May 16, 2012

Menu:
Beet greens pasta (whole wheat)
Carrot sticks
Strawberry rhubarb oatmeal squares

Don't throw away those greens, cook them up and serve them to the kids!  Beet greens are often overlooked and full of vitamins (especially vitamin A and C).  I saute them and serve them with pasta, on pizza crust, on rice, or as a side dish.

Beet greens pasta
-2 tbs olive oil
-one onion, sliced or diced
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-beet greens, stalk included, cut into small pieces (put the beets aside and use them in another recipe)
-1/2 c veggie broth
-salt to taste
-1 c tomatoes (fresh or out of a carton)
-2 tbs cream, half&half, or greek yogurt
-fresh grated parmesan cheese
-whole grain pasta, cooked al dente according to directions

Heat olive oil in saute pan.  Saute the onions and garlic until soft.  Add the beet greens.  Stir.  Add the veggie broth, tomatoes, and salt.  Cook on medium for about 10-15 minutes until the stalks are soft.  Add cream and cheese.  Add the pasta into the saute pan to mix.

We returned from a visit to Fallon's grandmother's house with 2 pounds of home grown rhubarb that Fallon helped pick.  So, I am trying to make it in all kinds of ways.  It's healthy, it's free, and it's yummy mixed with strawberries.  I generally do jams and stuff with it, but we already have a resident jam master, so I decided to try a really healthy oatmeal bar instead.  This is the first time that I have made this and I am sure that it could use some tweaking but I do think that it turned out very well.  I am sure that it would be tastier with more sweetener; however, I am trying to only provide foods that have maple syrup or honey to the kids when I am cooking.  This recipe is just like the muffins that I made the other week but there is an added egg and I baked them in bars.  So, I guess that it isn't too experimental!

Strawberry Rhubarb Oatmeal Bars *Experimental Baking
-1 lb fresh strawberries, stems removed and quartered
-4 stalks rhubarb, cut into small pieces
-half a fresh lemon, squeezed
-2 tbs maple syrup
-1 tsp vanilla
-3 c oatmeal
-1 tsp baking powder
-1/2 c ground flax seed
-2 eggs, mixed
-1/2 c coconut milk

Preheat the oven to 400.  I heated the strawberries, rhubarb, lemon juice, maple syrup, and vanilla together in a small saucepan over medium heat to soften them up.  I cooked them on medium low for about 10-15 minutes.  In a bowl, I combined all the dry ingredients and mixed them.  I then added the eggs and the milk.  Finally I mixed in the fruit.  I put this mixture into a buttered baking dish and baked for about 25 minutes (until the top was light brown and a toothpick came out dry).  I cut them into little bars for the kids and kept refrigerated until time to eat.


*I think that next time I will add a 1/2 c of some flour...rice, coconut, almond, etc. And bake for an additional 5-10 min.