K’s Kitchen: Simple tips for dealing with summer’s harvest

By Kathryn Reed

Beets keep arriving in the harvest basket. Luckily this past week’s came with some suggestions with what to do with them.

But what surprised me is the folks at the Natural Trading Co. said the greens should not be thrown away.

“A quick sauté of beet greens provides a delicious dish that contains vitamins A and C. Chop the greens, sauté them in 1 tablespoon olive oil for 10 minutes over medium heat and you’ll have a delicious side dish for grilled fish or chicken,” the farmers wrote in their weekly newsletter.

I’ll have to try this one day. Mine keep ending up in the garbage.

I’m in the habit now of taking off the greens of anything. This is because Joy, whose box this really is, told me that’s the way to make sure carrots stay fresh. She’s right. They were going limp with the greens on them.

Another thing I’ve started doing after reading about it multiple places is not putting basil in the fridge. Instead, I set it at room temperature in a glass of cold water. It stays much longer.

I’ve already started making batches of pesto to freeze for winter and spring use. This summer I’m using walnuts because pine nuts are so dang expensive. I put the green stuff in a freezer bag, lay it flat in the freezer and then have fresh pesto when basil is harder to come by or it tastes less than ideal. And homemade pesto is always better than store bought.

Never put tomatoes in the fridge. It just zaps the flavor from them. Store them on the counter and don’t stack them.

When choosing tomatoes and you know you will be cooking them, don’t worry about how they look. Flavor is what counts.

Consider buying cherry or grape tomatoes as a snack. Put a bunch in a bowl and eat them like candy.

To test if your knives are sharp try slicing through the skin of a tomato. It should be easy.

What tips do you have to share?