Sunday, July 29, 2012

A cake with beets???

So I've been getting a LOT of beets from the CSA that we are members of. And ok, so beets are fine but really, I guess I don't have enough experience with them to know what to do with them. So the idea pops into my head, so beets are a root vegetable. Carrots are a root vegetable. I love carrot cake..... hmm beet cake? Was it even possible? So I set out to find out.
So I started down this path thinking, I had better use a simple but tested carrot cake recipe that I know I like. And that is what I did.


Ok so now you know my recipe. So I'm mixing it all up and at the end I get something that looks like this.
So the thought runs through my mind. Umm who the heck is going to eat this? and umm I hope that doesn't stain my mixer blade.
Maybe I can pass this off as a red velvet cake? because I know I'm going to have a hard time selling this to people.

So away I go, pouring into th muffin tins. I fill them most of the way up because I have a feeling it's not going to rise very much.
And 20 mins later, here are the muffins. They don't look quite as scary as the batter, but there is still a little reddish tinge to them (or is it just me because I know there are alot of beets in there). So regardless, muffins are taken out of the pan to cool. At this point, I'm a little scared to try them. Crap, not only did I make a tray of muffins, I also made a little cake. I sooo should have halved the recipe to try this. Too late now!


So here it is in all it's glory. This is the cake version. It doesn't look so scary. I see there are some larger beets chunls, I probably should have done a better job of shreding them. Oh well, so I'm taking the cake to work and I'll keep the muffins.



So I know what you are thinking. A: umm is there a frosting on that? Yes there is.

Frosting Recipe:
1/2 cup greek yogurt (I used cran/pomergranite b/c that is all I had)
1/4 cup powdered sugar.

Whisk until it becomes thick. Put in fridge for 30 mins. Then use.

And B: umm so how does it taste? you took it to work right, sooooo.
Okay, so envision a spicy carrot cake. And that is what I liken the flavor to. Now if you absolutely hate beets, I wouldn't recommend this because 1: you hate beets. You are going to convince yourself that this is gross. I do that with stuff even before trying it if I know I don't like an ingredient. I do not envision you running through the hills all of a sudeen praising the deliciousness that are beets. and 2: umm see #1

Does it taste like beets? Umm I personally think so, but I took it to work and didn't tell anyone what it was and everyone seems to really like it. And no one has even remotely asked me what is in it. So.... I don't think anyone knows there are beets in there. To me though, that is all I can taste. But that's the difference between knowing the secret ingredient and not knowing it

Friday, July 27, 2012

Squash Rolls


So thanks to my delicious CSA, I was given a sampling of squash.There were some that I can only describe as looking like little UFO's. I actually had to google them to see what they were! hehe.
Okay, so bring on the rolls. As a note, I didn't have enough of one squash, so I used butternut, acorn and zucchini in my recipe.

So this is what your squash should look like. Resembles baby food. (Actually I made a little too much, so my little guy got mixed squash for dinner!)
There should really not be any chunks in the squash, after all you are making bread... it needs to be smooooothhhhh.
 The bread mix after all ingredients are added. You can see that it is starting to form a ball. It's not really sticky anymore but isn't fully formed yet.
The bread dough after kneeding it for 8 mins.
Aghhh sooo smooth looking, so pretty.
Your whole kitchen should pretty much smell like yeast at this point.














A little before/after action for you. (I probably should have put the dough in a clean bowl to rise, but I didn't want to make any more dirty dishes, it didn't seem to mind)
Before:                                                                               After 1 Hour of rising.


Another before/after shot for you. I rolled mine into clover leafs because it's my favorite dinner roll shape. I bake in muffin pans, but normal rolls you could put in a 13x9 pan and let them bake that way.You can certainly make them into whatever shape you like.
The recipe made 24 normal sized clover leaf rolls.

Before:                                                                                                            After 30 mins





And bake.
Mine took only 12 minutes, but if you were making larger rolls, they might take longer.
(Please ignore the rusty muffin pan, I guess I should replace them. Whatever, they still work)



And the verdict?
umm freaking delicious. I've had 3 already. I'm regretting bringing them to work to share. I could have eaten all 24 myself. Soooo tasty. Tastes best warm but still very tasty at room temperature.

I could see if you used all butternut squash that the rolls might take on a orangeish color. I think that would look really cool.

Oh, and I don't think I mentioned that this is my normal recipe for potato dinner rolls, just sub the squash for mashed potatoes.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Cabbage in my Sloppy Joes?

I know what you are thinking. Umm does that title mean what I think it means. The answer is YES! This posting is all about Sloppy Joes with some deliciously hidden cabbage. And I'm not talking a little bit of cabbage, there is a full 2 cups in this bad boy! And the best part, you'd never know tasting it! 

Ok so lets start this off with the recipe:



So the 1st thing I did was chop up all the cabbage, onion, celery super tiny. This is important, it has to be small to meld into the sauce without anyone knowing it!


Then add the meat and cook until done.
It looks something like this photo (noted, your might be a little more contained to the actual pan and not all over the place!)

So then we add the sauce ingredients and cook until thick. My general rule of thumb for sloppy joes is that you should be able to run the spoon thru the sauce and have the line remain. Then you know the sauce is thick enough. That looks like this:
So then we have the mix. Put it on whatever you want, hamburger buns or rolls. We used tortillas. I like to top it with some shredded cheddar cheese, but that's optional. Whatever you like. Some sour cream would have been awesome.

The recipe seemed to make enough for 4 really full burritos. It would probably make about 8 hamburgers.
The best part, only I knew there was A LOT of cabbage mixed in there. The hubby didn't even remotely have any idea. It was awesome!

Enjoy!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Welcome!

I want to thank anyone who happens upon this site at this point. Either you stumbled upon it, or you happen to be one of my friends friends who were told to check it out. Regardless, thanks in advance!

My goal is to post weekly recipes utilizing a fruit or veggie in a fun way that makes it virtually undetectable and/or soooo delicious that you'd never know you were actually eating it!

I don't know about everyone else, but my husband and I have a hard time just plopping a veggie side dish down at a meal and eating it. Something about a bowl of green beans or peas just isn't that appealing.
(I secretly think he may be afraid of trying them). As for me, I think I look back at things I was forced to eat as a kid and despise them now. I seriously can't look at certain things in a edible manner without thinking back to having to sit at the table until everything on my plate was gone, it didn't matter how cold the okra or asparagus got. Umm can we all say yuck!

Please also vote or email me anything that you would like to see used in a future recipe.