I stopped at the Mount Joy market the other day, and stopped at the Creekside Farm stand to chat with Josh. My eyes fell upon some beautiful baby beets, and I picked up a couple of bunches. Josh said, "You're going to eat those greens, aren't you?"
It hadn't really dawned on me, to be honest, so I asked him if he had any suggestions on cooking them. He told me I was going to be back next week for more - and he might be right.
His suggestion:
Cook a couple of strips of bacon and some spring onions (which he just happened to have - this boy is no fool), and then toss in the chopped greens. A little salt and pepper, and that's it!
Around here we just don't use a lot of bacon, preferring ham hocks for the traditional regional dishes that we grew up with, so bacon is more of a ... ahem... condiment. Because of that, I generally have some of the crappy pre-cooked stuff in the fridge.
Using that meant 2 things - this dish took less than 10 minutes to whip up, and also it required a splash of olive oil.
After the gastronomical excesses of yesterday, this was a perfect meal.
That's the thing about farm markets. You talk to the person who grew the food, and they can usually suggest ways to cook it. In fact, the first time I roasted beets was at the urging of another farmer.
One note - Next time I will use red onions, because they pick up red from the beets. I know in my brain that it doesn't make one bit of difference, but have a "thing" about onions taking on odd colors from other ingredients. Well.. mostly reds and purples.
Try this if you get the chance - it is delicious!
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