Food 23 Jul 2006 09:51 pm
local food: heatwave beets
It should not be 85 F at quarter to 10 p.m. in Seattle. Gah. Josh and I have both spent a lot of time in a tub of cool water today, Josh particularly.
It’s been almost too hot to eat anything, let alone cook. Tomorrow’s another scorcher, though it’s supposed to be less brainmeltingly hot. Chilling in the fridge now are some stripey roasted beets from the farmers market. My plan is to dress them with a little cider vinegar from Minea Farm, a touch of olive oil, and maybe a little mint, then nibble away at them slowly over the course of the day tomorrow. Mint? With beets? I’ve never heard of it being done, but it sounds good to me.
I’m with Cissa on the beet issue: up to a point, big beets are best. As long as they’re still firm and smooth, they’re tastier and more convenient to peel. I know that gourmets prefer the baby beets, but I find them not worth the fussiness. And the really little ones have tasted rooty to me, too. (I also prefer thick asparagus spears for roasting; none of your wussy little pencil-thin spears for me. So shoot me, I’ve got a rebel palate.)
Roasted beet salad is a funny thing: sure, it’s great for summer, but who wants to run the oven at 400 for an hour and a half in this weather? The solar cooker’s perfect for that sort of thing. Since they’re to be chilled overnight anyway, I don’t have to worry about whether the beets will be done in time for dinner. And of course it keeps me from heating up the kitchen and making the whole house smell like beets.
on 23 Jul 2006 at 10:17 pm 1.oddangel said …
Yeah, for me beets are more of an autumn thing, especially a good borscht.
And I’m right there with you on the heat. It got to 101 down here, and I actually saw a few bumblebees *resting* on raspberry leaves because it was so hot outside. If bees don’t feel like doing their thing in this heat, I certainly don’t!
on 23 Jul 2006 at 11:08 pm 2.Cam Sculpin said …
Poor bees. Poor Portlanders!
on 24 Jul 2006 at 9:41 am 3.Rechercher said …
Sounds like you need to invest in a hot tub.
Um.
Make that a cold tub.
on 24 Jul 2006 at 11:53 am 4.Cam Sculpin said …
Naw, the bathtub does fine. I like sitting on the edge of it, feet in a few inches of cold water, reading my book.
We do have a cold tub, also known as a kiddie pool, but it hasn’t seemed worth inflating the thing even in this heat. Maybe I’ll give it away.
on 24 Jul 2006 at 12:11 pm 5.cissa said …
At least the baby beets I had peeled pretty easily! After roasting, the skins just slipped off.
I am getting very intrigued by the solar cooker!