Red beet salad with vinaigrette

The smells of the Catalan beef stew prompted me to make another dish redolent of the past: the vegetable soup based on beef stock that I have seen made at my grandmother's and mother's a thousand times on weekends (see next post). Meanwhile I prepared myself a small beet appetizer, again from Françoise Bernard, but hardly a gesture to need a book for.

Serves 4

1 big cooked red beet, diced in small cubes

For the vinaigrette:
salt
pepper
1 tablespoon vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil

Whisk these ingredients vigorously, then pour over the diced beet. Decorate with a salad leaf or cress.

All winter I stored cooked beets all in my fridge, without ever touching them. Until now. So something must be stirring among dull roots.

Cooking With Leftovers: Vegetable Crumble

Oh, yes, I admit to a foible, a weakness, a peccadillo. Sometimes I buy vegetables too much in advance of actually using them. I swear I try to avoid that, but it happens. This situation calls all hands on deck: the greens are plucked away from storing cabinets and the fridge, peeled, rinsed and cut, in short: used. They all end up in a dish called Vegetable Crumble. It's pleasant to barely manage a crumble on top with some leftover ingredients, because after that, we are entitled to shop for new fresh produce.

Vegetable Crumble

(From Puur - Pure, November 2009)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes
pepper
olive oil
Any vegetables you have, cut in pieces and put in an oven dish (I used leftover pumpkin, 1 kohlrabi, a big piece of root celery, and 2 parsnips)
1 onion, in wedges
1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped

Crumble:
100 g cheddar cheese (I only had 30 g parmezan)
2 tablespoons of fresh coriander (I choopped up green celery leaf)
2 slices of old bread (I used 2 tablespoons of oat grits)

Preheat the oven ay 200 °C.

Prepare the vegetables, and combine them in an oven dish.

In a mortar, combine the spices, pour this over the vegetables, and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Basically, I didn't have enough crumble, but who bothers? I already have Saturday's luncheon.