Beets and Scapes

Two yummy newcomers to the pick up room this week are beets and scapes. As with the turnips, when you get the beets home, cut the tops off and store separate from the beets. They keep better and the nutrient profile holds better too. Beets are so delicious right now because they haven't been stored so their sugars are at their highest. Beets are delicious raw - slice thin or grate and put into salads. We also have a lot of recipes on this site - if we are lucky we will receive a lot of beets throughout the year so try several of them - one of my favorites is the Roasted Beet and Beet Green Risotto. The color is beautiful and it tastes delicious! If you like to bake, try the Chocolate Beet Cake - it is so moist and delicious. Or, simply roast the beets and make a batch of your favorite dijon vinaigrette and place the beets into the dressing - they will keep like this for days - you can take out the amount you want and snack on them, add to salads or put a few slices on a sandwich - yum!

(Garlic) scapes are the other new item - my pick up day is Thursday, so I already got the pleasure of having some of them. The scapes are the flower stalk of the garlic plant - the farmers must remove these stalks or the strength of the plant will go into the flower rather than the bulbs. Like with the green garlic, the scapes must be kept in the fridge. They keep for quite awhile, but once you try them, you will use them! Chop them up and add to any recipe that calls for garlic - BUT - don't cook them for long because the flavor does not hold under long, high heat. If I use them in some type of stir fry or saute, I add them with the greens at the end of the process. You can make them into pesto or dips - Garlic Scape and White Bean Dip is one of my favorites and the Garlic Scape Pesto is delicious too!

Enjoy!!