My local organics food store carries goat milk. For weeks I toyed with the idea of buying some, but ended with a pause, wondering what I would do with it. When I grew up, it was always a glass of milk at dinner, but these days I reach for water (or wine)– all essential to mind and body health and vitality. I use (cow) milk to silken an occasional omelette, in coffee, or to make ice cream or a milk shake. I always think, what would I do with goat milk? (Although I admit a goat milk, lavender and honey ice cream has been on my mind.)

A few weeks ago I was at a friend’s home and was offered goat milk. Really? So I tried it and all I could think of was that I was drinking liquid goat cheese, or chevre. Interesting. D suggested mixing in some honey and cinnamon. It became a deliciously sweet spiced concoction with that slight, but unmistakable goat cheese “barnyard” undertone of sweet hay and Earth.

When an opportunity arose to acquire some raw goat milk I thought I would give it a try. Not necessarily to drink, but perhaps make that ice cream, some chevre, or yogurt. I bought the cultures and when the coin toss came to pass, yogurt won out.

Though of course like anything homemade, I thoroughly enjoyed my goat yogurt over any yogurts I have had in the past, though the recipe needs some experiment.

Why?

Yogurt most of us are accustomed to on the market has added thickeners (tapioca, citrus pulp, cornstarch, or other synthetic agents) added to make them a thick and even consistency– not to mention sugars. If you have bought yogurt that does not use thickeners, you’ll notice it is much thinner, and sometimes even lumpy. To make the consistency weightier, without thickeners, producers will often drain the product, losing a lot of whey in the process.

I have heard if you heat the milk to a higher temperature before adding culture it gets thicker, but when using raw milk products, you run the risk of killing heat sensitive bacteria that makes milk digestible.

It is something that is by no means perfect. I would love a thick yogurt, without the use of heat– a more Greek style yogurt. Perhaps I need to grab a flight to Greece and learn from a grandmother.

Until then, I enjoy my yogurt with granola, a scoop of my own grandmother’s preserves, or simply as a yogurt beverage, full of all those great probiotics.

If you are interested in making your own yogurt, it is fairly simple. All you need are some cultures to get you started (recipe is dependent on the culture you use). Raw milk or a high quality organic milk is recommended.

Growing up in the midwest, I hated potato salad. It’s true. The staple side dish gracing every BBQ was the bane of my outdoor dining existence. It occurred at some point in when I hatched a distaste for mayonnaise.

I believe this decision formulated shortly after I made myself a tuna fish sandwich: In attempts to get the fishy tuna flavor out of my sandwich, I mixed in close to 2 cups of mayonnaise (into a single-serving can of tuna). It didn’t help, and I ended up discarding the sandwich, two bites of which gave me a horrible stomach ache. (Who would have thought with all that mayonnaise?)

Next, mayonnaise-heavy potato salad popped into my vision at every deli counter. There is something about prepared deli counter salads that has always told me to stay away. Is it the resemblance to the lunch line at school? Or perhaps the display that gives everything a brownish-blue hue and make nothing appear to be refrigerated?

Let us pinpoint these moments as the beginning of my mayonnaise banishment.

Obviously, this dislike of mayonnaise, living in the midwest, brings me to my hatred of potato salad. Because we all know midwest potato salad and mayonnaise go hand-in-hand.

It was not until college that I tried potato salad again. My good friend A made me her family’s Lebanese Potato Salad, which she described as simply adding the Lebanese basic seasonings: garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, salt and pepper. Light, simple and totally delicious, it awakened me to a whole new world of looking at potatoes: Did you know potatoes don’t need to be mashed with butter or fried and dipped in ketchup to taste good?

My preferred method of cooking potatoes now is making a potato salad using the Lebanese trio (trio because in my book, an herb, salt and pepper are given). Sometimes I spice it up with some hot chili flakes, sometimes I add other vegetables to bulk it up, as in this case. You cannot go wrong when you work with these basic, yet deliciously pure ingredients.

Please note: I have recently found new appreciation for mayonnaise. While I still do not use it in a tuna sandwich, I can understand its place in a vinegar-based coleslaw (just a little fat, not saturated in mayonnaise). I also admit that I recently made my own mayonnaise and highly suggest a homemade version over anything store bought. (Further, I prefer homemade because I know I will actually finish it– the smallest bottle of store bought mayonnaise has gone bad in my refrigerator. With a shelf life over one year, you do not want to know what rancid mayonnaise smells like.)

Potato Salad with Corn and Green Beans
Serving size= 6-8. Cook time=  15 minutes. Prep time=  10 minutes.
1 pound potatoes, halved or quartered depending on size (I prefer the texture of new potatoes in potato salad because they hold shape and texture)
1 cup corn, sliced from cob  fresh (or canned)
1 cup green beans, cleaned and halved
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
salt/ pepper to taste

Boil potatoes in salted water for 10-15 minutes, until soft when pricked with a fork. While potatoes are cooking, place fresh corn, green beans, olive oil and garlic in the serving bowl. When potatoes finish cooking, drain, but do not rinse with water. Place hot potatoes in the serving bowl and toss. The residual heat will steam the corn and beans, leaving the beans snappy (if you prefer beans more done you can steam them for 30 seconds before you add them to the hot potatoes). Finish by tossing with the parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm, at room temp, or cold.

An important garden lesson: you cannot stop a cucumber plant from going crazy– Actually, you cannot stop any vining plant from clinging and climbing wherever it sees fit. But let’s talk cucumbers.

I planted an heirloom variety known as lemon cucumber. Lemon because the resulting fruit is fairly lemon shaped and ripen from light green to a bright lemon yellow. When I checked on the plant two Fridays ago there were a number of flowers waiting to burst with fruit. I left for a week to visit D in upstate New York terrified I would miss out on a massive cucumber harvest. (Seriously, I had three different dreams about lost or unattended garden bounty.)

While upstate, I purchased a beautiful 3-gallon ceramic crock pot from a lovely antique dealer– really a gift for all those cucumbers ready to spring to life. When D and I returned Sunday we headed to the garden for our first massive harvest: corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant and ever more basil.

We’re overflowing with cucumbers now and decided to take action. Garden cucumbers head to the crock for brining and CSA cucumbers get crock treatment or turned into the great little snack you see pictured above. I’ll provide a picture of the brined cucumbers once the pickles are (hopefully) tasty and ready for the camera.

Until then, satisfy your cucumber (and tomato) bounty with this fresh and easy snack. I used a hearty cranberry-walnut bread as the base. Any other good bread will do, or go without bread, using the cucumber as a base. Top with any fresh herb and voila, a tasty garden treat.

Cucumber Bites
Serving Size= 5 piece. Prep time= 5 minutes.
5 small slices, or 2 larger slices cut small of cranberry-walnut bread
1 cucumber, sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 vine ripe tomato, sliced 1/2-inch thick
salt/ pepper to taste
5 slices, 1/4-inch thick, feta
fresh thyme for garnish (parsley, chives, parsley or cilantro will work too)
lemon spritz (optional)

Method: Toast bread until golden. Layer bread with cucumber and tomato. Season with salt and pepper then top with feta and a sprinkle of herbs. Add a spritz of lemon over top for some added zip.

Many people I know have a funny relationship with food: they are on constant diets, yet continue to gain weight. I’m not counting people with real health problems, but those consistently obsessed with weight loss and dieting (although I suppose this could be considered a real health problem psychologically).

We are a nation obsessed with our image and one of the most obvious ways to control our look, short of surgery or buying new clothing, is to control what we ingest. The problem as I see it, is that when we stop listening to our bodies and rely on special diets, we deprive ourselves of what our bodies actually need. If you don’t have strict enough control, you end up bingeing when you are confronted with the food your body craves.

Each of us is in fact a unique individual with special needs only our bodies understand– not a diet book that can supposedly work miracles on millions. If we can stick to real foods (fruits, vegetables, grains), without too much added salts and sugars, staying away from processed goods (which just make you crave more), our bodies eventually regulate and notify us about what is required for continued function. Of course, I’m no nutritionist.

There is one woman in particular I run into every month or so on the street: oh Stacey! You look like you’re losing weight!

It may or may not be true. This greeting, or, “Wow, you’re looking great,” are two common conversation starters people like to provide when it has been a while between sightings (and continues our obsession over our bodies). Every time I see this particular woman it is the same statement, followed by, are you on a special diet? Every time I see her I provide the same secret answer.

She asks, one because it is polite I suppose, but two, because she has a litany of legitimate health problems, many of which can actually be solved if she can create a healthy relationship with food. She is looking for the secret. Sure, I tell her. I’ve been frying my eggs in leftover bacon fat. I eat pork chops, roasted chicken, yogurt, cheese and a lot of vegetables, raw or sauteed in olive oil… You know, whatever is around.

Well you must cook a lot, she counters. I make lasagna, that’s it.

Well, that’s good, I say, that you cook. But in my mind I’m reminded of weekly food calendars, with hers looking something like this: Monday, lasagna; Tuesday, lasagna; Wednesday, lasagna… In the time it takes to make lasagna for a week, could she make, say maybe some chicken? Or in even less time some fish? Or really, anything other than lasagna?

Sure I cook (not as often as most people think), but most of what I make are quick meals that take just as long as opening a can and setting the microwave– and even faster than heading to a restaurant and placing an order. If it’s a food that takes longer to prepare, I make enough for leftovers I don’t mind eating cold or which can be reheated easily on the stove top (I don’t have a microwave).

So the secret special diet is that it is not a secret at all. It’s one people generations before us followed because there was no alternative: eat foods with ingredients you can name, know where they come from, or how they are produced or grown. Avoid processed and packaged food and drink, stay away from corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and bypass the advertisements telling you to load up on sugars, starches and new “low-calorie,” “all natural” treats… And maybe one other thing: Follow the variety seasons offer.

As I ate my breakfast this morning I thought about her question and was inspired to take a picture. Was I glad I was not eating lasagna? Yes. Was I glad this meal took all of 8 minutes to prepare? Yes.

There is no recipe to this meal because by the picture I think it is pretty straight forward:
sauteed asparagus
an egg, however you like it
a piece of cheese
slice of whole grain toast with butter
some other veggies or fruit, if available
fresh herbs, if available

For months D and I have been eating our way through beets. About eight pounds every three weeks for four months. As D proclaimed time and again, “there are only so many beets a person can take.” That person is obviously not me. Still, it is true there are only so many pounds of beets a single person can consume when her partner in eating has sworn them off. After a recent Passover dinner I managed to squeeze a variation of this salad on the menu. D sleeps content knowing the beets are exorcised from the refrigerator.

While I know these storage babies would keep another few months in the fridge, I also know once Community Supported Agriculture season hits us June 5, we’ll be finding a home for more blushing beauties. (Note to D: Prepare yourself.)

Over the months, to hide the offensive vegetable from D, I was able to work them into pizza, gnocchi, ravioli (beet-blue cheese filling tucked into whole wheat orange zested pasta), chocolate cake, soups (of course a borscht as well) and even pickled them for holiday gifts handed off to D’s father, who shares my love of beets. I contemplated ice cream most recently, but bowed out of that thought when all the fresh mint began hitting my senses.

Over months of experimentation, the above salad was one application where I managed to get D to enjoy his beets without sausage, pesto or chocolate poured on top. It is a favorite dish of mine because it doesn’t involve a multi-step process with the beets, just roast, slice and chill.

This salad is a colorful reminder that Spring is here, a bounty of vegetables await us, but we can make do with our storage supplies until Mother Nature decides to kick in. I think it is best with a little crumbled cheese, feta or goat, tossed into it. For Passover I made due without the cheese, substituting a tahini-citrus dressing for creaminess, also good. A number of herbs work equally well depending on taste, what is around or what you are serving this with: cilantro, purslane, parsely, celery tops or basil.

Beet and Orange Herb Salad
Serving Size= 4 persons. Cook time= 1.5 hours. Active time= 15 minutes.
4 good sized beets (a little smaller than a fist), golden or red
2-3 navel oranges (grapefruit, clementines or tangerines would work too)
1/4 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese
1/2 cup packed mint, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh ground cardamom
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil

1) Preheat oven to 350 F. Scrub beets under running water, remove greens, reserve for another use. Place beets on a pan over a large sheet of tinfoil. Sprinkle beets with olive oil, salt and pepper. Wrap the beets in foil, bake 45 minutes, turn, bake another 45 minutes or until a fork punctures both sides easily. Remove from oven, unwrap and let cool 5 minutes. Using two paper towels, work the the skins off the beets by pushing and sliding the paper towels around, starting at the tops and working around the beets. Slice beets into bite size pieces, about 1 inch long by 1/2 inch thick. Refrigerate while prepping the remaining ingredients.
2) Slice top and bottoms off oranges. Lay oranges flat then work around the orange slicing off the skin. Slice into bite size pieces, about the same size as the beets. Place in serving dish.
3) Add cheese, mint, cardamom, salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil to oranges. Toss to incorporate. Add beets and toss briefly to just incorporate trying not to let too much of the beets bleed into the oranges or cheese. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.
NOTE: Try a variety of other herbs. Instead of cheese, add 2 tablespoons tahini. Add croutons to make the dish a light dinner or lunch.

My fondest memories of holidays were spent at my grandmother’s house, packed with relatives and friends, and tables piled high with Latvian sauerkraut, kielbasa, honey ham, savory meat-filled pancakes and Jell-o. Thinking back, these were probably the best holidays because they meant toys and candy were soon to come my way. I’ll believe in anything imaginary as long as I get my basket of jelly beans!

Easter always involved a production, which is why I loved it so much. My family arrived at my grandmother’s house early in the morning. My grandmother, cooking since 6 AM, would be studding her massive loaves of saffron raisin bread before they went in the oven. A few dozen eggs boiled away in onion peels on the stove and set up on the kitchen table were the “children’s eggs,” store-bought kits for us to dye eggs. (Thinking back, I now realize these eggs were the “throw aways” for us kids to hide, break and maybe find, while my grandmother’s natural eggs were the table’s centerpiece and center of conversation.)

With eggs dyed and breakfast consumed, the adults hid eggs. We used to stay in-house, but the year after the still discussed “disappearing egg” was found rotting behind a book a few months after Easter, all egg activities were moved outside. My brothers and I followed the adults, baskets in hand, destroying the house then digging up the garden, searching for eggs. We were rewarded with an early dinner and a basket of sugar.

But always, through the years, my grandmother’s eggs stuck with me. She dyed eggs a vibrant marbled amber with a handful of onion peels and some vinegar. I worked with this, and a few other colors for an upcoming article. Above are my results.

The onion peel eggs are at top, the lighter marbled egg was wrapped in peels, secured with rubber bands and boiled for 15 minutes. The darker one was boiled loose in the peels for about 25 minutes. Top right, the striped one was wrapped in rubber bands and dyed in beet juice (who knew that beet juice, which turns everything magenta would turn eggs a dull grey-green). The speckled egg next to that was boiled for 15 min in spinach then left overnight to soak. Blueberries are the indigo eggs (1 cup frozen blueberries, 2 cups water, 1 tsp vinegar, boiled 15 min). The one in the middle had star-shaped stickers adhered before dying (just make sure the egg is totally dry before removing stickers or they will run– I lost a dinosaur with running dye!). At left, my favorite surprise, are turmeric dyed eggs. These were left about 15 minutes in 3 cups water, 1 teaspoon vinegar and 1 tablespoon turmeric. They are true golden eggs. I dripped blue crayon on the one at left to produce the polka dots.

I thought of mixing blueberries with turmeric to get a vibrant green. I bet it would be fantastic. And I’ve heard red cabbage, boiled 15 minutes with 1 teaspoon vinegar and left overnight produces a fabulous teal. I heard soaking in pomegranate juice produces red, but mine turned out a putrid brown.

Natural egg dyes turn Easter into a fun guessing game and a fabulous science experiment. They are also safer than store-bought dye kits which, though they are “food safe,” processed food dyes are mostly coal tar-based (and many of them are banned in the EU).

So have fun, use your imagination with regular household items, have a wonderful holiday, and enjoy your egg salad! I’ll link to my story once it is out.

(Don’t forget! You have until Friday to enter the Cool Beans Giveaway! Leave a bean-related comment in the post for your chance to win a 3-pack of Cool Beans. Beans are a delicious and healthy snack! Deadline is 3PM, March 7)

Is it too early to think about summer? Too early to write dreamily about foodstuffs like fresh corn? Let us take a moment out of our hectic lives, meetings, winter gloom, and think about sweet July corn (non-GM, of course). Close your eyes and meditate: Ohmmmmm Cornnnnn.

The above soup, was in fact, made this past summer. It is a corn chowder, and while I speak of other chowders, I thought it was appropriate to post. While the bitter winds of winter blast through us, we can take a deep breath and think of summertime corn (D’s favorite).

Most people think clam chowders are the only true variety [an aside: New England is the true chowder!]. A chowder is traditionally a salt pork based soup. Meaning? Bring on the bacon! Traditionally, it is also a thickened soup base, whether it’s by crushed crackers and milk, flour, or another means, is your decision.

I make this corn chowder every summer when it is available for bargain prices (we’re talking farmstand, 12 ears for $2.00 prices). I eat it cold, though when it is fresh and slightly warm it is hard to resist. On a cold day like today, it would make a soothing warm soup.

So while I dream of summer, maybe I’ll have to purchase some frozen corn and make a batch of this soup. I suggest you do the same. With it’s vibrant colors we can wash the winter away.

Note: I thicken this soup base with buttermilk. While I despised, caught, and promptly disposed of my mothers attempts to pass buttermilk off as regular milk as a child, (a warning to all you mothers hiding foods from your children! I still can’t drink the stuff) it makes a wonderful soup base. The slightly sour nature cuts the sweet corn perfectly. You can find another version of this soup with seafood here.

Corn Chowder
6-8 servings. Prep time= 30 minutes. Cook time= 30 minutes.
2 strips bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 onion, cut into thin slices
4 ears of fresh corn (or 1 16oz bag frozen), removed from stalk, keep ears
1 stalk celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 russet potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 carrot sticks, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 quart buttermilk
salt/ pepper to taste
fresh parsley (cilantro or chives would be nice too)

1) Prep ingredients. To remove corn kernels from stalk, hold ears vertical, resting one end on a cutting board, holding the top. Use a sharp knife and slice downwards, as close to the stalk as possible. Work your way around the ear until all kernels are removed. You can slice the bottom half, flip the ear and slice the top half to avoid fingers.
2) In a stock pot over medium high heat, fry bacon. Once browned, remove bacon bits and set aside. Add onion and saute 3-5 minutes. Add 3/4 of the corn, the stripped ears, celery, potatoes, carrots and stock. Cover and bring to a boil.
3) Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer, 20 minutes, until vegetables are soft. Turn heat off and stir in remaining corn, buttermilk, bacon and salt and pepper to taste (add salt at the end because the bacon will add a lot of salt). Serve warm or cool in the refrigerator for 2 hours before serving. Top with parsley.

Here again, is that lovely beet gnocchi. Its magenta hue is so stunning that in any application, it creates a dish worth discussing. This dish looks like all the care in the world went into making it, but it is really, well, it’s as simple as making gnocchi (which really is too simple for something so delicious). When I mention it, peoples’ eyes light up, Oh, really?! Will you bring some over?

Sorry to say, it has all deliciously departed. We had the gnocchi as shown above, with a simple grating of Parmesan and cardamom, and tossed gently with olive oil, salt and pepper. I can also imagine tossing these in an olive tapenade, an herbed pesto, or with a medley of colorful summer squash.

The beet brings out a wonderful earthiness in the dish that really deserves highlighting. Of all the dishes, this was my favorite. The mushrooms, cooked down in rosemary, added a great forest bramble quality to the dish. The goat cheese added a grassy compliment. Together, this dish was like the marriage of forest and pastoral life.

The sauce can easily be replicated for any pasta dish, but I think really, a colored pasta will highlight it best– which is great because there are many on the market. (Although you will be hard pressed to find any as fabulously pink as the beet.)

Beet Gnocchi with Goat Cheese Mushroom Sauce
Serving size= 4 persons. Active time=8 minutes. Cook time= 20 minutes.
1 medium sized white onion
5-6 cloves garlic
1 quart button mushrooms (mixture, or favorite work too)
1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary
4 ounces goat cheese
1 pint heavy cream
4 servings beet gnocchi or pasta1) Put salted water on high heat and bring to a boil. While warming, in a large skillet set over medium-high heat, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil.
2) Add onion and saute 3 minutes. Add garlic and mushrooms, saute 10 minutes, until mushrooms brown, release liquid and reduce slightly. Add rosemary and a pinch of salt, allow flavors to emerge.
3) Cook pasta. Gnocchi just takes a few minutes and is ready when it begins to float on the surface.
4) Add goat cheese and heavy cream to the mushrooms. Stir to warm and break down goat cheese. When just boiling, turn heat to medium-low and keep warm until pasta is ready. Serve.

What is with me and beets? You ask.
What is this recent obsession with using them in strange applications? You wonder.
An early start on Valentine’s Day?

I wanted pink pasta. No, truthfully I am still looking to use up my beets in interesting ways. I have eaten them plain, braised, pickled, in chocolate cake, and now beets have fallen into gnocchi. I really wanted to utilize that unique coloring that I love into something that would be truly fabulous. I think this takes the cake. How fabulous they are, both taste and visually. Look at them! Lovely magenta dumplings! So bold on a plate, screaming to say, look at me at eat me!

With my new food mill a willing collaborator, I had to give these babies a try.

Step back. Food mill?

I know, it sounds very old fashion, right? Even D was a doubter (and now newly converted). For months I have been looking into purchasing a new potato masher. No joke, months. I take my kitchen purchases very seriously. I have been using an old pastry blender with wires that just don’t stick in place. (Poorly constructed.)

Debating between hand-held mashers, I could not bring myself to make the buy. Not enough uses for a single instrument that can cost a good deal for the style I wanted. Potato ricers are great, but they ultimately feel like giant garlic presses to me (they also do a lousy job pushing celeriac through I recently found out borrowing a friend’s). So after much contemplation I went with a food mill. Good not only for mashing or ricing potatoes, but will bring sauces and soups smooth, make applesauce, and somewhere down the road can make baby food or grandparent food (zing!).

So with my new food mill I pushed potatoes and beets through and out came what D exclaimed as the “Sweeney Todd Special.” Pot pies anyone? I am ecstatic I have this instrument.
Really, the beet in this recipe is so faint it is difficult to detect. Another great way to slip beets to the haters. I also think it’s a great way to get kids interested in vegetables. Forget slipping it into their food, how about letting them make pink pasta, black pasta (with sepia), brown (chocolate), you get it. I had fun, I’m sure a child would have even more. (And how rewarding to make something delicious the whole family can enjoy).

This recipe made a good deal of gnocchi, enough for two portions and plenty to freeze for later. The best part of gnocchi is that once it’s frozen, it just takes an extra minute or so in boiling water to bring to temperature. Easy, delicious and easy on the eyes. Make the beets a day before to cut some time off.

To make regular gnocchi, just remove the beets from the process and reduce the flour amount (or follow this link). Beets have so much moisture that a good amount of flour is needed to counteract the stickiness of the dough Alternatively, I could have used less beet, but I love how this gnocchi radiates (really, sort of radioactive).

Beet Gnocchi
Serving Size= 8-10 portions
Special equipment: box grater, potato ricer or food mill
2 large (I used 8 small) russet potatoes
2-3 beets
2-3 cups flour
2 eggs
2 teaspoons salt
pepper to taste

1) Snip greens from beets and boil until soft, 30-45 minutes. Remove skin under cold running water, set aside. Boil whole potatoes, skin on, until soft (do not puncture initially with fork). Work carefully and quickly with two towels to slip potato skin off (you want to rice the potatoes while still warm).
2) Working in batches, place potatoes and beets through the ricer and spread gratings over a cookie sheet to dry out as you work.
3) Create a mound with the potato and beet shavings. Add the flour, salt and pepper to the center and create a moat, cracking the eggs inside. Work and knead the dough together, adding more flour as necessary, until dough is no longer sticking to fingers. (As D said, until it looks like a giant pancreas, see photo left).
4) Working in batches on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into snakes a little thicker than the width of your thumb. Slice into 1-inch pieces. Finish shaping on a lightly floured cutting board and imprint with a fork (this helps hold the sauce and cook more evenly). Assemble, slightly apart, on a cookie sheet and freeze if saving some for later use (this keeps the gnocchi from forming one giant gnocchi). Transfer to freezer bag once frozen through.
To Cook: Boil salted water. Add gnocchi and cook 3-4 minutes, until gnocchi float to top, remove with slotted spoon.
Note: Use your gnocchi just like regular pasta, though in my opinion, stay away from tomato based sauces as this will just be a large bowl of reds. Light olive oil and Parmesan, cream sauces or pesto, work very nicely with these. More in the days to come.

Wait a minute, you’re thinking.
Seriously? Did I just write that correctly? I’m thinking.

It’s all true. There are beets in that cake. As chocolatey and dense and delicious as it looks, beets lurk within. All that beet goodness gives the cake a slight red tint and a spectacular taste (no kidding). You can happily add this to your diet and eat it for dinner and dessert all in one. Er, maybe as a beet salad appetizer and dessert in one. Er… Okay… Just dessert. But you can pretend you are eating healthy from all those vegetables.

When I told D about this recipe he was less than pleased, How about just a chocolate cake?

How about we have 5 lbs of beets from our CSA’s winter share we need to go through in 3 weeks and we’re going to put beets wherever I please. For our last distribution I jarred our beets into some snappy rosemary pickles and needed a new and interesting outlet. Chocolate is always a kitchen winner, from mole to brownies, so with beets it would pair.

If you are still having problems with the sound of this cake, or any sweet vegetable cake, think about carrot cake, zucchini bread or the eggplant loaf. (Just kidding on that last one.)

Maybe this will become a sneaky way to get vegetables in your child’s meal, or a way to hide beets from the beetaphobe in your life. I guarantee this cake will be eaten.

The original game plan for this recipe was cupcakes. Fluffy beet and chocolate cupcakes. After a quick survey of the pantry, when no flour could be found, I decided a more dense, flourless cake was in order. I must say I am very happy no flour was found. I think the rich texture of this cake presents the beets very well. Paired with a tall glass of milk, I think of this as borscht for the new generation.

I found the original recipe on epicurious for a flourless chocolate cake and adapted it. I cut out some of the butter and cocoa powder and because beets contain natural sugars, I reduced the amount of sugar. I also found 1 full egg and 2 egg whites to be plenty (okay, I only had 1 egg and 2 whites frozen- but it worked!). And of course, the original recipe contained no beets, so I added plenty.

Flourless Chocolate Beet Cake
Active time= 15 minutes. Bake time= 25 minutes
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 egg, separated plus 2 egg whites
salt
1-1/2 cups grated (cooked) beets plus 2 tablespoons cooking juice
1/4 cup cocoa powder

1) Preheat the oven to 375F. Butter an 8-inch cake pan, line it with parchment paper and butter the parchment paper.
2) In a double boiler set over medium heat, melt the chocolate and butter.
3) With an electric mixer, begin beating egg whites with a pinch of salt and the beet juice. As whites build, add the sugar, egg yolk and zest into the chocolate mixture, stirring to incorporate evenly. Add grated beets to the chocolate and incorporate.
4) Gently fold in the egg whites and cocoa powder until just combined. Pour into the buttered cake pan and bake 25 minutes in the center of the oven.
5) Cake is ready when a toothpick comes out clean on the sides, but slightly wet in the middle. Remove
from the oven and let cool 5 minutes. Invert the cake on a plate and refrigerate 30 minutes before serving.