Like every year, it seems to have gotten hot way too soon. (Unlike every year, we’ve broken heat records already, but that’s for another post!) A lovely consequence of the early heat, though, is early salads!
Burpees Golden Beets thriving in our 24” hand-dug beds - root veggies thrive in this tilth!
We have gorgeous gorgeous golden beets this year. I love beets: a sweet vegetable? Sign me up! We’ve been growing various varieties of golden beets for the last few years, and are really pleased with their combination of sweetness, tenderness, and no staining! Yay for my hands! And clothes!
The beets we’re growing this year are the Burpee’s Golden Beet, from the amazing Seed Savers Exchange: they are so sweet and low in tannins that we eat them raw! Yes, raw beets: something my grandmother would not have ever dreamed of serving!
Burpee’s Golden Beets: aren’t they gorgeous? Along with Rainbow Chard, the garden is full of delights!
I had a few of these in my fridge the other day, along with a few carrots, ginger nubs, and some Serrano chiles… and a new salad was born!
Know that I’m a very loose cook: some substitutions here, a pinch of this there, and I have a masterpiece… but one I might not be able to recreate at any point in the future! I wrote this down, though, because it was so good and I wanted to share it.
I hope you are able to come by and pick up some Burbee’s Golden Beets, and enjoy this piquant salad, full of the promise of summer!
Oliview Farm’s Golden Summer Days Salad
Ingredients (serves 3-4):
2 medium-sized carrots
4 medium-sized beets
4 T. lime juice (from about 1 lime)
1 T. dried onion (I like the deep savoriness that dried onion gives, but feel free to use fresh!)
1/2 t. salt
1/2 of a Serrano chile, chopped fine
1.5 inches of ginger root, chopped fine (you could probably use dried/powdered ginger, here - I’d say maybe 1-2 t.)
4 T. mayonnaise (extra points for making your own with Oliview olive oil!)
Instructions:
Into a measuring cup, pour the lime juice and add the dried onion. Let this sit to slightly rehydrate the onion.
Coarsely grate the carrots and beets and mix into a bowl that will hold them both.
Chop the Serrano chile and ginger root finely (I use a mini cuisinart). Mix these into the lime juice mixture, and also add the salt and mayonnaise. Whisk this together until it is completely mixed and nicely emulsified, and then pour it over the carrot-beet mixture. Mix well and enjoy with some of the beet greens - delicious!
Oliview Farm’s Golden Days Salad: I’ve been enjoying this with some slices of apple and havarti to provide the boost I need midday - both from an energy standpoint and psychologically!