Filed under: Side Dishes
Last week was truly the week of squash. We ate it every day (sometimes twice a day), and then took some along to Yosemite to eat for dinner while camping. And this week promises to be more of the same. But for now- that’s okay. Because its such a versatile gorgeous vegetable, and I love it!
A Summer Squash Gratin is a fantastic way to get rid of a few pounds of squash. This recipe from 101 Cookbooks is an explosion of flavor and textures that really knocked me off my feet- I think thats all we ate for dinner that night! (I even made it again on Monday, although I used slightly less olive oil in the oregano pesto, and I didn’t have any potatoes this week.)
That’s another thing we harvested last week – potatoes. We pulled up several plants, sifting through the dirt with our fingers for the little baby spuds. I still had some Gruyere left over from the Summer Squash Gratin, so I decided to make a potato gratin. It turned out okay – nothing to post about, as the squash gratin was 10x better!
We also had green beans ready for harvest, so I steamed them and garnished with chopped lemon balm for a subtle lemony flavor. I have a microwave steamer, so it only takes ~3 minutes to steam the beans and they are ready to eat.
I’ve also been roasting beets every week to use in salads (or to eat on their own). Roasting beets is by far the best way to prepare beets. For awhile I was using the microwave steamer, but while roasting may take a little longer, it is infinitely easier to peel them when they’re done. So I want to include a recipe for roasting beets to encourage everyone to give it a try.
Roasted Beets
Preheat oven to 400. Scrub beets to get rid of dirt, and snip greens and roots to 1″. If beets are of similar size, leave them, but if you have some that are smaller, cut the larger beets to be of similar size. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and spread on a foil-covered cookie sheet. Roast for ~45 minutes – 1 hr (depends on size) until beet is tender when poked with a fork. Take them out of the oven and let them cool, then slip the skins off with your fingers. Ready to eat!
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Or pickle them! One of my favorite ways to eat them: http://meganklugh.blogspot.com/2009/02/hard-to-beet.html
Comment by Megan June 25, 2009 @ 8:49 pmyum yum yum I LOVE roasted beets! They are especially delicious as a salad with a bit of goat cheese.
Comment by Patty June 26, 2009 @ 7:38 amI def going to try the roasted beets, sounds delicious
Comment by moni November 4, 2010 @ 3:32 pmI eat beets every week, and i always boil them. love them!