Sauteed Beets and Greens

As much as I love summer, fall is a nice way for summer to end. The weather is beautiful -- warm during the day, crisp at night -- the foliage is gorgeous, and the farmer's market may actually be better!

Last week, I went to the farmer's market and picked up a bunch of beets. They looked and smelled absolutely delicious! Ok, maybe looking delicious is an overstatement. They are root vegetables. So they were covered with dirt and little stringy rooty things. But they did smell good. And they looked like they could be delicious with a little cleaning up.

I found a great beet recipe online that used not only the root, but the stems and greens, as well. I like using the greens in recipes whenever possible -- it seems less wasteful.

SAUTEED BEETS AND GREENS

Ingredients:
1 bunch beets with greens attached
2 TBSP olive oil
1 clove garlic
salt
pecans or walnuts
sunflower seeds

1) Cut stems and greens from beets.

2) Scrub and peel beets

3) Halve lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch pieces

4) In large frying pan, heat 1 TBSP olive oil and 1/4 cut water over medium heat. Add beets, cover, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.

5) While beets are cooking, rinse stems and cut into 2 inch pieces.

6) When beets are tender, add stems to pan, cover, and cook for 3 minutes.

7) Peel and cut garlic into thin slices. Chop greens coarsely.

8) Add garlic to pan. Cook until fragrant.

9) Add greens and cook 1 minute, until wilted.

10) Divide between 4 bowls. Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt.

11) Sprinkle nuts and sunflower seeds over greens.

A word of caution: beets stain! I spilled some beet juice on my shirt and made a gigantic stain! So be careful or wear a shirt you don't care about.

Of course, this leads right into the subject of laundry.....