Two roasted beet salads

BEETS! In an old Nickelodeon show 'Doug,' Quail Man had a line that beets were "nature's candy." I couldn't agree more. Doug's favorite band was also incidentally named The Beets. Beets are uber-nutritious and delicious (providing vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, C, and a compound that helps detoxify the liver. Add the beet greens and you also get a butt-ton of iron)!

Beets can be used in numerous ways, from roasted as a side to a fresh ingredient for juices and smoothies to a hearty addition to a salad. You can also use the bitter greens and cook them in the same way you'd cook spinach or swiss chard. Since it's still summer, I decided to give you guys beet salad two ways. Enjoy!

ROASTED BEET & GOAT CHEESE SALAD

Ingredients:
- 1 small beet, roasted or boiled then diced (I like roasting them better because it keeps a lot of the flavor intact, whereas so much color and juice leaks out into the water if you boil it. That said, boiling is a tad bit faster)
- 2 cups greens (I used a baby spinach/baby arugula mix)
- 1/8 cup shaved red onion (white's okay, though)
- 1.5 tbsp goat cheese, crumbled (optional for vegans, but otherwise I think it offsets the aggressiveness of the raw onion really nicely, so don't skimp)
- 2 tsp olive oil
- salt to taste
- Sprinkle with crushed pistachios (optional)

Put it all together. Toss. DONE.

MOROCCAN BEET SALAD

- 1 large beet, roasted and diced
- Juice from 1/2 a lemon
- Parsley
- Salt to taste

Put it all together. Toss. DONE.

And remember - if your urine or poo looks like there is blood in it a day or so after eating a lot of beets, it's probably because you ate a lot of beets, not because you have a kidney infection. Pink pee is hilarious. When talking about this to my friend Emily, we decided that all women pee magenta-colored pee all the time in the minds of men...just like we also burp glitter and fart rainbows.

Items not donated or dumpstered: salt, goat cheese, parsley (from garden)

Pesto Grilled Cheese Flatbread

So, I know I've already given you my home made pesto recipe, but here's one more thing you can do with it - add it to sandwiches for a punch of flavor and wetness (you can also mix it with mayonnaise to make a pesto aioli for cold sandwiches like turkey or cucumber).

PESTO GRILLED CHEESE FLATBREAD



Ingredients:
- Home made or store bought pesto
- Bread (I used some old frozen naan I had dumpstered, but you can really use anything)
- Some kind of cheese (I used a mild white cheddar)
- Tomato, onion, whatever (optional)

I'm sure you all know how to make grilled cheese. If you don't, I'm sure the internet can teach you. Basically, just make a grilled or baked cheese sandwich with pesto, adding your favorite fixin's.

The pesto takes what would normally be kind of a boring lunch and adds more flavor and nutrients. Plus, you can really put anything on a grilled cheese - fresh tomatoes, prosciutto, onions, sprouts - you name it! You can get pretty creative and elevate your grilled cheese sandwiches without too much extra effort.

My pesto grilled cheese pictured here includes raw mild white cheddar, naan, red onions, and a little pepper to taste. I stuck everything in the toaster oven for about 5 minutes until the cheese was melted (not my usual m.o. for making grilled cheese, but it was faster than usual. Also, this method made the onions aromatic and a littttle soft, but they still retained their texture and crunch). I really liked the naan instead of thick bread, because it made the sandwich function like a flatbread, which is ALSO more exciting than a plain old grilled cheese lunch!

Unrelated: I just made some dank pesto cheesy sunnyside up eggs for breakfast this morning! Just one more use for pesto!

Ingredients not dumpstered or donated: pepper

Spinach-Basil-Cashew Pesto

Homemade pesto is a great way to make almost-wilted, almost-sad spinach (or basil) much happier and live longer. It's the route to take when your spinach is starting to wilt and isn't that appetizing in a salad anymore, but still usable for cooking. Pine nuts are traditional fare for pesto sauce, but I dumpster cashews more often (and they still taste great). You can also add parmesan cheese for protein.

SPINACH-BASIL-CASHEW PESTO
(vegan or vegetarian, depending on parmesan usage)

Ingredients:
- 1 bunch or bag of spinach
- 3 tbsp fresh garlic
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup raw, whole cashews
- 1/4-1/2 cup nutritional yeast (optional)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 bunch basil
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Parmesan cheese (optional)

Using a food processor, finely chop cashews & olive oil.
Add garlic and process again.
Add spinach, basil, & lemon juice (and nutritional yeast and parmesan cheese verrryyy slowly).
Add salt & pepper to taste.
Chill and serve.
In a tupperware, this pesto will last at least a month (without parmesan), oftentimes more.

So, what can you use pesto for?

Pesto tastes great with chicken, salmon, shrimp, tomatoes (bruschetta!), grilled cheese, eggs, and pasta. It's also great to use as a twist on pizza sauce.

Here's how I used my batch of pesto:

CHIK PATTY & PASTA WITH PESTO PARMESEAN CREAM SAUCE
(absolutely not vegan, but very much vegetarian)

Ingredients:
- 1 chik patty (highly recommended)/chicken breast/light protein thing meat whatever
- 2-3 cups pesto
- 1-2 cups grated Parmesan cheese (if it's not in the pesto already)
- 1-2 cups heavy whipping cream
- A butt-ton of nutmeg
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 sprig fresh basil
- A few cups of whatever pasta you have on hand (I used farfalle)

Throw your pesto in a pan at medium-low heat.
As the oil in the pesto starts to melt a bit, stir in cream slowly, mixing constantly with a wooden spoon.
Sprinkle in Parmesan, constantly stirring (this is important, or else burning is imminent).
Everything should start to melt together - don't let the sauce bubble much or the milk will scald.
Sprinkle in a liberal amount of nutmeg (super awesome tip: nutmeg makes all cream sauces taste better. The French know what's up).
Keep adding milk and cheese at medium heat until everything tastes balanced and yummy and the sauce reduces a bit (about 15-20 min).
(Adding the cream looks pretty. Who says food isn't aesthetic?)

Simultaneously cook up your pasta and chik patty/preferred protein.

Mix it all up, shred some fresh basil on top, and enjoy! This is a super-easy recipe that looks impressive.
A word of advice: Microwaving pesto is a bad idea. It separates the oil from everything else and makes your dish all oily and kinda gross. It still tastes good, but the texture is a little weird.

Items not dumpstered or donated: Olive oil, garlic, spices, basil (from window garden), nutritional yeast