Beet Greens and Butternut Squash

I had part of a butternut squash that needed to be used, plus beet greens leftover from a roasted beet salad I’d made a few days earlier. This dish was simple, the colors very appealing and, of course, it was packed with vitamins. To dress this dish up a little, you might toast a half-cup of pecans or chopped walnuts and add them to the finished dish.

2 cups beet greens, washed and trimmed
1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and cubed
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch of white pepper
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, if desired
3 tablespoons butter

Cut the greens into rough squares, about 1 1/2-2-inches wide. Put in a heavy bottomed saucepan with about a half cup of water. Put the heat on low and simmer until the greens are wilted and tender to the bite, but still retain their strong green color. Drain off the liquid. In another pot put the squash, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes. Cover with water and bring to a simmer. Check for tenderness after about 10 minutes. Take off the burner and drain off liquid when squash is tender.

Put the hot squash and greens together in a large bowl and gently mix them together with the salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar, if using. Try to keep the squash cubes from being mashed up.

Put the butter into a small skillet and let melt, then let it begin to brown. It will take on a nutty color and smell fragrant. Take off the heat and pour over the squash and greens mixture.

Makes 4-5 servings.

From Bonnie Walker

This recipe is part of the series: WalkerSpeak: Shhh! Leftovers. But Who Can Tell?

Last Saturday morning, I took a cruise up I-10 to Boerne Stage Road and dropped by the farmers market at the Leon Springs Baptist Church parking lot. On a sunny morning it was easy to park and not yet steamy hot, so I could enjoy making the rounds of vendors.

Even at a distance, the plants and flowers displayed were a welcome eyeful of color in our currently dusty landscape. There were two tents with beautiful, healthy looking herbs, Hibiscus, and an intriguing flowering plant named a Rangoon Creeper.

I met Mario Obledo as I photographed some of the produce. He is the vice president of the Hill Country Farmers Market Association, the organization that promotes this market and three other markets in the area (see below for details). I learned that the Leon Springs market is year-round, 2 1/2 years into its growth and development, still with room for new additions and new ideas.

Every day you hear about “going green,” and at The Green Brownie company they are doing green in brownies! No, this isn’t a St. Patrick’s Day gimmick; these are delicious treats made with all-organic ingredients so you can feel good about indulging. Owner Tracy Carlson told me that they even used packaging that is eco-friendly. If you are in a more playful mood, the stand also has Brownies-on-a-stick (they are cute) as well as gluten-free brownies.

But the vision that most of us hold about a farmers market includes lots of fresh vegetables and fruit. As it should be, there were three well-stocked displays of bright, fresh, produce. I saw some good looking squash that were named Sunburst and White Scalloped, very much like a pattypan squash, at Bob Mishler’s Uncertain Farms. Lots of people were buying peaches and tomatoes, cucumbers and okra, potatoes and green beans, plums, bell peppers, jam, wow!

But there were baked breads, pecans (even pecan oils at Circle H Orchards), and some super yummy granola at Cowgirl Granola. Heather Hunter, the Head Cowgirl, has been making her toasty, oaty, nutty, tasty, amazing granola for about 8 years. She is out at Leon Springs every week, as well as the other three markets in the association. You can also contact her at cowgirlenterprises@gmail.com.

There is usually a grass-fed beef dealer, but he was out-of-town that morning. He’s expected back soon; meanwhile, there are other vendors with free-range eggs and various goodies to keep you busy until then.

I have been to a few farmers markets in our area and in other states — and even other countries. Leon Springs is not the biggest, but it has a good variety, easy to get service, and just a friendly, can-do, attitude. Go see for yourself and try something new!

Close

Saturdays, 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Leon Springs Baptist Church
24133 Boerne Stage Road (behind the H-E-B)

The other markets affiliated are:

• Boerne, Kendall County Fairgrounds, 1307 River Road, Boerne TX  Wednesdays 2-6 p.m., now through Nov. 18
• Bulverde-Spring Branch, The Branches Church, 4594 Highway 281 North, Bulverde, TX  Saturdays, 2:30-5:30 p.m., year-round.
• Helotes-Grey Forest, Helotes Hills United Methodist Church, 13222 Bandera Road, Helotes, TX  2nd & 4th Fridays, 3-6 p.m., now through Nov. 13

Grilled zucchini picked fresh from the garden.

I’m a dedicated meat-eater. I think pork is one of the four basic food groups (butter and heavy cream make up a second).

So it may seem odd that when I finally broke down and got a gas grill, the first thing I cooked on it was a batch of fresh pattypan squash from the farmers market.

It wasn’t that I didn’t have any meat on hand, mind you. I had just gotten the vegetables that day from the market, though, and they were so fresh and firm that they were practically crying out to be quartered, marinated and grilled.

You don’t need a fancy dressing with sugar and/or a host of spices. All I did was coated them well with some olive oil, salt and pepper for a few minutes before putting them on the grill.

I didn’t need anything else that meal, except a glass of rosé, as good a drink with grilled foods as a cold beer.

Those squashes remain among of the best dishes to come off my grill, and not just because they were first. I continue to grill them exactly the same way, which is quite frequent now that squashes are in season.

But don’t limit yourself to squashes or peppers. You can grill most any vegetable, including eggplant, if you approach it right.

Tom Perini, owner of Perini Ranch Steakhouse in Buffalo Gap, near Abilene, offers a great chart for grilled vegetables in his book, “Texas Cowboy Cooking,” which came out in 2000 and is still in print.

He doesn’t add anything to his Fire-Roasted Vegetables until they are finished cooking. All he does is cut some up and remove the seeds if needs be.

Yellow summer squash on the grill.

“This is a technique you can use with just about any vegetable,” he writes. “Grilling vegetables over a live fire awakens the sugars and brings the flavor of the vegetables to the surface, a flavor you don’t get in an oven. The color you get by grilling vegetables is spectacular: They look great with a little bit of char around the edges and there’s nothing prettier than grilled vegetables with your steak. Be careful not to cook them to much, they need to have a little firmness.”

That last sentence cannot be emphasized enough: Don’t let your attention stray from the vegetables. They cook quickly. Too much heat and you’ve got burnt mush.

Here are Tom’s suggestions for handling the vegetables and his time-table for cooking them to just the right doneness. He prefers coal, which does offer great added flavor, but I have found that gas works almost as well if you’re in a hurry or cooking for one:

Fire-Roasted Vegetables

Wash the vegetables. Use the chart below to determine proportions and cooking times. See that coals are red-hot and about 6 inches below the grill before starting to cook.

Peppers: bell, Anaheim, poblano, 8-10 minutes. Cut in half lengthwise and seed.
Peppers: jalapeños, 10 minutes. Leave whole.
Mushrooms, 8-10 minutes. Use whole caps with stems removed or trimmed.
Onions, sweet Texas, green and purple, 10-15 minutes. Slice crosswise into 1/2-inch slices.
Sweet potatoes, 8-10 minutes. Slice crosswise or diagonally into 1/2-inch slices.
Eggplant, 10 minutes. Slice crosswise or diagonally into 1/2-inch slices.

Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Combine the dressing ingredients thoroughly. Toss the grilled vegetables in the dressing. This can be served at room temperature or chilled. Sliced beef may also be added.

From “Texas Cowboy Cooking” by Tom Perini