Arlene Wright-Correll

Doing More With Beets©



Posted: Wednesday, October 01, 2008

by
http://www.learn-america.com

As fall descends on us and we clean up the last of our organic vegetable gardens before frost sets in we find ourselves pulling up the last of the tomato bushes that are still loaded with green tomatoes and hanging them in our patio rafters to ripen. For those of us who only have a few of those green tomatoes left just put them in a bowl with and apple and they will ripen smartly.

Now we can get to the remaining root vegetables and beets will be among them. For those of us who can them we may well are doing that. However, as our family shrunk in size we do not can or rarely freeze much of anything any longer.

Yet we still love beets and love cooking and eating them so let me share one of my favorite recipes with you.

Beet Risotto

First I preheat my oven to 350 F and then take two washed fresh medium beets and put on a foiled covered baking sheet. I then drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over them and pull up the edges of the aluminum foil and fold together to almost cover the beets, just letting a little opening to allow the steam to escape.

Cook for 70 to 75 minutes or until tender. Remove from oven and let sit for 30 minutes.

Open the package carefully and remove beets and pour off any liquid into a cup measuring cup and I now add enough water to fill that cup to the top.

Next pour that liquid into a medium sauce pan.

Cut the beets into wedges and set aside.

Now take a 3 quart sauce pan and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, heat and then add 1 medium onion chopped and saut until transparent.

Next add 1 & cups of Arborio or short grained rice and stirring gently cook for five minutes. Add two tablespoons of snipped fresh basil or 1 tsp. of dried basil.

Next add 28 ounces of vegetable broth or stock or for those who are not vegetarians you may add chicken broth or stock to the beet broth in your other pan. Heat to a boil and reduce heat and simmer for about five minutes.

Take 1 cup of this hot broth and add it to your rice mixture stirring gently over medium heat until the broth is absorbed. Now add cup of broth at a time doing the same thing until you have used all the broth. This takes about 20 to 25 minutes depending on your stove. Cook until the rice is tender and creamy.

Now add the beet wedges and carefully reheat all.

Ladle into your bowls and sprinkle each bowl with some crumbled blue cheese and salt and pepper.

Garnish with some fresh basil leaves and enjoy this wonderful fall Mediterranean dish with some good crusty French bread which you can use to dip into your bowl or into a small side dish filled with lovely olive oil.

This recipe makes four hearty one meal servings or 8 first course servings.

"Tread the Earth Lightly" and in the meantime May your day be filled with Peace, Light and Love,

Author's note: This article was originally written for GreenThumbArticles.com

About the Author & Artist. Arlene Wright-Correll (1935- ___), popular American award winning Artist, published author, columnist, & is the resident art instructor for Avalon Stained Glass School, at the age of 68, decided to pick up her paint brushes again after 54 years and paint.  She is a cancer and stroke survivor who is able to strive forward each and everyday to welcome the beauty of this small planet.  She also is a China & Porcelain painter, Sandblasting & Etching, Stained Glass & fused glass Artisan. She is one of the six KY Artists who worked 6 months to create the dolls for Journey Jots in 2006 and a Smithsonian Institute art exhibit in 2008. Her published books can be found here . She is also a featured writer for GreenThumbArticles.com and teaches Art Vacation Holidays at Avalon Stained Glass School and Creativity Center.

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