Weeks 41 and 42, oops, I made a boo boo

I'm totally off! This week is Week 43, but I'm behind and only up to posting Week 42. Blah!!! I really hope that when I hit the end of the year, I actually have 366 photos.

281: Spent another day in the city with friends watching the Blue Angels and other festivities. Winded down with some beer and fish tacos at Rogue.

282: Feeling all healthy making some salmon with tofu and veggies. 

283: Not much in the fridge now so TJ's to the rescue again with a cornmeal pizza. Not planning on buying that again.

284: Cut up the butternut squash and made a vegetarian chili with lots of cheese. Mmm, cheese.

285: Headed to our neighborhood pub to watch baseball. Not a good night for the A's.

286: Took a work lunch at Osteria Coppa. Affogato after lunch is the perfect midday pick-me-up!

287: Needed some fuel before a run, so aebleskivers and sausage were it!

288: On a baking kick, so made some beet chocolate cupcakes. 

289: Went to dinner at mom's the night before, and got plenty of leftovers. Lova ya mom!

291: Skipped Tuesday (went out on a date and didn't want to interrupt the moments with picture taking.... Should've taken the pictures.) Wednesday was homemade, with purple long beans from grandma's garden and mom's pepper sauce.

293: Lost another day, I think I had leftovers as I spent most of Thursday night cooking for Friday. Took part in Le Diner en Blanc in SF. So much fun and maybe I'll get around to even writing a blog post about it.

294a: Caught up on the photos by taking three on Saturday. Took part in a Food Styling Course with Joy the Baker and Tracy Shutterbean (yet another post to do). Made some bourbon pumpkin milkshakes, oh yes we did!

294b: Lunch at the course was a lovely catered meal of roasted eggplant and tomatoes and a light quinoa salad.

294c: Met up with a friend for dinner at Wood Tavern, on my list for a long time. Apps were delicious. Had the lamb as the main course, but it needed salt. Some restaurants don't put salt on the tables, but this one did. It's as if they knew...

Beets

Beets beets, a wonderful treat
The more you eat, the more you... tweet
The more you tweet, the better you feel
So let's have beets for every meal!

A poet I'm not.

Anyhow, picked up some lovely beets at the farmer's market yesterday. I wanted to use up the leaves too, since it seemed like a waste not to eat them. A quick online search and I came upon this recipe from the parsley thief for inspiration. Some adjustments made as I didn't have pine nuts or feta.





Orzo salad with beets and greens

• 3/4 pounds beets, greens cut but saved
• 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 ounces orzo pasta
• 3 ounces herbed goat cheese, crumbled
• kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Pretty stems from the beets...

....unfortunately destined for the compost bin

• Heat the sunflower seeds in a dry skillet, over medium heat, until they begin to brown. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Set aside.
• 
  
• Peel the beets and chop them into bite-sized pieces. Remove the stems from the beet greens and slice the leaves into strips. Wash the greens thoroughly to remove any grit.
• 
  
• Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced red onion and garlic. Cook until the onions are tender and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the beet greens. Cover and cook, tossing occasionally, until the greens are wilted, about 5 minutes.

Lovely beet greens

• Meanwhile, cook the beets in a pot of salted water, until just tender, about 10-12 minutes. Remove the beets from the pot using a slotted spoon and set aside. Return the water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook, according to the package instructions, until al dente and drain. Add the orzo to a bowl, along with the beets, sunflower seeds, beet greens and crumbled goat cheese. Toss, season with salt and pepper to taste and eat!

It's like Christmas on a plate!

Playing with my food again