What's for dinner 12/22/09 - Russian Salad

Our winter CSA box usually gets me a little depressed. I'm not a big fan of root vegetables and as of lately we've been getting tons of them (beets, turnips, carrots, potatoes, and the bane of my existence: rutabaga). In the passed 2 years of subscribing to our CSA I have never used my rutabaga, it usually sits in the fridge, giving me the stink eye until I throw it in the compost. But this year, I decided to do my best to use it all up. After looking through Moosewood Cooks for a Crowd, I stumbled upon a recipe that I thought might just work. And, I must say, rutabaga and I are getting along quite well now. Here is the adapted recipe, so for those of you who have no idea how to get rid of all of those root vegetables - here's how in one fell swoop. 

Ingredients

3 medium sized fresh beets, peeled and chopped

2 medium peeled potato, chopped

1 large rutabaga, peeled and chopped
1 large peeled carrot, chopped
2 dill pickles (all we had were slices and they worked fine)
1 leek, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 or 2 sprigs of fresh dill, chopped
salt to taste

Boil the potato, rutabaga and carrot until they are soft but can still hold their shape. Take out potato, rutabaga and carrots and set aside, while chopping the leek and pickles. Boil the beets until soft. Once you can get a fork in and out of it with ease, it's ready to take out and cool. Once the boiled vegetables are cooked and cooled then mix in a bowl together with pickles and leek. Add dill and olive oil, a dash of salt and mix well.

Moosewood suggests serving with hard boiled egg or sesame crackers.

Day 3 of vacation and I've conquered rutabaga, I feel like I'm king of the world. 

2009

I'm thinking of writing a cookbook. Well, not really writing but compiling one to give to family and friends. As I am thinking about what to include, I am thinking about what I cooked this year and to be honest I haven't cooked as much as I would have liked. The year started out busy, as it typically does. Back to school, back to life, back to AP, swimming, History Day, Acadec and a new program Link Crew. Last winter I made a lot of soup and I found the beauty in freezing soup. I also realized how easy it is to make beans from scratch in the Crock-pot. In the spring I came down with a bizarre illness and food was not in the forefront of my mind. I didn't enjoy cooking or eating much so spring's recipes we mostly out of necessity. Jeff  learned how to cook a few great dishes (tempeh tacos and pasta) which as really helped out a lot this year. In the summer we ate lots of salads, corn and vegetables from our garden. This was the first year since I was a kid that I had my own vegetable garden and it was awesome (and economical) to make my meals from what I found in my backyard. One way to try to get rid of my illness was to relax, and I found gardening to be extremely rewarding and relaxing. Summer was spent reading books in my hammock, taking naps and gardening. This winter it's been all about lentils and beans. I can't get enough of them. We now have central heating so I can enjoy my house even on the coldest of days and can cook up a veritable storm. I'm back to my normal self again (with a little less vision but a much greater understanding of life) and ready for 2010. 

Next goals: write a kickbutt cookbook to share with family and friends, finish reading some books that have set unfinished for months or years, keep working on the house (the never ending story) and enjoy life's adventures.