Edgar, Allan, and Poe and the Tell-Tale Beets by Natalie Rompella and illustrated by Francois Ruyer In this hilarious tale by Natalie Rompella, Edgar, Allan, and Poe must eat all of their food in order to get dessert. The only problem is that they don't really like vegetables and they all hate beets. When they discover a loose floor board underneath Poe's chair, they are able to hide their uneaten veggies and finally get to eat dessert. But what happens when their guilty conscience and smelly food is too much for them? Find out in this fun and relatable parody of Edgar Allan Poe's Tell-tale Heart. I love this story because it reminds me of my husband who as child snuck the food he couldn't finish into zip lock bags that he hid in the kitchen cabinet. He was finally caught when the smell caught up to them and his mother found the bags of food. I hate to admit it, but, like the boys in the story, I really don't like beets. I know they are really healthy and full of vitamins and minerals including potassium, magnesium, fiber, phosphorus, iron; vitamins A, B & C; beta-carotene, beta-cyanine; folic acid. They are high in sugar, but it is released into your system gradually so that your blood sugar doesn't spike. There are other benefits to these red roots, but despite their sugar content they are just too earthy for me. So when we got some in our CSA I was excited to try and find a way to love beets and this recipe is it. I got the idea from this recipe on food & style, but tweaked it to suit my pantry. We only got three beets in our CSA so that's how many we used and the portions were right for 2 adults and 1 toddler, but I would increase the amount for any more than that.
Beet Linguine
3 beets (baked) I used this recipe
2 T butter
1-2 T olive oil
5 green cardamom pods
1 tsp ground coriander
1 garlic scape (regular garlic cloves would also work)
2 T balsamic vinegar
1/3 lb linguine
1/4 cup pasta water reserved
Peel the beets. Julienne the beets either using a mandolin or a knife. You could reserve the beets at this point in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Cook the pasta according to package directions. Be sure to reserve some of the liquid for the sauce.
Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the butter, olive oil, cardamom pods and the beets and ground coriander. Saute for about 10 minutes for the beets to caramelize. Add the garlic scapes and vinegar at this point saute for a minute or two until the vinegar has glazed the pan and evaporated a bit. Add in the reserved pasta water and then turn off the heat and toss in the pasta. In just a minute or two the pasta will take on the beautiful pink hue. Serve immediately.
Believe me there will be no sneaking the food off this plate! This pasta was seriously delicious. You do not have to worry about anyone shying away from these beets. The pieces are so small they just feel like they are noodles and the extra step to really caramelize the beets brings out their inherent sweetness without the bitter tones.The balsamic vinegar really pulls the dish together and add some richness. I wish we had gotten more beats since we ate the whole thing in one sitting!
