I walk past the neat stack of celery and the cloud of cauliflowers, ignoring the pointy cabbages and the scary box of Scotch bonnet chillies that can floor you with one bite. I get to the end of the greengrocer’s long table and the box of beetroot with their slightly wilting plumes of leaves. The size of golf balls, the roots will bake in no time. Their leaves, bottle green with arteries so pronounced they could be pumping blood, can be shredded and tossed in sizzling oil, then mixed with the little beetroot and perhaps some salty white cheese and dusky green lentils.
I twist off the leaves, staining my fingers purple, and stuff the bright stems into a jug of water like a bunch of flowers. It will keep them from fainting, which they are prone to do on being parted from their roots. You can treat them like spinach or spring cabbage, shred them and throw the dark green ribbons into a shallow pan of emerald oil, nibs of garlic and the zest of a lemon.
As they come from the pan, barely a heartbeat later, you squeeze a cut orange over them. It will set their bright colour and tame their earthy mineral notes. There is no mistaking these are the leaves of a root vegetable.
If I want something sweeter, then I will poke around among the squashes. Not the orange-fleshed butternuts but summer squashes that don’t keep for long and have green, refreshingly watery flesh. This week’s were shaped like giant acorns, whose fat seeds you gouge out with a spoon, then fill the hollows with slices of orange, cherry tomatoes and tufts of thyme with their pretty mauve flowers. They will cook softly — you could eat them with a spoon, mashing the translucent flesh with the cherry toms and bright green oil.
Baked summer squash
When the dish comes from the oven, I like to scatter over a few sprigs of thyme, simply for the scent of the herbs that rises up as they hit the hot baking juices. I used dumpling squash for this, but you could use large courgettes instead or even a marrow.
Serves 4
Ready in 1 hour
Ingredients
4 summer squash such as dumpling squash, each weighing about 200g
1 large orange
8 cherry tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
8 bushy sprigs thyme
125ml olive oil
Method
Set the oven at 200°C.
Wipe the squashes, slice them in half and remove the seeds and core with a small spoon. Place the squashes cut-side up in a baking dish or roasting tin.
Peel the orange with a sharp knife, removing all of the peel and the white pith that lies underneath. Slice into segments, removing the skin as you go, then divide them between the hollowed-out squashes. Slice the tomatoes in half and add them to the orange segments.
Peel the garlic and slice thinly, then add to the squash with a good seasoning of salt and black pepper. Scatter most of the thyme sprigs over, reserving a few for later.
Pour the olive oil over the squash and their contents, letting some of the oil settle in the hollows with the tomatoes and orange. Bake for about 50 minutes, with a basting halfway through, until the cut edges are starting to colour and the flesh of the squash is truly tender. Scatter with the reserved thyme if you wish.
Baked beetroot and their leaves with lentils and feta
Beetroot and cheese is a well-established partnership, while the lentils add a chewy, almost nutty, texture and turn this salad into something altogether more substantial. If your beetroot comes shorn of its leaves then use young spinach leaves in their place.
Serves 4
Ready in 1.5 hours
Ingredients
500g young beetroot with their leaves
150g beetroot leaves, from above
3 cloves garlic
125g small green lentils
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp olive oil, plus a little more
12 mint leaves
150g feta cheese
Method
Trim the leaves from the beetroot, leaving about 1cm of the stalks intact and taking care not to cut the skin, otherwise the beetroot will bleed as they cook. Set the leaves aside in cold water. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Put the beetroot into a baking dish or roasting tin. Scatter the garlic cloves among them, then cover with kitchen foil or a lid. Bake for about 45-50 minutes until a metal skewer will effortlessly pierce their flesh. (An undercooked beetroot is friend to no-one.) Remove from the tin and slip off the skins. Squeeze the soft, creamy contents from the garlic cloves into a small bowl and discard their skins.
Put a pan of water on to boil, then add the lentils and cook for about 20 minutes until they are tender, but with a chewy quality — don’t let them get soft. Crush the garlic to a paste with the back of a spoon and a pinch of salt flakes. Stir in the red wine vinegar and olive oil, then finely shred and add the mint leaves. Season with pepper, then set aside.
Cut the beetroot in half and then cut each half into 3 or 4 segments. Put them into a large mixing bowl. Pour the dressing over them. Drain the lentils and stir them into the beetroots and dressing.
Warm a little olive oil in a shallow pan over a moderate heat. Shake the leaves dry and slice into ribbons. Let the leaves sizzle in the hot oil for a minute or so, until they are bright and glossy. Add them to the beetroot.
Break the feta into small pieces, then add to the salad and toss gently. (Mix only briefly. The cheese looks at its most beautiful when flushed only here and there with beetroot juice.) Transfer to a serving dish. — The Observer
