Blue Cayenne

I’m a sucker for fresh beets at the farmers’ market.

At my farmers’ market, the vendors spray water on the beets to make their reds and oranges pop. Catches my attention (and triggers my taste buds) every time!

The beets we eat today are believed to have originated in ancient times as sea beets, a seashore plant grown around the Mediterranean. In that iteration, they were mostly consumed as leaves. They were also used as dyes, teas, and medicines. Beets were found preserved in the ash of the 79 A.D. eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. How interesting is that!

Over the centuries, beets were increasingly cultivated for their large bulbs (in addition to their delicious greens). Beets we would recognize were widely consumed in Europe and Asia by the 16th Century. 

This recipe is from Alison Roman’s cookbook Something From Nothing. You can order the cookbooks through your local bookstore or on Amazon here.

Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen. It is delicious served at room temperature. You will enjoy all the textures in this beautiful dish and the interesting contrast provided by the creamy tahini dressing and the sweetness of the apple slices.

By the way, we have featured a number of tasty beet recipes over the years here on Blue Cayenne. Try our Smashed and Seared Beets, Persian Lentil and Beet Soup and our Beet, Walnut and Arugula Salad.

It is spring here.

Gardens are waking up and jobs around the house beckon. It’s time for an energy boost. 

Looking for more protein in your diet to power you through some of those jobs?

Lentils are a good choice. A cooked cup of red lentils contains 18 grams of protein. On top of that, there is 12 grams of protein in a cup of chickpeas. Both are featured prominently in this recipe. 

There are interesting textures in this “stew,” too, with the lentils and chickpeas. You can make this dish as chunky or as smooth as you want. Serve it as a side dish or a vegetarian main. 

This is a recipe from Nagi Maehashi’s Delicious Tonight cookbook.  You can order this book through your local bookstore or on Amazon here..

Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen. I had some beautiful beet greens from Sunday’s farmers’ market and added them to the dish. This is another of those recipes that tastes oh-s0-much-better on the days after it is prepared.

Another soup beauty!

This soup has a very unexpected ingredient—Jerusalem artichokes. 

What the heck are Jerusalem artichokes?

Are they even artichokes at all?

According to Harold McGee’s definitive book On Food and Cooking the Jerusalem artichoke is sometimes called a sunchoke or an earth apple.  It is a sweet and crunchy non-fibrous tuber of a North American sunflower. (Who knew?)  

And, no, the tuber is not related to the artichoke at all. You may notice from the photo below, that a Jerusalem artichoke is a dead ringer for fresh ginger. So…be careful to buy the right root if you make this soup! My local groceries often stock Jerusalem artichokes in the specialty section of the produce counter.

This recipe is from the cookbook Soup for Syria. You can order the book through your local bookstore or on Amazon here.

Here is the soup recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen.