Farmer's Wife Beet Green Soup

Here's a great recipe loved by one of our 4-years-running CSA members.  Thanks Charlene!
  From Mario Batali...

Farmer's Wife Beet Green Soup 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 medium potatoes*, peeled and chopped                   *Peasant Plot potatoes coming soon!
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 cups chopped beet greens
2 cups water
1 small bay leaf
4 (1/2-inch thick) slices country bread, grilled
Caciocavallo or pecorino Romano, for grating

In a large soup pot over high heat, heat the olive oil and soften the onion and garlic but do not allow them to brown. Add the potatoes, then the sea salt, pepper flakes, and greens, stirring well. Add the water and bay leaf and simmer 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

Serve in large bowls with bread alongside and cheese grated over the top.

Beets and their Greens

Check out this long root!  Beet roots can go down as long as 3 - 4 feet.

The beauty of the chioggia beet, inside and out.

What you see above are beautiful specimens of the Goosefoot family: beets.  Specifically, these beets are chioggia beets, known for the bright bulls-eye cross-section.  I eat them raw after peeling and they taste like candy.  Roasting them is good, too, but you will lose the dramatic color contrast. When cooking, most people recommend roasting.  375 degrees in tin foil for 35 - 40 minutes will usually do the trick with beets this size.  Let them cool in the foil afterward and you'll be able to just rub the skins off.
The beet greens are very good to cook, too, like chard.
Did you know that chard is actually a type of beet cultivated for bigger leaves?  Substitute beet greens in any recipe you find for chard. 
Spinach is also part of this family called Goosefoot, so it is very appropriate to cook your spinach with your chard, if you so desire.  
Storing Tips
Separate the beets from the greens and put them both in containers or bags in the fridge.

In the Weeks to Come

With our first week under our belt, we are looking toward a second week of many many mixed greens and the start of our bunching onion harvest.  Todd is particularly proud of our freshly weeded carrot beds, thanks to all that worked on that!  We finally got some rain last night, thanks be to a god of your choice.  Here are some photos from today so that you can begin perusing recipes.  More details on things like kale and beets in blogs to come.

Golden beets.

Chioggia beets. 

In a bed of mixed greens...

King of the hill,  red leaf lettuce...

Dinosaur or Lacinto kale.

Red Russian kale.

Arugula--protected from flea beetles.

Arugula, as of today, June 17th! Might be our last harvest before it starts to hurt people.

Arugula.....

Carrots, purple and orange.

Turnips need more time.

This year potatoes get plenty of mulch and drip tape.