May 2025

Blood red and looking like a badly shaped tennis ball with a tail, beets are not high on the favorite food list.  Beets contain phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, iron, potassium, fiber, Vitamins A and C, niacin, and biotin and folic acid.  All those nutrients packed into an ugly looking ball with a tail.  I guess you really can’t tell a book by it’s cover! I happen to love beets.  I grew up on them.  Polish and Slovak cuisine include many beet dishes (borscht – beet soup, pickled beets and Red Beets with Horseradish Relish )

Use every bit of the beet – the leafy tops are very mild, and if you didn’t tell anyone, they would think they are eating spinach.

6 medium beets with greens attached 2 large oranges 1 small sweet onion, sliced into thin wedges 1/3 cup red wine vinegar 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 garlic clove, minced 1/2 tsp. grated orange peel Feta or goat cheese and walnuts for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Trim greens from beets.

Cut off and discard stems.

Coarsely chop leaves and reserve. Wrap each beet in foil.  Place beet packets directly on oven rack and roast until tender when pierced with a fork, about 1 hour.  Cool and peel beets (I suggest you use gloves or paper towel to do this, beet juice stains everything. Cut beets into wedges and place in a medium bowl. Cook beet greens in a medium saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, about 2 minutes.  Drain and cool.  Squeeze greens to remove excess moisture.  Add greens to bowl with beets.  Cut and peel skin and pith from oranges.  Working over a bowl, cut between membranes to release segments.  Add orange segments and any juice that has collected along with onion to beet mixture.  Whisk vinegar, olive oil, garlic and orange peel in small bowl to blend;  add to beet mixture and toss to coat.  Season with salt and pepper.  Let stand at room temperature 1 hour.  Garnish with feta or goat cheese and walnuts.

~Adapted from:  All Natural Health – Epicurious

Most people hear the words “tomato pie” and think pizza, or maybe green tomato pie, but this is neither.  It’s an open pie heaped with slices of fresh, summer tomatoes.  I found two tomato pies that I wanted to try, so here’s Number One.  The second is a double crust pie with a combination of tomatoes, cheddar and mayonnaise.  You be the judge! You will need:

• 1 (9-inch) frozen pie shell, thawed
• 3 large beefsteak tomatoes, cut into 1/2″ thick slices
• Kosher Salt for sprinkling
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
• 1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Blind bake pie shell lined with foil and fill with beans or rice.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Let cool. Sprinkle tomatoes with salt and drain on paper towel 10-15 minutes.  Pat dry. Spread mustard over the bottom of the shell and sprinkle with cheese.  Arrange tomatoes over the cheese in one overlapping layer. Bake until pastry is golden brown and tomatoes are very soft; 35-40 minutes.  In a small bowl, stir together the parsley, thyme garlic and olive oil.  Sprinkle the pie with this mixture while hot and spread out gently with the back of a spoon.  Serve at room temperature.

Summer Tomato Pie

I’ve always had a weakness for a soft pretzel – from the mall, even a street vendor.  They just seem to taste better when you are watching a parade!  Smothered with lots of yellow mustard…yummmm!  This is a sandwich version – think of the things you could put in the middle of this!
Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. dry yeast
• 2 cups warm water
• 1 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 2 Tbsp. half & half
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 to 4 cups bread flour
• 3 Tbsp. baking soda

Combine warm water, dark brown sugar and honey in a mixing bowl and stir.  Add the yeast and stir to dissolve.  Let stand until mixture begins to foam, about 5 minutes. Melt 3 tablespoons butter, add half & half and add to yeast with teaspoon of salt. Measure out 2 cups of flour and add to bowl.  With mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix until incorporated.  Add additional flour 1/3 cup at a time until dough is no longer sticky and pulls away from the side of the bowl.  Knead on low setting for 5 minutes.  Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour, 30 minutes. Punch down dough and turn out onto a floured surface.  Divide into 8 equal portions. Shape dough into balls, pinching the bottom together and then rolling lightly with the ball of your hand.  Place on lightly floured baking sheet and cover lightly with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. While rolls are rising, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil.  Bring heat down to a medium simmer and add baking soda.  This foams up quickly so add one tablespoon at a time.  Now the fun begins.  The fun part only because it means one thing – you are getting closer to eating one of these delicious rolls.  When rolls are ready, carefully drop rolls into the baking soda bath one at a time with the side that will be the bottom facing up.  Poach for 30 seconds, carefully turn the roll over in the liquid and poach for another 30 seconds. With a slotted spoon, remove the rolls from the water and place on a lightly greased baking sheet, seam side down.  Glaze each roll with lightly beaten egg wash coating all sides.  Sprinkle with pretzel salt.  With a sharp, straight edge, cut a slash or an “X” in the top of each roll.

Pop these little darlings in the oven for 15-20 minutes and get ready for an awesome pretzel roll!

These would be great for a hamburger roll or even a breakfast sandwich!

Me? – I’m just going to have a cheese and mustard sandwich – Enjoy!

~Adapted from Instructables