderness.  If the chicken skin isn’t crisping up, broil for about 3-4 minutes at the end of the cooking time.

Remove garlic cloves, and squeeze out of skins into a small bowl.  Mash garlic, add pesto, and mix until combined.  Transfer vegetables from baking sheet to some sort of bowl, add garlic pesto mixture, and stir until evenly coated.  Serve vegetables topped with a chicken thigh.  Enjoy!

Still Hungry?  Try one of these:

- Welcome to Modern Beet : Thoughtful Eating

Beet Towers with Farmers Cheese and Oranges

2 medium beets, washed, greens removed
1 small orange (Cara-cara are my favorites)
~ 2-4 T. farmers cheese or good quality ricotta
Black Pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Wrap beets in a foil packet and roast for about 1 hour, or until beets are tender and can be easily pierced with a knife. Carefully open foil packets and allow to cool (this can be done up to a day in advance).

When beets are cool enough to handle, slip off skins and trim top of beet so that it is a flat surface. Place the beets on their sides and slice into 1/3 inch or so slices, keeping the slices in order.

Cut the bottom and top off the orange, then peel using a serrated knife to cut away the peel and all of the white pith. Cut the orange into thin slices — count the number of beet slices that you have, then cut that many orange slices, minus two.

Place the bottom slice of one beet on a plate or small cutting board. Take about 1-1.5 t. farmers cheese and spread it evenly over beet slice. Top with orange slice. Sprinkle the layer with a small amount of pepper. Place the next beet slice on top of the orange, and repeat layering process — beet, cheese. orange, pepper — until you’ve used the whole beet. Repeat to assemble second tower.

Makes 2 towers

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ah, beets. My trusty standby — ready to be prepared and enjoyed in the same old ordinary way (roasted, plain), yet always willing to be a player in my latest experimental recipe. It’s hard not to appreciate a vegetable that is so bold, yet so flexible.

This latest beet creation, oddly enough, came out of the fact that I both 1) love ricotta cheese and 2) am extremely picky about it. I was at the Milk Pail Market the other day, a european style open-air grocery in Mountain View, CA that has a fantastic and diverse cheese selection, and I, as always, checked the cheeses to see if they had started carrying any other ricotta than the factory produced kind. Every time I go there, I check for good ricotta, and alas, every time I check, I am disappointed (though I regularly put in written and verbal requests for Bellwether Farmers ricotta). Anyhow, this check/disappointment cycle has been going on for nearly a year now (since I started shopping there), so I decided that instead of just sulking, I would see if there were any other options, namely a good farmers cheese or quark. Much to my delight, the Milk Pail does carry a hand-packed artisan farmers cheese, which is very similar to ricotta, except slightly drier.

Farmer’s cheese is very mild, with a slightly grainy texture. It’s great for spreading on breads, using in pastas, mixing with herbs — basically anywhere you would use ricotta, you can substitute farmer’s cheese. Both texturally and taste-wise, it goes extremely well with beets and other roasted vegetables. It is mild enough to allow the vegetable flavor to shine through, and at the same time, the contrast of soft roasted vegetable and textured grainy cheese is wonderful.

But back to the recipe — the most time consuming part of this recipe is actually roasting the beets; once that is done, the towers come together in a few short minutes. I served mine at room temperature, though they would also be delicious if you popped them in a medium oven for a few minutes (10 minutes at 325 or so) to warm everything. Also, roasting the beets can been done up to 2 days in advance, but do not assemble the towers until close to the time you are ready to served them, as the crimson beets will stain the cheese and oranges a fiery pink.

Anyhow, as you might have guessed from the blog title, beets are my favorite vegetable, and I’m always looking for new ways to prepare them. Do you have any ideas? Also, what’s your favorite vegetable, and how do you like to prepare it?

Still Hungry?  Try one of these:

- Moroccan Salt Preserved Citrus: Blood Oranges and Meyer Lemons

- Welcome to Modern Beet : Thoughtful Eating

Pomegranate Glazed Root Vegetables with Israeli Couscous

1 large beet, peeled, cut into 3/4 inch chunks
2 very small sweet potatoes or 1 large, peeled, cut into 3/4 inch chunks
3 carrots, peeled, cut into 3/4 inch chunks
2 T. Pomegranate Syrup, divided
3.5 T. Olive Oil, divided
1 c. Israeli couscous
1.5 c. vegetable or chicken stock.
1.5 t honey
.5 T white vinegar
1-2 T chopped parsley, or to taste
Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat, or brush lightly with olive oil. Toss root vegetable chunks with 1 T. Pomegranate Syrup and 1T olive oil until evenly coated. Spread vegetables on prepared baking sheet.
Roast for about 40 minutes, stirring after 20 minutes, or until vegetables can be easily pierced with a knife.

In the meantime, heat 1T. olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add couscous to heated oil and toast for 3 minutes, stirring often. Add stock and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for another 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Mix remaining 1 T. Pomegranate syrup, 1.5 T olive oil, honey, vinegar, and parsley in a small bowl.

Combine couscous and roasted vegetables in a serving dish. Drizzle about half of the sauce onto the mixture and stir to coat. Add more sauce until the entire pasta salad is coated evenly, or to taste.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

On a recent trip to the Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco, I made up my mind that I was finally going to purchase a bottle of pomegranate syrup which I had been eyeing since I first read about it on one of my favorite blogs. I had hesitated buying it not because it was particularly expensive (I think the bottle cost $4.39) but rather because I must be very judicious with my extremely limited cabinet space– I think I have something like 5 cubic feet for all of my dry-good storage. I make a conscious effort not to buy things that I’ll only use once or twice that will then sit on my shelves unused, collecting dust until I move into my next apartment. This holds true for kitchen gadgets too– if you visit my house you’ll find I have very few ‘specialized’ items, save for my pizza cutter (I love pizza), and my brand new shiny food mill (which proved its worth by churning out some of the lightest, fluffiest, lump-free mashed potatoes I’ve ever had while I was home for Christmas–expect a funnnn with foodmills post soon).

The pomegranate syrup completed its mandatory three week waiting period, and finally earned itself a place in my cabinet. Both sweet and sour, I can imagine many uses for this thick tasty ruby-colored reduction:

-Brush onto skin-on chicken breasts or thighs before roasting for a zingy glaze
-Mix with oil and a splash of white vinegar for a tasty salad dressing
-Pour a teaspoon into a glass of champagne for a twist on a Kir Royal
-Drizzle over vanilla ice cream with crumbled graham cracker
-Drizzle over oatmeal with toasted walnuts
-Use to season a rice pilaf along with toasted almonds and golden raisons
-Toss with root vegetables before roasting
-Mixed with mango or apricot preserves and some chipotle peppers in adobo for a delicious dipping sauce for shrimp

… just to name a few…

The recipe that originally caught my eye is for Muhammura, a spread made from roasted peppers, walnuts, pomegranate syrup, and other seasonings. Sounding a little too heavy after all the holiday eating I did in Seattle, a simple vegetable preparation would be the pomegranate syrup’s debut. Featuring beets, sweet potatoes, and carrots (some of my winter favorites, and also what I happened to have around–just about any root vegetable combination you like will work fine), this dish is filling but not heavy, and is good for a light dinner accompanied by a green salad and a glass of dry white wine.

Enjoy!

PS–I’ve decided to experiment a little with the format of my recipe posts. I’m trying recipe first, commentary second, as opposed to commentary followed by recipe. Let me know if you like one way better than the other, or if you have any other comments or suggestions. Thanks!

No related posts.

The first grocery visit was not by design, but rather by circumstance as my flight arrived a full hour early into JFK. My friend Nora, who has recently embarked on an adventure into the world of professional cooking, suggested that we meet at the grocery store since she still needed to pick up a couple of things for the coming evening. Nora has helped shape a few of my food sensibilities—my love of ricotta, the use of lavender in a culinary context, and the many ways to roast pig parts, to name a few. We met at the Essex Market in the East Village, which is not a traditional grocery store, but rather a collection of small privately owned stalls with different specialties—vegetables and fruits, fish, meat, cheese, chocolates, bread, dry goods, etc. It actually reminded me quite a lot of the market I used to frequent when I lived in the Kreuzberg neighborhood of Berlin. Our destination this night was Saxelby Cheesemonger, a small corner stalls with only 10-15 cheeses, all hand picked by the young cheesemonger herself, where we sampled a delicious stinky cheese from Three Mountain Cheeses, and bought some smooth, creamy fresh ricotta for Nora’s favorite beet appetizer. One more stop at the bakery for some fresh bread, and we were on our way.

Back at the apartment, Nora set about preparing her favorite beet appetizer with a culinary bravado unmatched by anyone I know. We soon had a scrumptious snack to stay our hunger until dinner—roasted beet wedges served over fresh ricotta sprinkled with toasted chopped almonds and other fixings, and finally drizzled with honey, accompanied by fresh bread on the side. The earthy beets played very well with the fresh and clean taste of ricotta and sweet kiss of honey. My stomach is growling now just thinking about it.

Nora’s Roasted Beets with Ricotta
Note: this dish depends heavily on the quality of your ricotta. Don’t skimp! Try to find fresh hand-packed ricotta at your local cheese shop, if that’s available to you. In the Bay Area, I love Bellwether Farms Ricotta cheese available at the Rainbow Grocery, and various cheese shops.

5-6 small beets, approximately 1-1.5 inches in diameter, peeled, cut into quarters. (note: you can substitute 2-3 larger beets; simply cut into eighths instead of quarters)
1 t. olive oil
1 c. ricotta
scant ¼ c. almonds or almond pieces
1 T. honey
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Toss beet quarters with olive oil to coat, and spread evenly on a baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes or until beets are easily pierced with a knife, stirring every 15 minutes. Allow beets to cool for 15 minutes.
In the meantime, toast almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat until they give off a strong nutty aroma, about five minutes. Remove from heat and coarsely chop.
Mound ricotta in the center of a serving dish and drizzle with honey. Sprinkle toasted nuts, a good pinch of sea salt, and a few grinds of black pepper over the top. Arrange roasted beets around the ricotta. Serve with fresh bread or crackers. Enjoy!

The second grocery trip was with my lovely hostess Laurie to the famed Union Square Green Market, a year-round open-air farmer’s market that takes place every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. The way I like to approach the farmer’s market is to do a preliminary walk through to see what available that week, what catches my eye, etc., and then make my purchases in a secondary walkthrough. I rarely make a shopping list—unlike a conventional grocery store that carries the same types of produce at all times of the year, the offerings at a farmer’s market change with the season, and even with the week. Instead of making a list I just buy what is abundant at the time. I’ll sometimes do a third walkthrough to see if I missed anything or if that item I was wavering on speaks to me again, and also because I simply love wandering through farmer’s markets. They’re loud (listen to a piece I created made from field recordings at the Rotterdam Farmer’s Market) and they’re alive with fresh foods and human energy. I love seeing people actually talking, interacting, and showing interest in each other. Typically, a purveyor is proud of the food they’re selling, and are excited to talk about it and share recipes and preparation ideas with their customers. Also, it gives customer’s a chance to learn about heirloom foods often available only at the market—what’s a jerusalem artichoke, and how do I prepare it? Are pasilla peppers spicy or sweet, and what can I do with one? Do purple potatoes taste different from white potatoes? What’s a fingerling? Over the years I’ve learned a lot by simply engaging in conversation with the people selling me my food.

Gritty bustling New York City and bucolic green farmland are pretty disparate concepts to me. I think this is why I was so impressed with the Union Square Farmer’s Market. There was a huge selection of local vegetables and fruits, artisan cheeses, breads, and most every other food item you can think of. I was particularly impressed by all the purveyors of sustainably raised meats—lamb, pork, beef, poultry, even bison! I was very tempted by some hand-made lamb sausages, but I figured they wouldn’t do well on my cross-country flight the following day. In a city as dense as New York, it’s refreshing to know that it is very possible to eat locally and seasonally.

Laurie and I decided on a large delicata squash, some white onions, multicolored carrots (red, yellow, and white), fresh bread, thyme, and a figurative dark horse—honey chevre. These would be made into an appetizer to bring to a dinner party later than night. Baby candy cane (chiogga) beets just missed the cut. So, with a full bag of food on my arm, we traded the bustle of the market for the bustle of the sidewalk, and enjoyed catching up with each other while wandering through the crisp and cold afternoon.

Neither of us really had any concrete ideas of what we would make as an appetizer, but fortunately most fall flavors blend harmoniously, and I knew we’d come up with something. When we got back to the apartment, I tasted (with great anticipation) the honey chevre that we went out on a limb and bought from a goat’s milk purveyor without sampling it. It was really delicious—creamy, slightly sour as chevre should be, with a hint of sweetness. After tasting the cheese and examining the contents of the cabinets, we decided to toss the squash with five-spice powder, cinnamon, and thyme. Based on our purchases and the cabinet contents, the appetizer would be bite-sized roasted squash, caramelized onion, and chevre bruschetta.

Later at the dinner party, the bruschettas were very well received, and fit in with the autumn theme of the main course. I only wish I’d remembered to take a picture of it all before everything was devoured.

Roasted Five-Spice Squash, Caramelized Onion, and Chevre Bites
Makes about 40 bites.

2 yellow onions, peeled, sliced into thin rounds (1/4 inch or so), separated into rings
2 T. butter
1 large delicata squash, peeled, seeded, cut into ½ inch cubes (substitute a small butternut squash or sugar pie pumpkin if delicata isn’t available)
2 t. plus ½ t. plus 1 T. olive oil, divided
1 t. five-spice powder
a generous pinch of cinnamon
1 t. fresh thyme, stems removed, chopped, or ½ t. dried
approximately 1/3 c. honey chevre, or regular chevre mixed with 1 t. honey to sweeten
half of a baguette, cut into ½ inch slices, then cut into large bite size pieces (i.e. cut the slice in two)
salt and pepper
3 T. chopped pecans (hazelnuts, almonds, or walnuts would also work well)
1 t. honey

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, and stir to coat with butter. Reduce heat to medium low, partially cover, and cook for 50-60 minutes until onions are golden, stirring every 10 minutes to prevent burning. Remove from heat and reserve.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet with ½ t. olive oil.
Toss squash with 2 t. olive oil, five-spice powder, cinnamon, and thyme. Spread evenly on baking sheet and roast for 35 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Remove squash from oven and transfer to a bowl. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees. Wipe the baking sheet clean.
Place bread slices in a large bowl, drizzle with 1 T. olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir to coat. Spread bread on the baking sheet in a single layer. Toast in 425 degree oven for 3 minutes; flip slices, and toast for another 2 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the chopped nuts and honey, stirring with a bread knife or small spatula to evenly distribute the honey over the nuts. Mixture will be sticky a little clumpy

To assemble the bites, spread enough honey chevre to generously cover one side of the bread. Top with about 1 t. caramelized onion, then 1 to 1½ t. squash, gently pressing to secure onions and squash. Top with a generous pinch of the chopped nut and honey mixture. This all works best if you use your fingers (and it’s more fun)! Enjoy!

The third trip to the grocery store happened on Sunday morning when Laurie and I went in search of Umeboshi—pickled plum paste. Pickled umeboshi plums are known as ‘The Great Alkalizer’, and are used frequently in macrobiotic cooking both for flavoring and for medicinal purposes. Our use of the umeboshi paste would be medicinal—a hangover cure to be exact. The aforementioned dinner party lasted until almost 3AM (NYC never sleeps…). Lively conversation touched on everything from legal torts to the farm bill to literary erotica, with wine liberally flowing the whole time. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, but woke up dry-mouthed and with a pounding headache…

As I mentioned before, Umeboshi has an alkalizing effect on the body. Remember the pH scale from junior high science class? Well, the human body has an ideal pH level of about 6.7, which is slightly base. Foods like sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and yes, alcohol, make the body and blood more acidic, whereas foods like whole grains and vegetables make the body more alkaline. Umeboshi, with its alkalizing effect can help bring the body’s pH back into balance after over-consuming acidic or sugary foods. Interestingly, it can also used to reduce the feeling of morning sickness experienced by many pregnant women, caused partially by the more acidic state of the body during pregnancy. Anyhow, I swear by this as a hangover remedy, as well as a general wellness drink, and I usually start my day with an umeboshi-green tea tonic to help keep myself in balance.

The MB Hangover Cure and General Wellness Drink
Note: MB stands for either macrobiotic or ‘Modern Beet’, whichever you fancy 

1-2 t. umeboshi paste (available at natural food stores)
1 teabag green tea. My favorite types are Bancha and Kukicha tea, which are made from the roasted stems and twigs of the plant. These teas are extremely low in caffeine, and are a staple in macrobiotic diets.
Hot water

Add umeboshi paste to a large mug and fill about a quarter of the way full with water. Stir until paste mostly dissolves. Fill cup the rest of the way, add the tea bag, and steep for 5 minutes. Enjoy!

So three grocery trips in exactly 48 hours. That’s a record even for me! In all seriousness though, to be a foodie in NYC is to be blessed. The quality and selection of food I encountered there—the farmer’s market, the traditional italian trattoria where we had dinner on Friday, the natural foods market, the greasy-spoon where we had brunch on Sunday morning—it was ALL good. And unfortunately, as I write this I’m sitting on the runway at JFK, getting hungry, and watching the plane get de-iced. You see, today held NYC’s first snowfall of the year. The pilot announced that there’s a strong head wind, so I’m looking at a six and a half hour flight with only processed airplane food in sight…ugh. The moral of the story is always pack a plane snack, even if you think you don’t want one. Especially when you’re leaving a food haven like NYC.

Still Hungry?  Try one of these:

- Chipotle Roasted Squash and Kale Quesadillas

- Simplest Tomato Sauce with Roasted Onion, Shallots and Garlic

My name is Jen Carlile, and I am an avid cook, amateur farmer, and general food enthusiast. I live in the San Francisco Bay area in a small cottage in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. I came to California in 2004 to attend Stanford’s Music, Science, and Technology Master’s program at CCRMA and have remained here ever since, captivated by the beautiful landscape, delicious fresh food, and wonderful community. During the week, I am a software engineer in the field of Pro Audio.

I’m 26 years old, and this is the second blog I’ve kept. The first is from the year I spent traveling as a Watson Fellow after I finished my undergraduate education at Wellesley College

So, you might ask, what does ‘Thoughtful Eating’ mean? To me, it means being aware of your food–where it comes from, who grew it, who (or what) harvested it, how it is produced, how it impacts the land and the earth, how it impacts your body and mind.

The idea of food accountability and local eating has gained enormous popularity as of late through books like Michael Pollan’s ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma’ and Barbara Kingsolver’s ‘Animal, Vegetable, Miracle’, and through websites like Ethicurean.com and 100MileDiet.org. The idea of local eating is one that historically has been the norm, but has faded from the mainstream American mindset in the past few decades, much to the detriment of our health and well-being. As we reach a breaking point with health, pollution, and food security issues, the idea of eating locally is once again making an appearance.

I recently read somewhere that every time you buy food, it’s like a vote as to how you would like your food to be produced. This line struck me in particular because it takes the somewhat daunting idea of changing your buying and eating habits and breaks it into many small, manageable actions rather than one, enormous sea-change. Thoughtful eating is not all or nothing; starting with a single action here and there–buying an in-season peach from a farmer’s market, growing a tomato plant during the summer season, replacing one meal of conventionally raised meat with sustainably raised meat–these actions begin to add up and make a difference in our national food system. I’ve gradually been making the change over the past couple of years, and my culinary repertoire has benefited enormously.

Ah, finally to the blog! The purpose of Modern Beet is to share recipes and food experiences. On any given evening you can find me in my tiny kitchen with its miniature refrigerator and miniature stove (emphasis on *small* cottage) trying out this new recipe or that, chosen because it features some ingredient I found at the farmer’s market that week. I cook almost every day, as cooking is my favorite form of relaxation. Since I do most of my shopping at the farmer’s market (both for social reasons and frugality–a pound of heirloom tomatoes is far less expensive at the FM than at a boutique grocery), most of the recipes you’ll find here emphasize local, seasonal, sustainably-produced foods. I find simple preparations that highlight one or two flavors to be the most satisfying dishes, and most recipes will be of that nature.

I also hope to post frequently about my new adventures as an amateur farmer. I recently moved from downtown San Francisco to more rural Los Altos Hills, and for the first time in my adult life, I decided to plant a vegetable garden; now that I’ve done it and figured out that it really isn’t rocket science, I kick myself for not doing it sooner in containers or even old dresser drawers.

And if you’re curious about the title ‘Modern Beet’, I decided to name this blog after my favorite specimen in the entire vegetable kingdom–the mighty, yet humble and proletariat, beet. Believe it or not, I never ate a fresh beet until I was 17 years old. I don’t remember eating a lot of vegetables growing up; whether they were absent or whether they were offered and refused by me, I can’t remember. Oddly enough, my love of beets originates with a quirky, post-modern novelist. In fact, a single story so captured my imagination that as soon as I read the last page, I went to the grocery store in search of this fantastical vegetable I had never tried, save perhaps pickled out of a jar (though I’m not sure I’d ever tried those either). Perhaps I was subconsciously biased since I’d enjoyed the novel so much, but the red beet became my new favorite vegetable–earthy yet sweet, with a wonderful texture–it is simply delicious.

And on an entirely different note, another hobby of mine is alternative energy vehicles, vegetable oil cars in particular. I am the proud owner of 100% vegetable oil powered 1983 Mercedes, which reliably takes me everywhere I need to go. If you’re curious at all about vegetable oil/biodiesel vehicles or are looking for resources, I’d love to discuss it with you.

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