Fresh Fork Fun- Week Four

We just finished Week Four of the Fresh Fork summer program, and we continue to have fun trying new recipes and cooking with products that we may not have regularly purchased on our own.

A Sunday meal included some scallops purchased at Kate's Fish at the West Side Market, perched on top of mashed cauliflower. A recipe for mashed cauliflower was in our newsletter, so we adapted it slightly to try it for the first time. It makes a great replacement for mashed potatoes.

Mashed Cauliflower
1 medium head cauliflower
1 1/2 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
4 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
chopped fresh or dry chives, for garnish
unsalted butter

Set a stockpot of water to boil over high heat.
Saute the garlic.
Clean and cut the cauliflower into 1" pieces.
Cook in boiling water for about 6 minutes, or until tender to fork touch.
Drain well; do not let cool and pat cooked cauliflower very dry.
In a bowl with an immersion blender, or in a food processor, puree the hot cauliflower with the cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper until almost smooth.
Garnish with chives, and serve hot with pats of butter on top.

We served the scallops and cauliflower with a side of Simmered Beet Greens with Roasted Beets, Lemon and Yogurt. This recipe was also adapted from the Week 4 Fresh Fork newsletter.

Roasted Beets with Lemon and Yogurt (2 servings)
1 bunch of beets with greens
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
chopped walnuts for garnish

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Cut the greens away from the beets, leaving about 1/4 inch of stems.
Scrub the beets and place in a baking dish.
Add 1/4 inch water to the dish.
Cover tightly.
Place in the oven and roast beets for 30 to 60 minutes (depending on the size), until easily penetrated with a fork.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Cut away the ends and slip off the skins.
Slice beets and set aside.
Stem the greens and wash.
Heat a large, wide skillet over high heat and add the greens by the handful, stirring each handful until the greens wilt in the water left on the leaves after washing.
Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and diced garlic, turn the heat down to low, season with salt and pepper, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add 1 Tbsp. lemon juice before removing greens from skillet.
Arrange the beets on top of the greens.
Drizzle on olive oil and squeeze on more lemon juice to taste.
Place spoonfuls of yogurt over the top of the beets and beet greens, sprinkle on the walnuts and serve.

We also topped our scallops with a Strawberry Balsamic Basil Reduction.

Viola! More Fresh Fork fun in Week Four.