Beet Soup, Fried 'taters, and Tomato Salad

Not the most adventurous of experimentation tonight, but each of these is a bit of a twist on some established recipe.

Beet Soup

I actually followed a recipe for the most part -- from the excellent 12 Months of Monastery Soups, but with a little alteration at the end.

1 qt water
1 bouillon cube (I used vegetable)
2 beets, cubed
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 carrot, thinly sliced (I added this myself)
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sugar (I used raw sugar)
salt and pepper
garnish (see below)

Combine the water, bouillon, vegetables, oil, and sugar in a soup pot and cook over med-low for 30 minutes. Add the salt and pepper and cook for 10 more minutes. Blend the soup in a blender (it'll take 2 or more loads) and return to the pot. Heat for 5 minutes and ladle into bowls. The original recipe called for chopped fresh dill and scallions as a garnish, neither of which I had, so I substituted a drizzle of truffle oil and a sprinkle of dried dill weed, which seemed to turn out just fine.

Salt 'n' Vinegar Fried Baby Potatoes

A classic twist on a classic! Or something like that...

~2 cups baby potatoes perhaps cut in half or quarters
vegetable oil
1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
salt
1 (maybe 1 1/2) Tbsp white or white wine vinegar

Heat a little oil in a frying pan over medium, then add the potatoes. Fry, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, about 12-15 minutes. Turn off burner and add the vinegar and rosemary while stirring. If the vinegar does not all absorb or evaporate after a minute, drain the excess, then add salt to your taste. I used Holy Smokes' smoked salt for extra awesomeness.

Tomato-Lemon salad

OK, I based this one on the classic tomato-basil-mozzarella-olive oil-balsamic vinegar salad, but replaced everything except the tomatoes with a related item. I'm not going to say it's better than the classic dish, but I'm not going to say it's worse, either!

2 tomatoes, diced
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp fresh thyme
a couple generous pinches of shredded parmesan cheese
a small glug of grapeseed oil (only because I used the last of our olive oil in the soup)
fresh cracked pepper

Mix.

Salads and stir-fry

Farmshare season is in full swing, which means we've got veggies out the wazoo! And with the recent heat wave, I've been loathe to use the stove any more than necessary. Thus: salads.

Fresh pea/tomato salad
1 medium tomato, cubed
~1 cup fresh peas (1 pint unshelled)
1-2 Tbsp sour cream
fresh mint, chopped (2-3 leaves)
fresh dill weed, chopped (to taste)
lemon pepper/salt

Beet-feta salad
4 small beets, cut into bite-size slices
a handful of mustard greens, finely chopped
~1/4 cup sour cream
~1/4 cup feta cheese
honey to taste (I used 1-2 tsp)
a dash of vinegar

As always, you can adjust the amounts to suit your taste or your actual veggie supply. I thought both salads ended up tasting pretty good for my basically having made them up on the spot, but I'm sure they could be tweaked to become even better.

Now we come to one of my classic standbys for dealing with vegetables: veggie stir-fry! I like stir-fry because it's easy and works with just about any veggies you have around. The featured ingredient for this week: snow peas!

1 pint snow peas
2 carrots, julienned
1/3 of a medium white onion, cut into petal shapes
1/2 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
~6 inches of garlic scape, finely chopped (or a clove or two of garlic)

Pour a little olive oil and a dab of sesame oil into a frying pan and heat until medium-hot. Add veggies and seasonings and cook just until the onions lose their sharpness, stirring frequently. About halfway through cooking, add about a tablespoon of brown bean sauce (or soy sauce) and a couple dashes of mirin. (Mirin is a somewhat sweet sauce made from sake; a pinch of brown sugar or a dime-sized dot of honey should be fine as a substitute).