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ByJulieCross SpecialtoTheWoodlandDaily Democrat MyfriendMichelewould like to eat more vegetables. She does not, however, want to spend a lot of time cook- ing after work. I sympa- thize — as easy as it should be to steam some broccoli or cook a few green beans, it always feels like a great lot of extra work for some- thing that, frankly, is not as delicious as, say, a grilled cheese sandwich. But, since we are grown- ups, and since vegetables actually do taste really good sometimes, it's in our best interests to figure out ways to make vegetables easy to do. I've developed quite a few tricks in that regard over the years. My best plan is to prep ahead as much as possible on the weekend, so that veg only takes a few minutes to produce during the week. (This has the ad- ditional benefit of making most of the dirty dishes all at once as well.) Assuming you have an hour or two free at the weekend, here's what you do: Start with beets. Chances are you don't eat fresh beets, because they're woefully out of fashion (also possibly because of bad canned beet experiences as a child, for which I apologize.) They're really, really tasty if you do them right, so please try them again! (Pro tip: golden beets are not as strongly fla- vored, and have converted many people to beet-love.) Choose beets with greens attached. Smaller beets and perky greens are your best choice. I usually do one bunch of red or chiogga beets and another of golden beets. Cut off the greens and wash them well. This time of year, they're mighty sandy, so it may take sev- eral changes of water. Cut off the stems, slice the leaves into 1-inch ribbons, and slide them into quart jar or ziplock bag. They'll keep for three days easily and are good in stir fries or in the Garlic Greens recipe below. Scrub the beets and cut off their tops and tails. Oil a casserole dish with a lid (or cover it with foil) and put the beets in top (thick) side down. Bake at 350 degrees until beets are tender, 45-90 minutes depending on size. Remove from oven and let cool. Use a butter knife and your fingers to pull off the skin and discard it. Refrig- erate. Sliced beets are great in salads or served simply with salad dressing. Or make the Fancy Beets below (my very favorite current dish.) While the beets are in the oven, let's move on to cauli- flower, otherwise known as "the stuff under the cheese sauce." Buy cauliflower that's white and firm, with tender green leaves still on it. If at all possible, avoid buying the kind that's to- tally encased in a bag — you can't tell how fresh it is (or isn't.) Once you have it, core and cut into florets. Cauliflower stem is ten- der and sweet, so don't dis- card it unless it seems very tough. Fill a pot with an inch or two of water, add a steamer basket and drop in your cauliflower. Steam until just barely tender — you'll cook it a little more when you reheat it, and you don't want it falling apart. Steamed cauliflower is very nice as a vehicle for dip (make extra of the yo- gurt sauce for the Fancy Beets!) It can be reheated in the microwave, with or without store bought cheese sauce, or cooked in the Cau- liflower and Pecans recipe below. Green beans are gener- ally nice this time of year. Bear in mind that pretty isn't everything, particu- larly in green beans — per- fectly sized and colored beans are often fairly fla- vorless. Instead, look for small to medium beans that aren't withered at the ends, a sure sign that they were picked a long time ago. Wash well and trim off the ends, then drop in salted boiling water until cooked to your tastes. I like green beans tossed into a green salad, added to a quick soup or made into the Winter In- spired Salad below. Grab a can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix) or maybe two, since you can keep it in the cupboard for no-vegetable emergencies. Canned pumpkin is rich in fiber and vitamins, and is a brilliant solution for boost- ing the nutrition of just about every sweet or savory dish you can think of. Use 3 tablespoons to replace one of the eggs in muffin reci- pes or in a sweet or savory bread pudding. Use as the sauce in an enchilada fill- ing or curry, or add to a cheese sauce for your cauli- flower or mac n' cheese. You can, of course, use canned pumpkin anywhere butter- nut squash puree is called for, as in Naomi's Birthday Soup below. Finally, grab a bunch or two of Nantes carrots, which are much sweeter than the Imperator carrots we all grew up with. Scrub or peel them, depending on your tastes, then cut into sticks and pop into the fridge. Add to every lunch- box or dinner plate for the easiest extra serving of veg- etables you'll ever enjoy. If you'd like a bonus veg, do the same with a nice red sweet pepper — you can easily get three different vegetables on your dinner plate that way, and feel like a vegetable superstar! FancyBeets Serves2asasidedish 1/4 cup chopped walnuts 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt 1/2 tsp. salt 1Tbsp. chopped fresh dill 4-6roasted & peeled beets Toast walnuts in a dry skillet until lightly browned and very fragrant. Set aside to cool. (You can do this days in advance and store them in a jar on the counter. You can also do a lot of walnuts at a time and put them on your oatmeal.) Mix together yogurt, salt and dill. (Again, you can do this days ahead of time. You can also double the recipe and use some for veggie dip. Slice beets and arrange nicely on a plate. Top with a nice spoonful of the seasoned yogurt and some walnuts. Garlic Greens Serves 2as a side dish 1bunch greens, rinsed well 1/2 tsp. oil 1clove garlic, minced 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional) 1-1/2 tsp. soy sauce 1-1/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar Remove tough part of stems and chop the greens in 1inch strips. In a large pan with a cover, sauté the garlic in the oil for 1minute or so. Add the damp chopped greens and red pepper flakes and stir. Cover and steam for 1minute (or until done to taste). Add the soy sauce and vinegar and serve. Cauliflower & Pecans Serves 2as a side dish 1cup steamed cauliflower florets 4green onions 1tsp. oil 1/2 cup pecans 1Tbsp. soy sauce Clean green onions and slice the white and light green part finely. In a heavy skillet toast pecans over medium heat, stirring frequently, just until fragrant. Add oil and green onions and cook one minute Add cauliflower and cook without stirring for two minutes. Stir and cook another 2minutes. Drizzle with soy sauce, toss, and serve immediately. Winter Inspired Salad Serves 2as a side A cup or so of cooked green beans Two roasted beets some diced fresh mozzarella a little vinaigrette dressing a bit of salt some crumbled cooked bacon or toasted nuts Cut green beans into bite sized bits and dice beets. Toss everything together except the bacon. Let stand, refrigerated, at least one hour or overnight. Toss in the bacon just before serv- ing. Toasted nuts are nicer than fake bacon, but you can use that if you prefer. Naomi's Birthday Soup Serves 2 1/4 cup minced shallots 2Tbsp. butter 1tsp. salt 1Tbsp. maple syrup 1/4 tsp. nutmeg 1/4 tsp. white pepper 3cups vegetable or chicken broth 115oz. can pumpkin 1/2 cup cream Instructions: Peel and mince the shallots. Heat butter in a large heavy saucepan and cook the shallots over very low heat until they're so . Add the broth and turn up the heat to medium. Heat until it just starts to simmer. Add the salt, white pepper, nutmeg and maple syrup and stir. Add the pumpkin a little bit at a time, stirring. When ev- erything is mixed together and heated through, turn off the heat and stir in the cream. At the end of the week, you can use up any le over vegetables in this recipe, remember to cook the car- rots or red pepper before you start. Pink-o Flannel Hash with Dill Yogurt Serves 2as a main dish 1/2 cup Greek yogurt 1tsp. lime juice 1Tbsp. fresh chopped dill or 1Tbsp. dried 1/2 lb. le over boiled pota- toes (2-3small potatoes) 1small onion, chopped 1/2 cup cooked vegetables - carrots, squash, sweet potatoes are nice 1/2 cup beets 1tsp. soy sauce 1egg (or 3Tbsp. egg whites) olive oil kosher salt to taste Instructions: Mix together the yogurt, lime juice and dill. Refrig- erate for one hour before using. Coarsely chop the potatoes, onions and cooked veg except beets – we like them about the size of corn nib- lets. Mash 1cup of mixture or run it through the food processor. Add the egg and soy sauce to the mash, then stir gently into vegetable mixture. Chop beets and add to vegetables. Heat a large, preferably cast iron, skillet and add olive oil to coat the bottom generously. Heap vegetable mixture into pan and press into a tidy cake, salting lightly if desired. Cook until bottom is brown and crisp, pressing down occasionally to compact hash. Add more oil as needed. Turn cake, cutting in half if needed, and cook until the second side is browned. Serve with dill yogurt. Julie Cross is the Educa- tion and Marketing Direc- tor at the Davis Food Co- op. You can reach her at jcross@davisfood.coop. COLUMN Gr ow in g to l ov e an d ea t mo re v eg et ab le s COURTESY More people are getting into beets with different varieties and recipes. COURTESY More people are getting into beets with different varieties and recipes. The Associated Press CARACAS,VENEZUELA For- get the French fries. How about a side of yuca with that Big Mac? Venezuela's more than 100 McDonald's franchises have run out of potatoes and are now serving al- ternatives like deep-fried arepa flatbreads or yuca, a starchy staple of tradi- tional South American cooking. McDonald's is blaming a contract dispute with West Coast dock workers for halt- ing the export of frozen fries to the country. The dispute also caused several days of French fry rationing in Japan last month. FAST FOOD McDonald's runs out of French fries in Venezuela N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N TY S I N C E 1 8 8 5 PHONE: (530) 527-2151 FAX: (530) 527-5774 545 Diamond Avenue • P.O. Box 220 • Red Bluff, CA 96080 Support our classrooms, keep kids reading. DONATE YOUR VACATION newspaper dollars to the Newspaper In Education Program HELP OUR CHILDREN For more details call Circulation Department (530) 52 7-2151 FOOD » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, January 7, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B4