mulberryshoots

As a fresh start this Spring, I’ve been reading about how to both lighten up our meals and making them more tasty. I wouldn’t go as far as to say we’re going vegetarian, but I’d like to expand possibilities that we’ll enjoy and reign in somen of our rich food consumption.

Tonight, I followed a recipe that I came across in “Gjelina” a cookbook from a restaurant located in Venice, California. Here’s the recipe I followed (and adapted:)

1.  Roast cleaned six orange and dark red beets in a pot with a layer of water, covered with aluminum foil at 375 degrees for an hour and fifteen minutes. When done, I poured them into some cold tap water, skinned them with a vegetable peeler and cut them into bite size pieces.
2. Peeled and harvested orange segments from a large navel orange and a blood orange. The “supreme” segments rested in a bowl with their juice.
3. Made a dressing containing 2 Tablespoons sherry vinegar, 2 Tablespoons orange juice, 2 Tablespoons of honey, 4 Tablespoons of olive oil – whisked together and tasted for balance of sweet and sour flavors.
4. In shallow bowls, I divided the beets of dark and light segments; sprinkled the beets with the orange segments, cut up a whole avocado and sliced up segments, half for each serving.
5. During the cooking time for the beets, I heated up some roasted hazelnuts until golden brown, wrapping them securely in paper towel and crushing the warm nuts with the bottom of a small saucepan.
6. Sprinkled the warm nuts on the vegetables and then poured the sherry vinegar dressing gently over the dish.

On the side, I cooked a box of parmesan couscous, adding a little more butter and parmesan cheese at the end while moistening it with a little more water.

So, our supper was simple, tasty and satisfying. We also had about half a quart of leftover vegetables to store away in the fridge to have for lunch tomorrow or to add to our dinner salad.

A good start to a fresh take – or a fresh start to a good take! More to come!