The Beet Goes On… The Sandwich!

Winter is over and Spring is in the air (finally).  However Spring’s bounty will not begin to arrive for a few more weeks.  Fortunately thanks to the wonders of storage there are still plenty of awesome root vegetables from last season!  This sandwich showcases three of them, but the beets take the lead role for reasons mostly related to the name….

The Beet Goes On… The Sandwich!

Ingredients:

·        1 large beet, sliced into ¼ inch rounds

·        1 large or medium potato, sliced into ¼ inch rounds

·        1 really large parsnip, sliced into ¼ inch rounds

·        local oil (soy, canola, sunflower)

·        a few slices of very sharp cheddar

·        lettuce

·        bread

·        mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, etc.

Preheat the oven to 400.  In a bowl toss the potato and parsnip slices with a little bit of local oil and a bit of salt and pepper.  Arrange the potatoes and parsnips on a baking sheet, and toss the beet slices with oil (this prevents the beets from dying everything red!).  Add the beets to the baking sheet and roast at 400 until the potatoes and parsnips are beginning to turn golden and bubble, about 30 minutes.  Add the slices of sharp cheddar to the potatoes and cook a bit longer until the cheese is melted.

Remove the vegetables from the oven and allow them to cool slightly while toasting slices of bread.  Top a slice of bread with your favourite condiments (we used a sauce made of spicy mustard, mayo, ketchup, and dash of balsamic vinegar), add some lettuce, and arrange the parsnips, potatoes, and beets in a stack, topping with another slice of bread.  Serve with tzatziki, or a cucumber salad, or a bean salad for extra protein.  Enjoy!

The follow up to this sandwich is the pizza version, coming soon!

Recipe from Bailey’s member, Jon Spee, who blogs about localism at The Local Kitchener.

Hot Carrots

I’m a newbie to the world of fermented vegetables, but I’m finding it addicting!  Joel MacCharles of Well Preserved describes strawberry jam as the “gateway drug” to the world of canning, and I now feel the same about kimchi (or KW-chi).  Kimchi made me realize how easy it is to ferment vegetables and soon after making it I decided to make some spicy fermented carrots. 

You can get all the fresh ingredients needed from Bailey’s!

"You can see one garlic clove and the cabbage leaf in the midst of the carrots, after fermenting for 2 weeks."

Minimum ingredients needed:

·        Carrot(s), peeled and sliced

·        Salt Water Brine –2 cups warm water with 1.5 tsp. salt

·        1 cabbage leaf (optional)

·        1 glass jar with lid (like a mason jar, or old honey jar)

·        Seasoning, like garlic, spicy peppers, or classic pickle spices

No real recipe needed here, just chop up carrots into lengths that will fit somewhat uniformly into a jar.  You want them to be roughly an inch less in length than the height of the jar. 

Then decide on your seasoning.  I used two whole cloves of garlic, lightly smushed with a knife and one sliced habanero pepper (still using those I got from Mark Brubacher).  You could use any of your favorite pickling spices, it’s very much up to you! 

Drop the seasonings in the bottom of the jar and pack the carrots in, standing up right on top of them.  You want them fairly tightly packed.  Then take the cabbage leaf and pack it around the tops of the carrots, covering them.  The role of the cabbage leaf is to help provide extra beneficial lactic acid-producing microbes!  Since you’ve peeled the carrots you’ve likely lessened the amount of microbes that are available to help ferment your carrots, but some recipes don’t use it. 

Pour the brine in around the carrots until everything is submerged.  Then find a weight—I use a small mason jar that fits inside the mouth of a larger jar, filled with a bit of water to help weigh it down.  The goal is for all the veggies to stay submerged under the water.  Cover the jar(s) with a cloth to keep dust and bugs (not a problem right now) out.  Monitor the progress by sight and smell every day.  After 2-3 days there should be some bubbles and the smell should get that nice fermented smell, slightly acidic. 

I let mine ferment about 1-2 weeks.  At two weeks the carrots are a little bit softened but still have that nice carrot crunch to them.  When you decide they have fermented enough transfer them to the fridge where they ought to keep for several months, unless you eat them before that!  And I should add that with the one habanero they are very spicy, but it is mellowed a bit by the fermentation.  I would like to try a more kid-friendly (as in less-spicy) fermented carrot next, any suggestions for best spices to add? 

Jon Spee is an enthusiastic and committed member of Bailey’s Local Foods who blogs about his adventures in localism at The Local Kitchener.  Every few weeks he likes to giveaway something homemade to local KW residents!

Maple-Glazed Root Vegetable Stir Fry with Fried Tofu

1-2 lbs of assorted root vegetables (Jerusalem Artichoke, carrot, golden beets, parsnips, etc.), peeled and chopped into ½-inch pieces

2-3 tbs. oil

Preheat the oven to 375.  Heat oil over medium heat in an oven-proof pan until shimmering and fry the root vegetables for 8-10 minutes (if using beets it’s a good idea to cook them separate unless you want everything to turn red!).  Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 25 minutes, or until they are golden and tender (not mushy).  

1 package firm tofu (or tempeh)

2-3 tbs. oil

Remove the tofu from package and press to remove excess water.  Heat oil over medium heat until shimmering.  Chop tofu into ½-inch pieces and fry, turning every 5 minutes until golden (about 20 minutes). 

¼ cup maple syrup

¼ cup soy sauce

2-3 green onions (scallions), finely diced

3 tbs. sesame seeds, toasted

Remove the roasted vegetables from the oven and return to the stove.  Add the tofu, maple syrup and soy sauce, and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  After 5-10 minutes the vegetables should be glazed.  Garnish with the green onions and sesame seeds and serve over rice, or other grain.  

Guest Recipe Post by Jon Spee

The Local Kitchener

(Adapted from this recipe)