Beet Green and Wheat Berry Bowl

One of the nicest things about really fresh farm vegetables is that when you buy a bunch of root vegetables like beets or turnips, you get a bundle of fresh greens in the bargain. So when you visit the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market this Sunday morning, be sure to buy a bunch of Camas Swale Farm root vegetables and then rush home and make yourself a bowl of sautéed greens for lunch. 

I made this bowl with wheat berries that I'd cooked ahead in my trusty rice cooker. For many years I had held out on getting a rice cooker as an unnecessary kitchen gadget, but I've discovered that it's immensely handy for cooking all sorts of whole grains without any babysitting. You can set it up before leaving for work in the morning or taking a stroll to the farmers market, and return to a perfectly cooked pot of grains. For these I sautéed the beet greens with a couple of scallions and a sweet pepper, along with splashes of soy sauce and mirin, and topped it off with a fried egg for a delicious post market lunch.

Beet Green and Wheat Berry Bowls

serves two

1 bunch beet greens
2 large scallions or a shallot
1 small sweet pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp mirin or rice wine
1 cup cooked wheat berries or another hearty grain
salt to taste
2 eggs
hot sauce such as Sriracha for serving

1. Ahead of time, cook the wheat berries in a rice cooker or on the stove top.

2. Rinse and chop the beet greens into 1 inch strips. Dice the scallions and pepper. 

3. Warm a skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and then the scallions and peppers and cook for a few minutes until glassy. Add the beet greens and saute for about three minutes until they have started to soften. Add the cooked wheat berries and stir to warm and coat in the oil. Add the soy sauce and mirin and allow to cook down. Taste and add salt as needed. Remove from the heat.

4. While the greens are cooking, heat a small skillet on another burner. Add a drizzle of olive oil and then crack in two eggs. Cook over medium low heat until the yokes are the desired firmness.

5. Divide the beet greens and wheat berries into two bowls. Top each with a fried egg and serve with a hot sauce like Sriracha. Enjoy.

Beet Green Gomae

Recently my husband and I indulged in a rare adults only evening out. We enjoyed the neighborhood tavern feel of Izakaya Meiji, where we sampled an addictively delicious spinach gomae, a dish of steamed spinach with a salty and sweet sesame sauce. I wanted to try making this at home and attempted to puree toasted white sesame seeds in a mini food processor, but was thwarted when they stealthily slipped beneath the blade and remained defiantly intact. The resulting dish was light and refreshing, speckled with toasted sesame seeds, but it didn't capture the rich nuttiness I was trying to recreate.

For my next attempt, I procured some roasted black sesame seeds from Sunrise Asian Food Market. This time I took the seed grinding into my own hands and smashed them in a molcajete, which produced a satisfying paste. The only problem was that in my excitement about the black sesame seeds (an 8 ounce jar for under five dollars!), I had forgot to pick up any spinach.

Luckily, this gardening assistant was helping pull up overwintered beets, which provided an abundance of fresh beet greens for me. I blanched them, like spinach leaves, in boiling water and then quickly transferred them to an ice water bath to halt the cooking process. 

After squeezing out the water and chopping them, I tossed them in the inky, grainy paste that resembled the black dirt from which they had so recently been plucked. As if by magic, the flavors were just what I had been dreaming about. I may even prefer the beet greens to spinach with their extra bitterness as a foil for the sweet nuttiness of the sauce.

Beet Green Gomae
makes two appetizer-sized servings

I bunch beet greens or spinach leaves
2 Tbsp roasted black sesame seeds (or toast some sesame seeds yourself)
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp rice wine
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce

1. Smash the sesame seeds into a paste using a coarse mortar and pestle (a Mexican molcajete works well for this) or a spice grinder. Mix in the sugar, rice wine, and soy sauce.

2. Boil a pot of salted water and prepare a bath of ice water. Rinse the greens. If using spinach bunches, you can keep them intact during the blanching process and trim off the stems and roots afterwards. When the water is boiling, submerge the greens into the water for just under a minute and then quickly drain and toss into the ice water bath. 

3. Wait a minute and then drain the cooled greens, wringing out excess water. Lay the greens on a cutting board. Trim off the roots of the spinach if necessary and chop the greens into 1 inch strips. Toss with the sesame sauce and serve.