Category Archives: beets

Heirloom Tomato & Roasted Beet Gazpacho

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This recipe is featured today in Luri & Wilma, a smart magazine for smart ladies run by native Texan Charlie Heck.  I love the way they shot and featured this recipe, and just as much, I love this Tomato & Beet Gazpacho!  Click through the article below to read the whole issue online (there’s great stuff about fashion, body issues, and vintage duds inside) and scroll down for the full recipe!

Gazpacho Luri Wilma

 

Heirloom Tomato & Beet Gazpacho

Aside from being the perfect make-ahead, quick-cleanup recipe, I love this gazpacho because it relies on fresh ingredients for a bright and complex flavor.  The raw veggies lend a subtle spice to the cold soup, and garden herbs leave it freshly flavored.   Red and golden beets impart a deep magenta hue while keeping the soup slightly sweet.  Plus, this silky staple requires zero cooking and limited utensils, so you can stay cool in the kitchen while impressing your guests with a light supper.  This recipe will serve two as a main course or four as an appetizer.

You’ll need:

  • 3 large heirloom tomatoes
  • ½ large cucumber, seeded
  • ½ red onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 2 beets (try for a mix of red & golden)
  • Handful of fresh herbs: basil, parsley, lemon thyme, chives.
  • 3 tbs red wine vinegar
  • ¼ cup olive oil

First, finely dice the cucumber, red onion, and garlic.  Seed the tomatoes and dice them as well.  When it comes to tomatoes for this gazpacho, I opt for heirloom, but any blend of particularly juicy ones will do- Green Zebras and Brandywines are favorites.  Combine the vegetables in a large bowl and use an immersion blender to puree the veggies until smooth, adding the olive oil slowly.  To flavor the gazpacho, use any herbs you have on hand- I snipped a handful of basil, parsley, garlic chives, and lemon thyme from the window box.  Add 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, then cover the bowl and pop it in the refrigerator.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Because the flavors of this gazpacho intensify with time, I like to keep it in the fridge for up to two days, then strain it using a fine sieve when I’m ready for a quick weeknight dinner.  Of course, if you don’t want to strain the veggies, you’re welcome to serve it chunky, but I’m always impressed with silky soups.  Serve it up in bowls with roasted shrimp, a creamy burrata, or toasted ciabatta for a simple supper.

gazpacho

xoxo,

Liz of The Hungry Texans

garlicky broccoli slaw

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Broccoli_Slaw

Last week I awoke to a bountiful produce delivery from From the Farmer on my doorstep. For any friends in the DC area, I couldn’t recommend From the Farmer more highly – they deliver fresh produce to your doorstep weekly. I love it because of the flexibility of From the Farmer vs. traditional CSAs or produce delivery services. I can suspend my deliveries if I know I’m traveling and won’t have time to put my produce to good use! This week my bin overflowed with peaches, heirloom tomatoes, peppers, baby eggplants, beets, broccoli, apples and more. I wanted a fresh and hearty salad, so whipped up this garlicky broccoli slaw with beets, apples, and almonds.

BrocSlaw_Ingredients

For the salad:
Three heads of broccoli
Two beets, peeled and diced
Two apples, skin on and diced
1/3 cup sliced raw almonds

For the dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic
juice from half of one lemon
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Start by roughly chopping your broccoli so it’s small enough to fit through the tube of your food processor. I used my the slicing disc attachment on my food processor to thinly slice the broccoli, but you could also use a mandolin or just roughly chop with a big chef’s knife.

Peel your beets and dice into bite-sized pieces. Dice your apple into similar sized cubes. In a large bowl combine broccoli, beets, and apples.

Mixture_slaw

Add your almonds.

Mixture_almonds

Next, make your dressing in the bowl of a food processor by combining garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle over all ingredients and toss to combine.

DressedSlaw

Serve as a side or enjoy all on its own as a salad!

xo,
julia

a hungry texans guide to thanksgiving!

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we all do it- that weekend before thanksgiving when friends gather, drink too much spiced cider, and potluck our faces off for that pre-thanksgiving thanksgiving celebration.  call it Friendsgiving or Fakesgiving, we just call it delicious.

and this year was no different.  the man chefs brought their extremely tasty green beans and a rendition of thomas keller’s stuffing that blew us meat eaters’ socks off (vegetarians beware: this stuffing starts with 1 lb of rendered bacon fat).

use these recipes for your own thanksgiving feast or just as side dishes for a wonderful meal.  click through for recipes!

honey butter chicken biscuits

roasted root vegetables with charred scallion goat cheese & garlic confit

middle eastern spiced roasted cauliflower

jalapeno honey butter & sage roasted garlic butter

cranberry-orange relish

 

happy thanksgiving!

xoxo,

the hungry texans

roasted root vegetables with charred scallion goat cheese & garlic confit

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hearty root vegetables are one of the best features of these temperature-plunging months.  beets, potatoes, turnips, parsnips, celeriac… the list of ground-dwellers is never-ending and these veggies just beg to be roasted and smothered in earthy chevre.  this recipe uses red potatoes, beets & celeriac, all diced into small pieces and roasted until crisp and soft.  find celeriac at your farmers market right now or in the root section of your grocery.

you’ll need:

serves 10

6 red potatoes
3 small beets
1 large head of celeriac or celery root
Olive Oil, to drizzle
3 sprigs thyme
s&p
4 oz. fresh chevre
1 bunch scallions
3 tbs sour cream
20 cloves of garlic (sorry I’m not sorry)

 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Dice the vegetables into small pieces.  I left the red potato skins on but peeled the beets and celeriac.  Layer them into a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil and salt & pepper.  Separate the thyme leaves from their stems and season the mixture with the thyme.  Roast in the hot oven for 30-45 minutes, until the outsides are golden and crispy and the insides are soft.  The best way to estimate this point of done-ness is by trying the veggies, spoonful by spoonful, until you have depleted the roasting pan by one serving size and they taste done.

To “confit” something is to cook it in it’s own fat.  However, garlic doesn’t have fat, so garlic confit is really just a nice way of saying “olive oil poached garlic.”  While the vegetables are roasting, fill a small saucepan with 1/3 inch of olive oil.  Heat over medium heat and add your twenty cloves of garlic and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, until garlic is golden brown and super soft.  Spoon the garlic cloves onto parchment paper and try to resist the urge to snack on them.

In a separate bowl, combine your chevre & sour cream.  If you happen to have a grill on, you could char your scallions on that.  I just popped them under the broiler until they turned.  Dice up the scallion and add to your chevre mixture.

Once the veggies are finished, top with the burnt scallion chevre and the garlic confit.

xoxo,

the hungry texans