Lemonade Spinich

Olive Oil
Red Pepper Flakes
Beautiful Spinach
Ginger
Garlic
Golden Flame Raisins
Friend's Ranch Lemonade

1. Heat Saute Pan. Add Olive Oil.
2. Once hot, add red pepper flakes to taste.
3. Add Minced Ginger.
4. Add Spinach. Saute and turn for a while. Eventually add a little minced garlic.
5. Eventually add some lemon juice, add the raisins, and partially cover.

6. Check on and turn every so often. The spinach wilts super fast. When almost ready, add too much salt, stir and taste. Adjust as necessary.

7. To Serve, put in a pretty flat dish.

Bok Choy Saute with Pistachios

1. Just the right amount of olive oil in a hot saute pan
2. Once hot, add pistachios and saute until toasted and richer. Remove and store in a bowl.
3. If necessary, add more oil and heat.
4. Add Minced ginger and saute until fragrant.
5. Add prepped cleaned and sliced Bok Choy from Steve's Farm

Tonight the timing on this was dependent on the fish and the spinach and the red pepper. So I left it till it seemed al dante enough to be crunchy but cooked.

Transfer to a pretty plate and scatter with pistachios.

Beet Leaves Stuffed with Root Vegetables

Serves 20 as part of a buffet.

This is a concept that is usually more successful with larger leaves like Chard. But the leaves on the Beets were so Beautiful, they demanded attention. You could use almost any proportion and variety of vegetables and herbs for the stuffing. This receipe is inspired by one of the Greats of Vegetarian cooking, Deborah Madison.

Dice or finely chop:
1/2 white onion
6 of the beet stems
3 peeled carrots
1 yam (or is it a sweet potato?)
3 peeled parsnips
1 center of a celery root
1 clove garlic

In a wide skillet, heat some olive oil.
Add about a tbl. of brown mustard seed, allow to get fragrant
Add the onions and saute for about 2 minutes and then add the rest of the vegetables.
Stir and saute uncovered for a bit and then cover and let saute/steam until soft, about 20+ minutes, checking and adding water to pan if it gets too dry.

Meanwhile, prepare the leaves.
Bring a pot of water to boil.
Wash well.
In batches, boil leaves in water for 4 minutes and remove carefully to some paper towels with tongs.

To assemble, spread a leaf out with rough side up. Scoop about a tbl. of the veggies on the low wide part of the leaf. Tuck and roll it up into a little package. If leaf breaks, you can use a piece of another leaf to patch it, or sometimes we wrapped with two.

Because we made these hours before the party, we put them in an oven proof dish, dotted the beet leaf packages with butter and covered them with tinfoil. When it was time to serve, we put them in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes.

Alana and Uschi made a tahini sauce with tahini, miso paste, tamari, orange juice, water and salt. Delicious. We will have to get them to give up the proportions.

Roasted Asparagus with Lemon, Toasted Almonds and Parmesan

Oven at 400 degrees
Lay Asparagus out on a baking sheet.
Toss with Olive Oil.
Salt and Pepper.
Roast for about 8 minutes or until done to your liking.

Arrange on platter.
Scatter with Lemon Zest and maybe a little lemon squeeze.
Toasted Almond slices.
And Parmesan Shavings.