Beets, Beets, Beets! How many different beets you eat!

The produce box that I receive includes at least one root vegetable item per delivery and they do not skimp out. A few weeks ago, I got beets twice in a row and ended up with more beets than I knew what to do with. After doing some homework and modified a bunch of recipes, here is what I came up with. If your toddler does not like beets, try the Beet Breakfast Bread. My husband, whose attitude towards beets is equivalent to a typical 2-year-old, loves it.

Did you know that the original velvet cake was made with beets before food coloring was introduced? So, if you like to eat natural foods, do away with the food coloring and bake cakes with beets!

Beet Breakfast Bread

3/4 cup wheat flower
1/2 cup white all purpose flower
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (I used 3/4 tsp since I reduced honey amount)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
1 cup unsweetened coconut flower
2 large eggs
3/4 cup honey (I used 1/2 cup honey to reduce sweetness)
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup grated beets (1 medium sized beet, the deeper the color the better)
1/2 cup grated carrots

Heat the oven to 350F. Spray a spring form ring or bread pan with cooking oil.
Combine all of the dry ingredients, including pecans, and mix well, In a separate bowl combine all of the wet ingredients and mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix only to combine until the flower is moist. Do not over-mix.
Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the bread come out clean.

Note: Since I use organic brown eggs, they are usually much smaller than the typical eggs you'll see. I picked our the two larges eggs from the dozen for this recipe.

Roasted Beet Salad

9 small-to-medium sugar beets
2 tbs orange muscat vinegar (or any other light color vinegar)
2 tbs lemon juice (~ 1 lemon)
2 tbs olive oil + more for roasting
salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 400F. Clean the beets and place them in a roasting pan lined with aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 30 minutes.

Once roasted and slightly cooled, peal the skin and slice the beets in 1/3 inch moons. Separately mix the dressing ingredients and drizzle over beets. Store in the refrigerator over night for best flavor.

Beet Leaves and Cheese Quiche
When you are preparing beets, there is no need to throw away the greens that usually come with them. The healthier the greens, the fresher your beets are. Use the greens to make a quiche or throw them into a stew.

greens from 5 beets (young leaves are better)
6 eggs
2 cups cottage cheese
2 tbs sour cream or yogurt
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup wheat flour
1 cup grated Cheddar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 325 F. Spray 8x8 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Wash and remove the stalk from  the beet greens. If the leaves are young, you do not have to remove the stalk veins from the leaves. They will add a beautiful pink hue to the quiche. Blanch the greens and squeeze as much liquid out as possible.Slice thinly.

While your greens are blanching, mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Add the sliced greens and mix once again. Transfer into the baking dish and bake for 50 minutes.

Note: The major component of this quiche is cottage cheese, which I love. If you are not a huge fan of cottage cheese curds in your quiche, substitute one cup of the cottage cheese with 3/4 cup half and half. Using half and half in your quiche makes it fluffy and custardy but, in my opinion, custard-like texture does not go well with all quiche fillers like the greens.