Refreshing summer soup - chilled cucumber beet

I have obviously been on a crazy beet kick for a few months...I also have a very short attention span, so I quickly got bored with eating sliced beets over and over (but I still wanted beets).  Oh, first world problems...

My boredom with sliced beets coincided with the explosion of my deck garden.  I have tomatoes, bell peppers, strawberries, and cucumbers in the produce section this year, and the only thing that the squirrels and the doberman leave for me are the cucumbers.  (Sidenote: I must have the most healthy wildlife in the city given the amount of veggies that have been plucked in their prime).

Winning.

The obvious solution, inspired by one of my favorite, now-defunct lunch spots, was to combo sweet beets and refreshing cucumber into a delicious combo of healthy goodness.  I combined a number of recipes that I found online to get the combo that I wanted, and this is the result:

What you need:
1 large cucumber
4 beets
4 scallions/green onions
1 tsp creamy horseradish
1 tbsp wine vinegar
up to 1 cup of low sodium chicken stock
3/4 cup light sour cream
a food processor (please note, this is NOT a mixer - this thing has blades...you may substitute with a good blender)

Step 1:  Clean and cook the beets per my previous entry.  After they are cooked, let them cool for about 60 mins.  SAVE the beet juice/water from the cooking.

Pretty purple

Step 2:  Peel and dice the cucumber, and place it into a food processor.

Step 3:  Chop the green onion up to where the stem turns to leaves into pieces similar in length to the cucumber dice length.  Place the onion in the food processor.

Step 4:  Cube the beets into the same size as the cucumber.  Place the beets into the food processor with the other veggies.

Ready to rumble.

Step 5:  Run the processor until things start to look smooth.  Then add the horseradish and the wine vinegar.

Step 6:  Now comes the tricky part...you will need to add the chicken stock to taste.  I like a stronger flavor in mine, so I added almost the whole cup.

Am I allowed to call a 1-cup carton of chicken stock "adorable?" 

Step 7:  You will want to use the beet juice/cooking water in order to regulate the consistency of the soup - I only used about a half cup to thin mine out.

Step 8:  Mix with the food processor til everything is well blended.  Your mix will be a deep purple color.  The fun part is adding the sour cream, since it will take it to a vibrant violet color and will add the sour element to balance out the sweetness of the beets.

before

After

Step 9:  Pour into an easy container for refrigeration.  Cool for at least 6 hours before eating.  Enjoy!

Cooking tip:  Remember to always taste as you cook!  This keeps you on top of your seasoning.  Nothing is worse than bland or overly seasoned food...you want to find that happy medium, and you need to taste as you go in order to do that.

Counting calories?

With all these delicious food options, it is easy to pile on the pounds (guilty).  To try to keep myself in check, I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app for iPhone (and I think it is also available on a Droid).  There is a huge database of food with nutritional information so that you can track the calories you eat, as well as the cals you burn through exercise.  You can type in your weight and weight goals information so that it can set calorie recommendations and track your weight.  You can also connect to friends so that you can encourage one another.  I highly recommend it!

Me after vacation

I am now eating Chobani with fresh peaches and 1/8 cup low fat granola on the regular.  Protein up to kill the aggressive hunger of a stretched out belly

Nice rack

More rack of lamb!  I have been playing with the seasoning and technique since my last entry (oh darn, so much practice lamb to eat).  Lamb is delicious no matter what, so the trick is to get the right rub to bring out the flavor profile you prefer.

What you need:
8 bone rack of lamb
1.5 tsp lemon thyme
1.5 tsp parsley
2 tsp crushed rosemary
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper - 1/8 tsp each
mint jelly for garnish

The players: Even my seasoning represents Bucknell.

Step 1: get your rack, and leave it out of the fridge for about 1 hour before cooking so that it will cook evenly.

Step 2: preheat the oven to 400 and let it heat while you prep your herbs

Step 3: Chop all the herbs and mix them in a bowl with the EVOO and garlic, then add salt and pepper

Step 4:  Score the fat on the lamb - take a sharp knife or set of kitchen scissors and make grid-like cuts on the fatty portion.  Note: some people are tempted to cut the fat off - do NOT do this until AFTER the lamb is cooked, or you lose a lot of flavor.



Step 5: Rub the herb mixture all over the lamb and place the lamb bone side down, fat side up in a baking pan.

Step 6:  Cook the lamb to rare - please do not ruin the lamb with well done!!!  Depending on the size of the rack, this can be anywhere between 7mins and 15 mins, depending on the size.  It will be a light brown on the outside when done.

Step 7: Remove from the oven, let it sit about 2 mins (I hate waiting any longer than that), and then slice between each bone.  Serve with mint jelly and any sides you want! And, obvi, a mojito.

Confession: the beets weren't great with lamb, but I wanted both so I ate both.  Judge all you want.