tis the season of beets!
today i thought i’d share my favorite quick-pickled beets recipe – perfect as a topping on salads or eaten straight from the jar.
ingredients:
2 cups vinegar (plain vinegar or cider vinegar is just fine)
2 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1 tablespoon whole cloves
2 teaspoons black peppercorn
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf per jar
roughly 3 pounds of red beets, peeled & cut into large chunks
directions:
in a medium-sized saucepan, heat up your vinegar, water, sugar, garlic, cloves, peppercorn, thyme & oregano to a boil & allow to simmer until your beets are fully cooked.
in a large pot, submerge your beets into salty water. bring to a boil & cook until tender, roughly 10 minutes or so. test for doneness with a fork.
once your beets are tender, drain them & stuff them into your jars along with a bay leaf. pour brine over beets using a stainless steel funnel until beets ar fully covered with liquid. screw on lid & place in the fridge. allow beets to marinade with brine for a day or so … if you can wait that long.
please note: this recipe is not shelf-safe so keep in the fridge for freshness. enjoy!
love,
natalie
p.s. my quick-pickled sugar snap peas are a favorite around here – click here to find the recipe.
i’ve been working toward establishing weekly routines in an effort to be more intentional with my days, weeks, months, years & truthfully – life. for so long i disliked routine & schedules. just recently, though, i’ve grown to appreciate a thoughtful rhythm to my work & home life.
some of the chores & habits i’ve introduced into my week include purchasing (or harvesting when the time comes) a fresh bouquet of flowers every week, planning our weekly menu on sunday night, shopping for groceries on monday afternoon & harvesting/building an extra large garden salad each week.
the harvesting & building of our weekly salad is quite labor intensive on the front end, but it saves me so much time come lunch & dinner.
i harvest a variety of greens from the garden – lettuce, mesculin mix, kale, swiss chard, spinach & arugula – & wash them thoroughly in our kitchen sink. once they’ve been washed & chopped, i fill up the largest bowl i own & mix. i chop up an assortment of in-season vegetables, too, & add them to the top. i cover my large bowl & pull it out for lunchtime & dinnertime salad needs, adding additional toppings & salad dressing at that time.
it’s been such an easy way to encourage more greens into our diet & the peaceful time outside in the garden is quite wonderful.
what weekly chores & habits to you make room for within your weekly rhythm? i’d love to learn a handful of your tricks! please share in the comments below.
love,
natalie
last week we carved out a couple of hours for strawberry picking! we packed a few baskets with snacks, picked up our sweet nephew for the adventure & headed off to our favorite u-pick farm, dickey farms in tontitown!
on saturday we spent the morning hours in the kitchen baking bread (luke) & processing strawberries (me). we harvested about 12 quarts of berries – quite a bit less than our usual but a manageable amount given our current season of life.
there are so many ways to process a large volume of strawberries – shrubs! liquor! baked goods! – but i thought i’d share the three ways i processed our berries last saturday morning!
1. strawberry jam – i pulled out one of my favorite canning cookbooks, preserving by the pint, & made her honey-sweetened strawberry jam with a hint of thyme. i would highly recommend this canning book for processing small batches, but i actually found the recipe online here if you’re interested.
2. strawberry shortcake – we met with friends for an evening of feasting & card playing on saturday night. nothing quite beats strawberry shortcake with fresh-from-the-farm berries. i purchased the shortcake at the grocer & paired it with sliced strawberries. don’t forget the homemade whipped cream. simple & sweet!
3. frozen berries – we love having farm fresh berries all year long so i make sure to always harvest more than we can eat. we enjoy smoothies, muffins & other baked goods with the berries i freeze in the spring. i freeze my berries on a baking sheet to prevent sticking & then once they are fully frozen, i bag them up for the freezer. don’t forget parchment paper or a silpat between the berries and your baking sheet – this makes for much lighter work.
there’s nothing more enjoyable than picking berries on a beautiful spring day & rewarding yourself with the bounty for months to come!
i’d love to read the many ways you process strawberries in your own kitchen. please share your ideas in the comments below!
love,
natalie