Seems people have a love-hate relationship with the beet. We have been very successful in turning haters into lovers by recommending that people try roasted beets or shredded raw beets. However, if you’re a committed “no way, no how am I eating beets” person, we have an alternative for you…hair dye!
All you have to do is boil the beets until tender, then remove them from the now very red water. Place the beets in a plastic bag and give them to a friend. Let the beet juice cool and add to a partially empty shampoo bottle. Wash your hair and let the shampoo stay in for a few minutes. Look in the mirror and convince yourself you really see a difference…it is supposed to work.
All the techniques we have found involve washing your hair after beet infusion, which frankly doesn’t make a lot of sense to us. Maybe the best technique would be to just dump the pot of beet juice on your head (but wouldn’t that turn your face red?). Alternative: try it on someone else first. Should you give it a go, send us before and after pictures and we will send you more beets!
This Week’s Field Goods Favorite
Red Beets
Chop and slow roast at 350 for 1 hour. Julienne the beets and toss with oil and lemon—beautiful and tasty. Roast, sauté, steam, and more… but don’t boil! Boiling sacrifices the quality and flavor of the beet and releases an unpleasant aroma.
Macerated Beets
Sweet and Salty Beet Burgers
Grated Raw Beet Salad
Raw Beet “Tea” Sandwiches
Brown Sugar-Glazed Beets
“Long Table Harvest is a new farm-food rescue program serving Columbia County, New York. The Hudson Valley is an extremely fertile region – we have over 52,000 acres of farmed land and an abundance of high-quality, local produce in Columbia County alone. However, even amongst this abundance, 7,000 of our county’s residents are food-insecure and another 10,000 live below 200% of the federal poverty line. On average, 20% of produce doesn’t make it off of the farm. We created Long Table Harvest to serve as a bridge to connect this abundant and edible resource onto the plates of people in our community.”
Several of our frozen items are obvious smoothie ingredients — strawberries, blueberries, kale. But you may not have considered using the diced sweet peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, or butternut squash! Here is an exciting bit of news about using frozen veggies in smoothies: the freezing
AKA spinach mustard, but we think its proper name is more fun to say! This mild, hearty Asian green can be used in place of spinach. Lightly steam or sauté, wilt the leaves with a warm dressing, or add to a soup.
We want to give a shoutout to Camp Dudley, a 130 year old summer camp located on the shores of Lake Champlain in Vermont. For the last few years Camp Dudley has worked with local farmers, especially Juniper Hill Farm, to provide wholesome food for its campers with great results. Kids are leaving the camp not only having learned how to canoe but also loving lettuce. Yea Camp Dudley!
The Pasta Subscription this week is Gnocchi, which is an Italian soft dough dumpling made from eggs, flour, nutmeg, and potatoes. Since it is fresh it needs to stay frozen or it will become one big Gnocchi. Only order the Gnocchi if you can get it in a freezer within four hours. Also, the Fruit Subscription this week is super duper scrumptious Apple Chips from Finger Lakes Fresh!
Microgreens are tiny, edible greens—the next living stage after sprouts. The eight greens in this mix are: kale, arugula, mizuna, cabbage, kohlrabi, cressida, mustard greens, and amaranth! Microgreens are anything but micro when we’re talking about health. These little babies pack a massive nutritional punch with 4 to 6 times the nutrients of mature veggies. Munch on them as a snack, toss ’em in a salad or top a fancier dish. The entire plant is edible. Eat raw and add to salads, sandwiches, dressings, etc.