Week 6 - Fattoush, Roasted Beet Salad

The key ingredient for Lebanese Fattoush is sumac, a purplish spice of ground sumac berries. It has a lemony tang with a richness reminiscent of reduced red wine sauces used in French cooking. You can find it at any good Middle Eastern grocer. This recipe uses many ingredients from the CSA shares of recent weeks, and it's easy to make substitutions. Arugula or romaine lettuce are nice additions.

Fattoush
2 Orient Express Eggplant, cubed
1 cucumber
1 boothby blonde cucumber
1 bunch Italian Flat Leaf Parsley
1 bunch Rat Tail Radishes
6 radishes
½ bunch fresh mint
A few tomatoes
2 pitas, split
4 tbsp Sumac
3 cloves roasted garlic
Olive oil
Sea salt
Pepper
Juice of 1 small lemon
2 tbsp water
Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Lightly spray pitas and toast on a foil-lined cookie sheet or roasting pan, about 5 min
3. Remove pitas and place eggplant on sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Toss lightly. Roast for 20-30 minutes or until soft.
4. Meanwhile wash and chop cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, rat tail radishes, parsley and mint.
5. Break up pitas into quarter-sized pieces.
6. In a large bowl toss chopped vegetables, roast eggplant, and pita bits with sumac, roasted garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and water.

Roasted Beet Salad with Mini Purplette Onions, Chevre and Walnuts
1 bunch beets
2 mini purplette onions
Baby arugula
Walnuts
Chevre
Organic white balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Sea salt
Black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Trim greens off beets, leaving 1 inch remaining. Reserve greens for other use. Wash beets well and wrap in aluminum foil.
3. Roast for 40-60 minutes, depending on size of beets. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
4. Slip skins off beets and slice into chunks. Slice mini purplette onions and mix with beets. Toss with organic white balsamic vinegar and marinate 10 minutes to overnight.
5. Toss washed arugula with good olive oil and plate.
6. Add walnuts, beets & onions, and chevre. Season with sea salt and black pepper.

- Lee Kiang, Yorkville CSA