the Beet goes On & on…

Warm “eat-a-rainbow “ Salad

This colorful salad is packed with nutritious and flavorful ingredients like spinach, watercress, and tomatoes.  The warm roasted beefs are a nice addition that not only adds color but lots of flavor.  Cumin tossed garbanzo beans combine with the simple balsamic dressing to create a savory tangy texture to this unique salad. Eat a rainbow!

2 C rinsed, dried, and chopped Romaine lettuce

2 C rinsed and dried baby spinach leaves

3 golden beets

1 C rinsed and dried watercress leaves

1 c rinsed and sliced Village Farms Luscious Seedless Long English™ cucumber

1 c rinsed and cut into quarter sections Village Farms Sinfully Sweet Campari® tomatoes

½ c rinsed and chopped celery

½ c rinsed and chopped carrot

½ c cooked garbanzo beans

¼ c balsamic vinegar

¼ c chopped green onion

2 tbsp olive oil

¼ tsp cumin

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400˚ f. Chop heads and tails from rinsed beets and slice into quarters.  Place in covered oven proof dish and sprinkle with olive oil. Bake for 60 min.  Remove from oven and place beets onto cutting board to cool.  Slice length wise and remove skin.  Skins should easily peel away.

While beets are baking, rinse and chop all vegetables above as instructed and combine in bowl. Place garbanzo beans in separate small bowl and toss with cumin.  Add beans to large salad bowl.  Sprinkle balsamic over all ingredients in large bowl.  Add sea salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with sliced warm beets. Enjoy!

Eggs arn't just for breakfast any more

Red Pepper Egg surprise

Here is a simple recipe that is yummy, nutritious, and makes a fun presentation for dinner.

serves 4

ingredients:

2 large Village Farms Red Sweet Bell Pepper

4 eggs

2 tlbs. olive oil

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 package buckwheat soba noodles

salt & pepper

preparation:
prepare Soba Noodles according to package instructions, drain, toss with 1tbs oil olive and set aside

Wash and core pepper by inserting sharp knife tip along pepper stem edge, coring without cutting into pepper. Slice pepper width wise across to form cross sections about 1/2" tall per slice.  Heat large skillet with 1 tbs oil olive on medium heat. Lay pepper cross sections flat in pan filling pan with all slices and heat for 2 minutes.  Break one egg each into the 4 largest pepper slices and cook for another 2 minutes.  Salt and peppers to taste.

serve:
plate noodles and using spatula carefully place one pepper egg on top of each. Garnish each plate with remaining peppers and sprinkle parmesan.

Also nice to try with Village Farms Yellow or Orange Sweet Bell Peppers
 
Enjoy!

 

Red Peppers are RAD

Did you kow that red peppers have more immune-boosting Vitamin C than oranges?  That they're high in lycopene, beta-carotene and Vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant?  Warm up an boost your health at the same time with a bowl of this delious red pepper and potato soup, talk about hearty!  Don't forget to check out our latest recipes on our website http://www.villagefarms.com/

 

Roasted Red Pepper Potato Soup Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 large red bell peppers
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 large russet potato, peeled and diced (about 1 1/2 cup)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 quart chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarian option)
• 1/4 cup cream or milk
• 3 Tbsp butter
• Cayenne, salt and pepper to taste

Method

1 Roast the red bell peppers by placing them over or under an open flame until they blacken on all sides. (You can use a grill, cooktop gas burner, or oven broiler.) Place the blackened peppers in a bag, close the bag and let the peppers steam for 10-15 minutes, or until the skins feel like they can easily be slipped off. Remove the peppers from the bag, peel off the blackened skins, remove the seeds. Chop the peppers roughly.
2 Heat the butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and saute for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the potatoes and cook another 1-2 minutes, then add the garlic and roasted peppers. Stir well and cook for 2 minutes.
3 Add the stock, stir well and bring to a simmer. Cook over medium heat until potatoes are soft.
4 Purée the soup in a blender or food processor until very smooth. Fill the blender about halfway with the soup. Start the blender on low and keep your hand on the top, in case the lid wants to pop off from the rising steam. Once everything is well chopped, turn the blender to its highest setting and blend until smooth, about 1 minute. You might need to do this in batches.
5 Return to a clean pot set over low heat. Add the cream, stir well and taste. Add some cayenne, salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 4-6.