Being part-Polish I should love borscht. The beety flavor, the gorgeous red hue. It's one of the big staples along with my beloved pierogies and galumpkis. But I just couldn't get into it. I began to feel bad about this distaste when my great aunt came to visit from Poland and cooked for us. Years later, I still fear the soup, but since I've been on a huge kick to remove as many foods on my no-eat list, I figured beets were a good area to tackle next. That, and I got some beautiful ones in my last organic food delivery.
I searched the web and settled on Roasted Beet Salad with Beet Greens, courtesy of Epicurious. In the comments, a few people swore that beet haters loved this, so I had to try. It's simple, almost fool-proof. I got antsy and nuked my beets half-way through (it was getting really late at night), and I am happy to say -- they were delicious. The vinaigrette cuts some of the beet flavor, and is paired wonderfully with the garlic, capers, feta, and beet greens. When you do get some of the strong, beet flavor, it's much easier to take, get used to, and like. In fact, I'm hooked on salad now. It hasn't even been a week, and I've already picked up more beets. For other beety options, try this beet and goat cheese salad, or this carrot and beet salad.
When I get excited about large amounts of delicious-looking fresh produce for too-cheap-to-refuse prices, I go overboard. Way overboard. My eyes light up, reason goes out the window, and I pick up everything tasty that I lay my eyes on. Sometimes I'm pretty good at coming up with immediate possibilities for the produce, so that I don't have so much that it'll go bad before I get to it. Tomatoes are mentally whipped up into salsa. Potatoes become a nice and creamy potato salad. But sometimes I buy with no clue, just driven by a veggie consumerist hunger.
That's what happened when I picked up a big basket of squash and zucchini over the weekend. I had no idea what I'd do with it, but I had to have them since they were only a few bucks. For once, I'm so glad that I did because I created my first moan-worthy meal in a while. Check it out after the jump.
On a whim I threw a little salad together tonight that turned out to be one of the best things I've made lately. it was almost all ingredients I picked up yesterday at a local Farmers' Market. It was half a pint of orange cherry tomatoes sliced in half, three blondie cucumbers (like Kirbys, only yellow instead of green) peeled and chunked, four ounces of cubed feta and ten shredded lemon verbena leaves. I drizzled a little olive oil on top of it and gave it a good shower of ground pepper.
The lemon verbena tastes like both green freshness and lemon zest. It's not an herb that you find in every market, but if you can get your hands on it, it is well worth the price and search.
Jamie, the cheese lover behind the blog Curdnerds.com, posted an interesting food question today: "What is your favorite cheese to cook with?"
I've been pondering that thought for the better part of the last hour and I think I have to say that when it comes to cooking, I'm a big fan of the goat and sheep cheeses. Feta, Chevre, Basque Shepherd cheese or Pecorino Romano are all good ones in my book.
This is the Domestic Goddess's Watermelon and Feta Salad and if there is a more refreshing side dish on a hot summer day, I'm not sure what it would be. It is also very simple to make; the chilled salad has the crunchy sweetness of watermelon, its juiciness enhanced by mixing it with salty, creamy feta cheese. Jennifer has added chopped parsley to hers for a bit of color contrast, but I have seen recipes, like Nigella Lawson's, that call for adding chopped olives to the mix. Paula Deen's recipe asks for slivered onions to be included. The Traveler's Lunchbox tosses pinenuts and basil in with the watermelon. Whichever combination of flavors you end up using, this is a great use for watermelon and a beautiful, sweet-and-savory side to replace potato salad at your next bbq.
Fritattas could very well be the most popular brunch food there is. Not only are they relatively easy to prepare, but they are very versatile. You can put almost any combination of meats, cheeses or vegetables into the egg base and turn out a fantastic dish. Fritattas can also be served hot, cold and at room temperature, so they fit easily into party preparation and, when it comes time to serve them, they can be cut into bite sized pieces or meal-worthy wedges. The problem is that many recipes call for both stove-top and oven cooking or specialty cookware. This is not the case with this recipe.
This particular fritatta recipe is one of my favorites. Not only is it simple, but it eliminates any confusion over what sort of pan is best for cooking. The whole thing is poured into a 9x13 Pyrex baking dish and cooked in the oven. The large, finished fritatta can be sliced easily to fit any occasion. And the flavor? With a spinach and feta filling, it tastes just like spanikopita: delicious.
I don’t know why I find news about cheese so amusing…
Danish authorities recently intercepted a shipment of supposedly-Greek feta cheese traveling from Greece to Denmark. Greece has recently been trying to restrict the use of the term feta to only Greek products. The discovery of this Bulgarian cheese, being passed off for export as Greek feta, serves as a setback to those seeking to confine the use of the name. The EU recently ruled against the Danish dairy industry, saying that Greece should have the exclusive rights to the name feta.
“I’m very happy that the Greeks were caught in the act, said Dairy Board director Hans Bender, “bogus shipments are common knowledge.”
What can you do with cherry tomatoes? 
I don’t know why I find news about cheese so amusing…
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