Beet Greens are in!

They're here! Okay spring is definitely full on now, and summer is around the corner. Popped by Baleman's in the Saint John City Market this afternoon and ta-da! Rob Baleman's brother had just brought in some gorgeous beet greens. These are those lovely tender baby beet greens that are only around at the beginning of the season when the beets are being thinned. Steam them up and add a little butter and maybe even a bit of vinegar and they are lovely. Only debate around here is baby beets on or off. I like them on, others find them stringy and gritty. I like them on because the beets (tiny as they are at this stage) are so good for you (as are the greens, lots of calcium and Vit C in those babies according to my Laurel's Kitchen). The beets themselves, once they come around, are loaded with goodies. I'm determined to cook beets regularly this summer now that I'm not so scared of dealing with them. At a cooking course in Australia they just made me peel them while they were raw and then steam them and I realized this was actually easier than the whole steaming process where the skins are supposed to just "slip off" and never do.


So, the green season is upon us. Glad I froze some fiddleheads before they disappeared (I'll let you know this fall how that worked out). Rob Baleman tells me that the peas on their farm are already in blossom - that means peas should be here in a couple of weeks, as will the first potatoes. There are visions of hodge podge dancing through my head.

Now I'm on the hunt for more sources of local baby salad greens....