Beet Green Hummus

Bret would be the first person to tell you how much I hate wasting food.  I feel so much regret when I discover fruit or vegetables in the fridge that I forgot about and have now since gone bad.  I try to maximize every ingredient so that I can avoid wasting food and this also gives me an excuse to get creative in the kitchen.

On Wednesday morning, I took a quick look in the fridge and realized that my leftover beet greens were finally starting to wilt a little bit.  I knew that I would have to utilize them that evening or else I'd have to toss them, which I desperately wanted to avoid.  I've used beet greens in my kitchen by either lightly sauteeing them, like I did for the beet green and bacon pizza, or by even eating them raw as part of a salad.  Since I already had a meal planned for that evening that included grilled chicken sausage, Olivia's Organics Caesar salad and corn on the cob, I wanted to make a small side dish with the beet greens. 

During the day, I thought about it and I was leaning towards making some kind of pesto or dip with the beet greens when inspiration hit - hummus!  I've made a very basic and traditional hummus in the past so I thought that this would be something simple to play around with.

When I got home from the gym, I chose the freshest leaves of the remaining beet greens and gave them a rinse.

I coarsely chopped up the beet greens and also removed the stems.

I then drained and rinsed a can of garbanzo beans and added the beans to the food processor.

I then added about half of the chopped beet greens to start.  I wasn't sure how much I would use and I didn't want to add too much.

I also grabbed a bunch of different spices from my ever-expanding spice collection, including white pepper, cumin, coriander, onion powder, garlic powder and salt.  I thought I had some fresh garlic on hand but realized that I left it at my friend Abby's house when I used them to make guacamole at her pool party.  

I then pulsed the hummus and it resulted in a gritty paste.  I added a bit of olive oil but that didn't seem to help.  I realized that I must have added too much beet greens so I decided to add some more garbanzo beans.  I looked in my pantry and realized that I didn't have anymore but I did find a can of cannellini beans.  I  drained the beans but I didn't rinse them to add a bit of moisture to the hummus.  

I pulsed again and finally I was getting a hummus consistency.  I tasted it and added a bit more salt and garlic powder to taste, along with some olive oil to loosen up the consistency.

This time it was perfect.  I must admit that maybe I ate a few spoonfuls immediately because it really tasted great.  It had a wonderful bean flavor from the garbanzo and cannellini beans but also the slightest touch of bitterness from the beet greens.  

We ate the hummus on Wednesday night with some sliced cucumbers but since I used two cans of beans there was a lot leftover!  

I made a tasty hummus sandwich yesterday for lunch with chicken sausage and lots of fresh veggies and it was even better the next day.  I was happy to utilize the rest of my beet greens so that they didn't go to waste and the end result was a tasty beet green hummus.  

Do you have any "kitchen sink" recipes to utilize leftover ingredients in your fridge?  

Beet Green and Bacon Pizza

After working from home most of last week while battling a nasty cold, I ended up working pretty late on Friday to catch up and to clear some things off my desk before the long holiday weekend.  I had to pick up my best friend Samantha at South Station later in the evening and I wanted to make something quick and easy using the beet greens that I had in my fridge.  After some discussion with Bret, we settled on making a beet green pizza for dinner because we could use utilize a lot of leftover ingredients in our fridge and pantry.

The only thing that we needed was some pizza dough so I stopped by Whole Foods on my way home from work to pick up some up.  

Usually we like to plan ahead for pizza nights and pick some whole-wheat pizza dough from Flour but this pizza dough was just fine and would work in a pinch.  I generously dusted a cutting board with cornmeal flour and let the pizza dough sit out to bring it to room temperature while we got to work on the rest of the ingredients.

First, I rinsed and dried a handful of beet greens.  The first time that I cooked with beet greens, I found that they were a little wilted by the time I got to work on them.  So I have to thank my friend Robin for giving me the helpful hint to immediately cut off the beet greens when you purchase the beets and store the greens in a tight storage bag.  After a week in the fridge, the beet greens were still crisp and fresh.  I de-stemmed the leaves and got to work coarsely chopping up the beet greens.

Meanwhile Bret got to work slicing up a few strips of bacon.  When he was done slicing the bacon, he fried the pieces in a skillet.  When the chopped bacon was crispy, he placed them on a paper towel lined plate to let them cool and for the paper towel to soak up some of the bacon grease.

Using the remaining bacon fat, Bret sauteed up the chopped beet greens, along with four cloves of minced garlic.  When this was cooked down, we placed the bowl in the fridge to help cool the beet green and garlic mixture down.

Bret then got to work on the pizza dough.  We finally got to use our Chinese wooden rolling stick that we purchased at the suggestion of Chef Matt Barros from Myers & Chang.  This made all the difference as it helped us roll out a perfect pizza circle, which we hadn't be able to accomplish with a normal rolling pin.  While Bret worked on the pizza dough, I shredded about a quarter of a block of leftover Cabot's Seriously Sharp Cheddar Cheese. 

Then we were onto the fun part - putting together the pizza!  First we placed the tomato sauce on the pizza.  We decided to use a bottle of Bertolli Marinara with Burgundy Wine.  

I gently spooned some onto the pizza dough.

Next up was a layer of cheese, which was a combination of the Seriously Sharp cheddar and pre-shredded mild yellow cheddar cheese that we also had leftover in our fridge.

Then we added the sauteed beet green and garlic mixture and some more of the two cheeses.  

Finally we topped the pizza with the chopped bacon and the remaining shredded cheese.

We placed the pizza in the oven at 400 degrees for about fifteen minutes.  I wasn't familiar with this dough so I kept checking it intermittently to make sure that the pizza was cooking properly.  I didn't want under-cooked pizza dough but I also didn't want it to burn!

While the pizza was cooking, I put together a very simple side salad.  I had generously received a huge shipment that day of Olivia's Organics salads to try out and I couldn't wait to break into the Asian Salad Mix.

The Asian Salad contains a blend of spinach, red chard, mizuna, frisee, tango, and arugula.  I topped it with sliced cucumbers and gorgeous grape tomatoes.

By the time I was done prepping the salad and setting the table, the pizza was ready and it looked gorgeous!  I had to remind myself to stay patient while I let it to cool before slicing it up.

The pizza had some really fantastic flavors from the really lovely marinara sauce to the salty bacon and the garlicky beet greens.  Of course, I also loved the combination of textures from the gooey mixed cheddar cheese to the crispy bacon and the chewy pizza crust.  

And it was nice to have a simple salad to accompany the pizza, which was perfect for a hot Friday evening.

The beet green and bacon pizza was definitely the most interesting pizza I've ever made.  I'm happy to continue using my farmers market purchases in different ways.

What ingredients do you like to use when making homemade pizza?

Sauteed Beet Greens Tossed with Whole Wheat Spaghetti

On Tuesday night, I headed home after the tandoori demonstration to prepare dinner for B and I.  I had noticed earlier in the day that the beet greens on our beets were starting to look a little less than fresh.  Since I knew that they would probably wilt in a few days, I needed to use them immediately by using the beet greens as an ingredient for dinner that night.

I've actually never cooked beet greens before but I did some research and discovered that one of the easiest ways to prepare beet greens is to sautee them like chard or kale.  I figured that a simple way to use sauteed greens is to toss it with spaghetti, which I had readily available at home.  But I did need a few more ingredients so I stopped at DeLuca's Market on the way home and picked up some beautifully ripe cherry tomatoes and chicken andouille sausage to add to the pasta dish.

When I got home, I put a pot of water with some generous shakes of salt on the stove.  While the water began to heat up to a boil, I prepared the rest of the ingredients.  I roughly chopped up four or five small cloves of garlic along with a small yellow onion.  B washed and dried the cherry tomatoes and the beet greens.  I halved the tomatoes, roughly chopped the beet greens, and sliced two of the pre-cooked chicken andouille sausages. 

When the water began to boil, I added a handful of whole wheat spaghetti to the pot.  While the pasta began to cook, I heated up a wok with a generous pour of extra virgin olive oil that had been soaking with dried habanero peppers.  I like to use this spicy extra virgin olive oil when I toss it with pasta dishes.  When the wok was sizzling, I first added the garlic and onions.  I also added a bit of salt and fresh cracked black pepper for seasoning.  Once the garlic and onions began to sweat, I added the cherry tomatoes and then slowly added the beet greens by the handful and finally the chicken sausage.  As a last touch and perhaps an afterthought, I seasoned the wok by adding red pepper flakes and dried thyme.  I put a lid on the wok and let the sauce simmer to let all of the good seasoning soak into the olive oil based sauce.

When the pasta was cooked to a perfect al dente, I added the spaghetti to the wok and tossed the pasta with the vegetables and sausage.  I also added some grated Parmesan cheese to the hot pan and gave it another toss.  Although I didn't get any photos along the way in making this quick dinner, I did snap a quick picture of the pasta before serving.

Overall the dish was really bright and colorful.  The entire dish had a nice mellow heat to it.  The sauteed cherry tomato juice combined with the sauteed onions, garlic and extra virgin olive oil made a light and pleasant sauce for the pasta.  The beet greens had a spinach-like texture although a bit more bitter in taste.  But this was a nice flavor in contrast to the sweet tomatoes and the sharp Parmesan cheese.  My only regret is that I didn't choose a more herb-flavored chicken sausage, which would have been just as lean but probably a better flavor complement to the pasta than the andouille sausage.

I am loathe to throw out fresh ingredients and I'm glad I decided to give beet greens a try.  I'll definitely be cooking them more often as beets have become a regular ingredient in my kitchen.  If you have any suggestions on cooking with beet greens, please send them my way!  I'd love to hear them.