Just BEET it!

Thankfully the hail didn't damage our carrots or beets. 

The colors of fresh, home grown vegetables are so vibrant!

Check this out...here's a seemingly "normal old beet..."

I chose a variety pack of beet seeds including dark purple, yellow, and this fun striped specimen.

I like beets.  When I was a kid I think the only kind of beet I had every tasted was pre-cooked from a can or pureed into the commercial recipe of V8 Juice.  As I "matured" and started eating more and more vegetables, when my friend Kim had roasted some with a little olive oil and garlic salt, I decided to give them another try.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Since then I've ordered many different beet salads at restaurants with goat cheese and figs and arugula and all sorts of yummy things.  And I've even juiced beets.  They are really tasty!

After watching Food Network, I decided to branch out and plant a packet of beet seeds in the garden earlier this Spring.  I also planted broccoli, carrots, kale, chives, lettuces, leeks, musk melon, and tomatoes.  And, since I live in Colorado, it doesn't just rain in my neighborhood...it hails.  And it hails pretty much every time it rains.  So, the only survivors of our hailstorms this summer are the carrots, beets, chives, kale, and lettuces (which I missed b/c I was out of town, so when I got home they had gotten too big and tart).  The leeks may still have a chance.

Anyway, the other day I picked the pile of veggies you see in the above picture.  I made a homemade gluten free carrot cake for my mom for her birthday with this recipe from Karina, the Gluten-free Goddess.  It was a hit!  I did the add-ins of walnuts, golden raisins, and coconut.  We had a Primal spaghetti dinner with spaghetti squash and grass-fed beef and tomato sauce (with gluten free pasta for the non-squash fans...I had leftovers...these will come into play later...)

The next day, I cleaned up the beets and cut them into about one inch chunks, tossed them with olive oil, a little lavender balsamic vinegar, some garlic powder, and sea salt, and roasted them for 1/2 an hour at 375.  They were super yummy!

And, I knew I could eat the beet greens, so I chopped them up and sauteed them with a little olive oil, 1/4 of a white onion, some fresh minced garlic, sea salt, and a piece of bacon.  So great!

Today I made a really delicious lettuce wrap with 4 pieces of green leaf lettuce, 2 slices of turkey, 1 piece of bacon, 1/4 smashed avocado, thinly sliced leftover cold beets, 1/4 cup leftover spaghetti squash w/garlic oil, and a drizzle of fig balsamic vinegar.  This was one of the best wraps I've ever tasted!

I found a recipe to use carrot tops as an alternative to basil in pesto.  I'm going to try that next.

Eating from the garden has been so much fun!  I have a whole plan for the backyard for next year!

Do you have any garden fresh recipes you'd care to share???