Trio of Beetroot with Honey Caramelized Almonds and Mustard Leaf

 

Salads Everyday

French breakfast radishes with greens

here in west cork, we are having the best weather in it seems like a century! you don't even want to think about cooking, its that warm. spain is even cooler than here, global warming? maybe. does it matter? not right now! (i'm half joking there) we seriously haven't had rain in weeks.

despite the lack of rain, one of the great things about this time of year is every time i go to the garden, there's something new to pick and chop up into a salad. which is great for a hot afternoon.
there's cauliflower, courgette, cabbage, kale, peas, beetroot, radishes, spinach, lettuce, onions, chard.... you get what i mean? its a great time to have a garden and this post is a celebration of that fact.

there's no recipe today but there's more posts on the way like: a tangy slaw for tacos, elderflower fizz and cocktails (yes, MORE cocktails!) and a recipe that goes great with crispy calamari. enjoy the photos, there's loads more on the FWDR instagram page.

little gems are a great lettuce to grow if the slugs don't get to them first!

smoked mackerel with chard, fennel and flowers

Wheat Berry Risotto with Beetroot and Blue cheese

this time of year is always busy down in the bakery where i work, and this week the orders are flooding in for christmas. so updating the blog has been put on the back burner. sad, but true. i am always thinking about new recipes, though. i've tried out a few ideas, some good, some not so good. i'm looking forward to a whole queue of posts i'm lining up like: pumpkin fudge, lemon geranium custard (my new favourite dessert!), and more on our knobbly giant friend - celeriac. so stay tuned in after christmas!

im revisiting one of my favourite ingredients in this recipe: beetroot. earlier this autumn i dedicated 3 posts to the bold vegetables, if you missed the posts you can read them here, here, and here. has anyone tried the beetroot gin and tonic? they're perfect for christmas parties, and festively coloured!beetroot are really the only things left out in the garden, with some rainbow chard, kale and a handful of broccolli plants. there's quite a few spots opening up and i've begun thinking about the spring whats going where. once christmas passes i'll dive more into it, and post the 2013 garden layout.

Beetroot Gin & Tonic - Beetroot: Part 3 of 3

Beetroot Gin & Tonic

after deciding, and announcing, that i was going to make a cocktail with beetroot, i realised i'd never had a cocktail with beetroot. but since i can probably dip cardboard in gin and still enjoy it, i figured why not beetroot? i did a few searches around and saw things like: beetroot margaritas and beet-ellni's. i gave it some thought as too which liquor to use with a reduced beetroot essence... gin with its herbal notes sprung to mind, and orange citrus zests paired in beetroot salad was my next thought. put the two together and the Beetroot G & T was born! in my mind anyway.....

juice from three beetroots

stright from the garden, into your drink!

since i've started this three post beetroot blow out i've been seeing red. ive had beetroot everywhere i go, had it on toast, in chocolate, candied, in my drinks, with fish, in salads... im happy to say this is the last beetroot post for sometime! i still have a great affection for the root veg, but im going to keep my roots out in the garden for awhile. it feels right to end this party on a high note, i hope some of you get a chance to try this cocktail in your own homes.

Candied Beetroot Truffles - Beetroot: part 2

 ill save you the chit chat and get straight in to the recipe of our triple beetroot recipe ballooba.
after having the priveledge of working with many amazing and talented people at Theo Chocolate Factory, in Seattle, i naturally think everything should be coated in dark chocolate. the Theo masterminds try chocolate with everything: bacon, jalepeno, saffron, curry, you name it. im not sure if i got the idea from working at theo, but i'm certain the earthy flavour of beetroot with bitter chocolate will be divine. there's a few ideas out there already with chocolate and beetroot like: beetroot brownies, chocolate beetroot cake, beetroot ice cream!, beetroot chips and after googling: 'beetroot chocolate truffles,'  i am now (3 seconds ago) aware that im not the first to make a truffle with beetroot. but who cares? this recipe only has four main ingredients, it also takes minimal active time to make and looks like you spent days and days making the little confections. have fun impressing your friends!

Beetroot: part 1 of 3 - Minted Beetroot Hummus

'Bolivar' Beetroots

welcome to the begining of a three part beetroot bonanza! ive decided to dedicate the next three posts and recipes to this, king of root veg. the earthy sweetness of beetroot makes it perfect for an array of recipes even cakes and sweets! it comes in all sorts of colours, the 'chioggia' being the trendy one at the moment, with its pink and white bulls eye patterning. but my all time favourite has to be golden  beetroot, especially because im finding it hard to source seeds here in ireland. its been tempting me to smuggle some in the post next year. anyone flying over from the states, perhaps? the golden beetroot is great for salads and paired with its bloodier brother adds a bright suprise to a sunday roast. the best part is that golden beetroots don't dye your hands or other foods - they're just polite that way. they can also be used in the same recipes as regular red beetroots.

triple planted beetroot

disregard my love for golden beetroots, because the next three recipes are all going to feature the red guys. ive got a recipe for a minted beetroot hummus, candied beetroot truffles, and another -veggie cocktail! you're listening now, right?

i've only actually tried one of these recipes, so i hope i can pull the other two off with out too much blood (or juice) on my hands. and since its raining everyday (bar today and yesterday!) ive got an extra couple hours to spend in the kitchen. but there's some great news i've learned from a new book i'm reading: How to Grow Winter Vegetables, by Charles Dowding, he says that wet crappy summers are great for winter veggies! (without the 'crappy' part) and summer blogging (he didn't say that, either) so its not so bad, really!

Growing beetroot: i once read in a companion planting article its a good idea to plant beetroot with onions , and the past two years i've grow them side by side in the same drill and i had beetroot harvests within 3 months of growing, as well as big onions. this year i grew them seperate and they have taken longer to mature. i always sow my beetroot direct into the ground, ive found it hard to transplant beets without losing a few in the process.

while the roots are forming its ok to take a few leaves for salad every so often, just don't take too many leaves or the roots may take longer to develop.

for the best flavour its best to harvest beetroot once it reaches the size of a golf ball or as large as a snooker ball.

beetroot is a biennial plant, which means it flowers in its second year. they do keep pretty well in the ground in winter and store well in a cold larder, if dug up, for a good few weeks.

  

Baby Kale, Rainbow Chard and Beetroot leaf Ceasar

Baby Red Russian Kale, Rainbow Chard and Beetroot Leaves



im in love with hardy greens, i love their long growing season and i love their multiple uses, young and old. in this recipe im using three types that i grow every year: kale, rainbow chard, and beetroot. its a bit hard to find all these greens in the shops together, so growing them may be the best answer.
i like to use the tender young leaves in salads, rainbow chard adds a great splash of colour too the salad bowl.  older leaves of all these plants tend to need cooking, which opens them up to a whole range of culinary uses. you can even treat big leaves as two seperate veg, i cook the stalks seperate to the leafy ends, which cook more quickly.

my first time growing rainbow chard was alongside beetroot. in my first adult veg patch. i had two raised beds about 4 by 6 feet in length, right off a busy road on capitol hill, seattle. chard was a wonderful thing to grow, it kept growing slowly through the winter months, and provided a much needed green energy boost when the pocket strings were stretched. rainbow chard is one of the ultimate economy crops, it gives and gives. when all things are green in the garden its the entire spectrum, whats not to love?