Veggies, Veggies everywhere and Fall is approaching Fast.

My garden is now overflowing with fresh produce but the nights are getting cooler and we have come close to a frosty night a couple of times all ready. So with that being said, I am starting to think of new things to do with all of this produce besides sell it Saturday mornings at the local Farmer’s Market. I live in a rural community which values the availability of fresh produce. People around here really do a lot of canning and preserving. It’s impressive really, this is my first summer to try my hand at any sort of pickles but I’m pretty happy with the quick ones I did so I know you will like them too. I mean, what better way to insure you are giving your family the best produce into the winter months but to ‘put it up’ (preserve, pickle, can….) yourself.

If you don’t all ready eat beets, please try them. These are by far my favorite vegetable so if you haven’t tried a fresh boiled or roasted beet in ages, DO.

Here is another good thing to do with beets and it’s easy and really pretty.

Simple Marinated Beet Salad

5 medium sized whole beets

Clean the beets and put them to boil in a large pot of water until they are fork tender. This takes about 25-30 minutes for 2” beets.

When the beets are done, drain and run under cool water until they are cool enough to handle. Hold a beet in your hand and squeeze the skin off. It peels off very easy and is fun to do. Slice the beets into thin slices and put into a med sized bowl.

½ of a sweet onion – sliced thinly

3 T olive oil

5 T cider vinegar

Pinch sea salt

Pepper to taste

½ t Dijon mustard

Combine everything in with the beets and refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.