Tag: Beets

Chipotle tempeh tacos with kohlrabi slaw

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Our CSA pickup is one of my favorite things about summer. Due to some scheduling issues with the pickup time, we made a switch this year to First Root Farm, and we’ve been really happy with the quality and variety so far. After years of participating in a CSA, I’ve discovered that our vegetable intake is much higher when we have it than when we don’t, and it also pushes me to be more creative with meal planning.

With this recipe, I was able to use kohlrabi, beets, carrots, and cilantro from the CSA share, and a chili pepper from my garden. The fresh, cool slaw nicely offsets the savory, spicy tempeh, and let me tell you, this tempeh is SPICY. If your tolerance for spice is in the non-masochistic category, you can dial back on the heat by removing the seeds from the chili pepper in the slaw, and by using chipotle powder in place of canned chipotle chilis.

Chipotle tempeh tacos with kohlrabi slaw

Makes 4-6 tacos

The slaw

2 small kohlrabi bulbs, peeled

1 medium beet, peeled

2 carrots, peeled

Juice from 1/2 lime

1 serrano chili pepper, finely diced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Salt, to taste

The tempeh

2 shallots, finely chopped

2 tsp vegetable oil

14.5 oz can tomato sauce (plain)

2-3 chipotle chili peppers in Adobo sauce

2 tbsp white vinegar

Juice of 1/2 lime

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp maple syrup (or honey), add more to taste

1 package tempeh

Other

Whole wheat tortillas (taco or fajita-sized)

Fresh avocado or guacamole

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1 scallion, sliced

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Prepare the slaw by shredding the kohlrabi, beet, and carrots. If you have a food processor with a shredding disc, this goes very quickly. If you only have a box grater, you may want to delegate to a friend or family member while you get started on the tempeh. Once everything is shredded, place into a large bowl, add the chili, lime juice, cilantro, and salt. Toss to combine, and set aside.

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Look how gorgeous it is!

Heat the vegetable oil over medium heat, add the shallots, and saute until they begin to brown. Stir in the tomato sauce, chipotles, vinegar, lime juice, garlic powder, and maple syrup. Taste, and add an additional 1-2 tbsp maple syrup if needed. Cook for 2 minutes to combine flavors. Chop the tempeh into cubes, and add to the sauce. Bring to a boil very briefly, then lower the heat to medium-low, and cook until sauce has thickened (about 10 minutes).

Assemble by filling the tortillas with tempeh, slaw, fresh avocado or guacamole, and garnish with some sliced scallion and cilantro leaves. If you try this recipe, feel free to leave me a comment with feedback!

*Note: Your tempeh should look a bit saucier than what is pictured below. I made some tweaks to the recipe, but didn’t get a good picture.

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Fun with our 6/10/10 CSA pickup- Swiss Chard and Chioggia Beets

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The first night, the kohlrabi was a side dish for Baked Cheese Polenta with Swiss Chard from www.cookinglight.com. We had leftovers of the polenta dish, so the second night, I made a salad with the Chioggia beets and pea tendrils. Our CSA gave us pea tendrils last week, but we weren’t that impressed. They were tough and kind of difficult to work with. I saw smaller ones at the Copley farmers market and decided to give them another try. I thought that the delicate flavor of the pea tendrils would compliment the sweetness of the beets nicely.

Roasted Beet Salad (for 2 people)

  • 3-4 roasted Chioggia (or any) beets
  • 3 cups of pea tendrils
  • 1/4 cup goat cheese
  • 1/2 cup baby carrots
  • 1/3 cup orange muskat vinegar (or combine regular vinegar with orange juice)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Cut stems of beets so that only about 1 inch is still attached. Wrap beets (including skins) in foil and roast for about 45 minutes. Once you can easily pierce them with a fork, remove them from the oven and let them sit until cool enough to handle. I got impatient and threw mine in the freezer for a few minutes. Once cooled, you should be able to easily slip the skins off. I chose to slice mine, but wedges would work just as well.

Wash pea tendrils, coarsley chop and arrange beets on top. Add baby carrots and crumbled goat cheese. Mix together the olive oil and vinegar with some salt and pepper. I am in love with the Orange Muskat vinegar from Trader Joe’s, but I would think that mixing some orange juice with white vinegar would work too. Once mixed, drizzle over salad.

Baked Cheese Polenta with Swiss Chard (from www.cookinglight.com).

Preheat oven to 400.

Chard:

  • 2 bunches Swiss chard*
  • Cooking spray
  • 8 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tbsp water

Polenta:

  • 1 3/4 c water
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 14.5 oz can vegetable broth (or equivalent w/veggie bouillon)
  • 1 c yellow cornmeal
  • 1/2 c (2 oz.) crumbled goat cheese
  • 3 tbsp grated fresh parmesan
  • 1/4 c reduced fat sour cream

*Note: If you make this recipe with the beet salad, you could replace one bunch of chard with the beet greens, if they are still in good shape.

Wash the chard and remove stems and ribs. Discard the stems and coarsley chop the ribs, along with the leaves. Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add the ribs and water and cook for 5 minutes. Add the leaves, cover, and cook for about 5 minutes, or until wilted.

In a large saucepan, combine water, salt, and broth. Whisking constantly, gradually add cornmeal. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook for about 8 minutes. Whisk in cheeses until thoroughly combined.

To assemble, spray a 2-qt. baking dish with cooking spray. Spread half of the polenta into the dish. Top with chard mixture. Spoon sour cream on top of chard. Spread remaining half of polenta on top of sour cream layer. Baked for about 20 min. and let it stand for 5 min. before serving. Recipes makes 6 servings, but we cut it into 4.