Older Bolder Life

Stronger | Leaner | Sharper | Longer - From Older Bolder Fitness

beets

The Older Bolder Life Vegetable Monday: Curry Dressed Carrot and Beet Salad

By

Here’s a somewhat unusual salad we’ve recently been playing around with as part of our all things curry run we’ve been enjoying the past few weeks – a Curry Dressed Carrot and Beet Salad. It’s one you can put together any time of year given the availability of the root vegetables, and would certainly fit very well on a well-rounded holiday table these next few months.

While I happen to love beets in just about any form, my lovely wife is a bit more skeptical, and she originally thought this dish might be too ‘beet-forward’; no problem – slicing the beets very thinly (mandoline ideally or by a careful hand) and salting them for a short time softens them yet keeps the beets delightfully crunchy.

We thought the real star of this salad was the curry vinaigrette; it’s ridiculously easy to put together, very well balanced (not bitter at all with the amount of curry), and delicious. We’ll be pouring this dressing over salads and other roasted vegetables all winter…

1/2 cup avocado or good olive oil
1 tbsp good fresh curry powder (see note above)

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced or grated
1 tbsp good Dijon mustard

3 -4 small to medium beets, peeled, thinly sliced on mandoline
3-4 medium carrots, peeled, shaved into ribbons with a veg peeler or a spiralizer
Lemon juice to taste
Good salt to taste

Optional
1/3 to 1/2 cup toasted pistachios

Over medium heat in a small saucepan, bring the curry powder and you oil of choice to a simmer, then remove from heat and cool.

While the oil is cooling, we like to go ahead and prep the beets, place them in a medium bowl, sprinkle with generous pinch of salt and let them rest for 10-15 minutes (they soften slightly). When the time has passed, come back and prep the carrots and add to the bowl.

To make the dressing, combine the ACV, the prepped garlic, and the Dijon in your trusty blender, then stream in the curry oil (with the motor running of course) to make a smooth, thick emulsion. Taste for salt and adjust, then pour over the vegetables, tossing gently.

Season with a spritz of lemon juice, taste and adjust for lemon and salt one final time, and top with the toasted pistachios if using.

Enjoy.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Older Bolder Links, Reads, and More 30 March 2019

By

This Week’s Eclectic Links Collection

Another meta-analysis “linking” CHD and glycemic load/index.
Exercise shifts your body clock.
The actual study for article above: Human circadian phase-response curves for exercise.
Drink your beets: beet juice as the new performance enhancer?

Vitamin D levels linked to cardiorespiratory fitness.
Closing in on intestinal tuft cells.
Thinking about “Quick Thinkers”.
Mushrooms twice a week reduce MCI?

Social Anomalies or Shifts in Old Paradigms?

Is the sex drought real?
So is sober curious a thing now?

Food, Glorious Food

Slow Roasted and Grill Finished Cabbage
Coconut Braised Chuck Roast with Gremolata

Got a new Anova Culinary sous vide Precision Cooker for my birthday this week; what a great sous vide home unit, and I’ll be sharing sous vide tips and tricks over the upcoming months. What a fascinating tool to help manage your proteins at home.

the Older Bolder Life Vegetable Wednesday 1 August: Quick Pickled Beets (and Onions)

By

Growing up in a fairly austere food-household in my younger years, I’m not sure at what point I developed a taste for pickled beets. One of my grandmothers was an avid gardner and she loved to “put up” all sorts of pickled goods; her cucumber pickles (fermented dills, sweets, as well as bread and butters) were great, as were her pickled okra and “dilly beans”.

She made her pickled beets in small, crinkle-cut cubes; they were over-sweetened by primal / paleo standards but fit the cuisine of the day in South Texas, but man, oh man, they were astoundingly good.

She liked to add a bit of red or sweet onion to her pickled beets, and we do too.

We like to mix it up a bit when making quick pickles out of various root vegetables (try radishes sometime) by varying the spices we add, hence the list of consider adding spices below. Try various combinations and find your (or your family’s) favorite(s), and by all means vary the vinegars as well. The recipe below is scaled for a single quart jar by the way.

With beets coming into the farmer’s markets now, it’s time to “put some up” as my grandmother used to say…

3-4 medium size beets, trimmed
1 small red onion, trimmed, peeled, thinly sliced
1 cup apple cider vinegar
or
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar + 1/2 cup unseasoned rice wine vinegar
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp pickling salt

Water as needed

Consider adding
1 tbsp pickling spice mix
Cloves (1 or 2)
Allspice berries (2-4)
Peppercorns (3-6)
A cinnamon stick
Honey (1-2 tbsp)

Trim the beets, wash (scrub) them thoroughly, throw in a pot and cover with water; bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes until they can be easily pierced with a fork or knife.

Remove the beets from the heat, drain and rinse with cold water; when cool enough to handle, slip off the skins, and slice into approximately 1/4-inch thick slices.

Start a pot over medium heat with the vinegar(s), bay leaf, salt, and whatever spices from the “consider adding” list you want to try. Stir the honey in if using. When boiling, turn off the heat and set aside.

While the vinegar mixture is heating up, take a sterilized one-quart canning jar and layer the sliced beets and onions in artfully, taking care to pack fairly tightly. When full, pour the just-boiled liquids over the beets, leaving about 1/2-inch headspace.

Leave on the counter to cool, then screw on the lid and into the fridge they go. The beets will be better a day or two down the road, but will be tasty within a few hours of setting them up. With appropriate cautions, they’re probably good for up to two weeks, but ours never last that long.

Enjoy.