Friday, July 15, 2011

Farmer's Market Friday: Chioggia Beets & Heirloom Carrots

With weather this hot, there's no way I'm slaving over a hot stove in my tiny, microscopic kitchen  that heats to 1000 degrees if you turn a burner on. But, beings it's Friday, I had to make something from the farmer's market! I wasn't sure what would be on the menu until I walked up to my favorite Schreiber&Sons booth. 
Chioggia Beets. 
I had read about them and seen photos but never actually cooked with them. I was pretty excited. Then I saw their heirloom carrots were in season. At $3 a bundle, they're not exactly cheap but oh my word..they are SO GOOD! Sweeter and more mild then commercial carrots. And the variety in color! I had a light pink one, a yellow one, a purplish colored one and a few standard orange. So pretty and tasty, too!

So, about the beets...They're candy cane or bullseye beets. And this is why. They look all ordinary on the outside, but when you cut them open....
(not my photo)

Get a look of that! In my haste to complete my cooking, I didn't take pictures. So I took one off the internet. Aren't they pretty?!

So, basically what I did is scrub the beets and the carrots. I sliced the beets super thin and put them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. A little spritz of olive oil and a dash of salt. They went in the oven on 275 for about 30-40 minutes, turned halfway through. I let them cool and some crisped up perfect. The ones that were still a big "soggy" went back inf or another ten minutes. 
For the carrots, I used my veggie peeler to make long, thin strips. I cooked them the same way but for only about 15 minutes. 

They both turned out perfectly crispy! A bit of sweet and salty in each bite. Seriously, if you talked to me a few years ago, I would have laughed at the thought of me blogging about how "good" carrot and beet chips were. But I am! My kids are always the final testers of anything and both kids ate a whole bowl. Success!



Market finds today: Kale, Romaine, Carrots, Beets

Delicious! Also great in a salad =)

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