Marbled Root Vegetables

IMG_3946 Miraculous.

And the best part, it's as easy as eating way to many slices of pie! Roasted beets, rutabaga and sweet potato. A little salt…A food processor…no joke, so easy and it tastes so freaking good. A real show stopper. Everyone will whip out their phones to snap a pic.

Let me break this down for you.IMG_3819  Rutabaga. Sweet Potato. Beet. That's what I was working with. I chose these roots for color as well as for taste. Separately the flavors are amazing. Together they are out of this world. If you wanted you could omit any of these and sub in, lets say, pureed cauliflower, or maybe parsnips. I would stay away from potato, it's a little to starchy, but maybe acorn or butternut squash.  Oh man, now I want to make celeriac, carrot and acorn squash marble. Pureed vegetables are trouble for me. I can't stop eating when they are around. I know, but don't judge, instead lets prepare.

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Peel the rutabaga..To be honest, I don't peel, but this one that I got at the grocery store had a layer of wax on it…so yeah, I decided to peel that. You can also peel the beet if you want, but again, I don't do that.

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I diced up the baga and the beet, and tossed into separate pans to roast. I gave each pan a tiny splash of oil and a sprinkle of salt. The sweet potato, well that just got tossed into the oven as it was. I wouldn't mix the beet with the rutabaga, the juice will turn it pink. Here the thing, If you want to boil or steam you veggies, go right ahead. I roast because I like the roasted flavor and its easier for me to throw things into the oven on a cast iron pan then to boil onto of my tiny stove. Bonus, I don't wash my cast iron so less dishes! Just make sure with any method, your vegetables are cooked throughout and that they are tasty.

IMG_3906So you got a pile of roasted rutabaga, a pile of roasted beets and a baked sweet potato.

Remove the flesh from the skin of the sweet potato.. then eat it. Ok you don't have to eat it but it is SOOOOOOO good. At least try it.IMG_3915I used my handy emulsion blender to puree everything but a food mill or a food processor is equally as good. Puree each root separately . Start with the rutabaga. Go to the sweet potato, then end with the beet. That way you don't have to clean in between purees. Add little amounts of water when pureeing if it needs a little help to loosen up. Blend until smooth.

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Three beautiful purees. My sister and I stood in the kitchen prior to preparing the plate and stuck our fingers in the puree. That right, and we licked then and went back in for seconds. In my family, as long as there is not disease being transmitted, a little bit of shared germs is ok.  So now that you have tasted and tried not to eat to much of the purees, let's get crazy….IMG_3935I just took a spoon and threw piles in that bowl. I could have done more of a checkerboard pattern to make it a more uniform marble, but I just went for it. Do it any way you want.  Don't be afraid, you can't screw this up!IMG_3946I took a fork and kind of rain it throw the top to start the effect. I then took a cake knife and just leaved it out. That's what I did and then I was done. After all the oohing and aching, I stuck the dish into the oven for another 10 minutes just to keep hot, but you can serve this at room temp as well.IMG_3953 Now tell me that isn't a thing of beauty. I fell in love. I want to puree and marble everything. This could be my thing.IMG_3987Empty bowl…Ok, I'll admit I ate half of it..I couldn't help it. Next time I will have to make a bigger batch.

P.S. You could totally make this dish today and serve it tomorrow. Just plastic wrap the top and refrigerate. When your getting ready for you meal, stick in oven for 20 minutes or until it's the temperature you want it.

Happy Thanksgiving and Yeah!

 

Marbled Roots

Choose at least two, preferable three contrasting  root vegetables. I;ll give you the version in the pictures.

  • 1 large beet
  • 1 medium rutabaga
  • 1 large sweet potato
  • olive oil
  • salt

Preheat oven to 425

Dice rutabaga and beet. Toss with splash of oil and sprinkle of salt.  Place on spereate baking sheets and move to oven. Place whole sweet potato in oven Cook until veggies are fork tender, usually about 40 minutes.

Remove veggies  and place into separate containers and puree each veggie, starting with the lightest colored one. Add small amounts of water to help loosen if needed.

In a shallow  casserole dish or pie plate, pile small amount of puree in dish, alternating the colors. With a knife, swirl the veggies around…Dont go to crazy or it will end up blended. You could stop here, I know, it looks amazing, but I finish it all off by taking a  cake knife and smooth out the top.

Pop the roots back into the oven for another 10-15 minutes just to completely warm and meld the flavors together.

How cool are you now? People will be talking about you marbled roots for weeks.. maybe even until next thanksgiving.

Enjoy!

Chocolate beet cake with Orange cream cheese frosting

IMG_2803 So its birthday season in my family.. Between September and April there is at least 3 birthdays a month to celebrate, and I usually make the cakes. What better way to share my beet booty then with a chocolatey beet cake. It helps that I went a little crazy at my last CSA pick up and brought home 8 lbs of beets. Yup, that is what I did and I don't regret one single beet. So birthday+beets makes a happy birthday cake!

p.s. This cake is an ace for the holidays!

Suggestion for serving this super awesome cake,  Do not tell anyone that they are eating a cake with beets in it until they are raving about how delicious it is. Over the years, I have learned that people tend to be wiry of veggies in there desert. You are not lying, just omitting unnecessary information for their own enjoyment. Let them eat cake!

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I love a good fine grater. Just watch you fingers, blood and beet juice are hard to distinguish between.  You might be tempted to eat all of the fine beet, but don't. Just eat the left overs.

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All the ingredients ready to go. I start with the wet the largest bowl cause that were I add my dry. I also whisk or sift together all my dry ingredients. Preheat the oven. I also grab the frosting ingredients.. Let the butter and cream cheese come to room temp.

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Mixi the oil and sugar and vanilla. Then the best part, add those beets!  Check out how bright that color is !

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Add half of the dry. mix just until incorporated then add milk mixture. Mix that in and finish with the other half of dry. Dont over mix that batter

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Pour that lovely batter into well greased and dusted cake pans. Taste or don't taste your cake batter, thats completely up you but it is full of beets and there are no eggs so. Just lick the bowl clean, and the spoon.

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Remove cakes from oven when an insert in the middle comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Dont let it over bake… it will dry out. Let cool in pans until you can handle then invert cakes onto wire rack and let cool completely

While the cake is cooling off, time to whip up that frosting.

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Cream cheese and butter in the bowl at room temp. Beat it up on medium speed making sure it is fully mixed together.Sift in half the powdered sugar and mix slowly No Matter how hard I try, I always end up with sugar all over me. Add a bit of milk, then slowly sift in more sugar. Beat together and check you consistency. Add a splash more milk if you want a thinner frosting.

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Once you get to the desired consistency,  add the fun. Orange zest for flavor and color. Beets to really make this beauty pop. Isn't it amazing?  Now frost you cake! Just make sure it cool enough

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Look at all those flavor specks! The orange really pops through the pink.

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 Hey, even dinosaurs like to eat cake

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Happy BIrthday!

Chocolate Beet Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes  one 9-inch layer cake

Cake Ingredients

  • 2 medium beets measuring about 1 cup shredded + 2 tablespoons shredded
  • 1 cup  minus 1 tsp milk or milk subsutie if you want to keep it vegan
  • 1 tsp white or apple cider vinegar
  • 
1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup canola or coconut oil
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • pinch salt

Frosting Ingredients 

  • 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
  • 4 ounces (1/2 brick) cream cheese, softened
  • 3 to 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2 tablespoons finely grated beets
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1-2 teaspoons milk
  • Tablespoon orange zest. More or less to taste
  • pinch of salt

To roast beets

Preheat oven  400 degrees

Wrap  beets in a piece of foil and put on a baking sheet or in a casserole dish. The beets may drip a bit of juice. Roast until beets are easily pierced, about 1 hour. If you think of it, roast the beets ahead of time. The roasted beets will last a couple days in the fridge. Allow beets to cool enough to handle. Finely grate the roasted beets. Peeled or unpeeled is up to you. I never peel. Measure out 1 cup for cake and a tablespoon or two for frosting

To make Cake 

Preheat oven 350

Mix milk and vinegar and set aside

MIx oil and sugars until fully incorporated, then mix in vanilla and beets

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Slowly mix in half the dry ingencient them add the milk and vinegar mixture. Mix in the rest of the dry until the batter evenly mixed. The batter should be a bit thick you can mix in another splash of milk to thin it out a little.

Divide the batter between the two well greased and flour or cocoa dusted cake pans. Bake  25- 30 minutes or until toothpick stuck in middle comes out clean.. Cake is done when a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cakes and let cool completely.

To make frosting

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth then beat in butter until combined making sure to scrap the sides of the bowl to get it all. Add the half the  powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and a teaspoon of milk  and salt. Beat on medium speed until mixed, add rest of sugar and mix until smooth. Add a splash more milk if you want to a thinner frosting. And last but not least, mix in the orange zest and beet. Beat until combined.  Refrigerate the frosting for 30 minutes before using.

To frost cake place one layer on a cake stand or platter. Spread a good amount of frosting on first layer then place other layer on top. Scoop rest of frosting on top and evenly spread from top down the side.