Beat the beet week (2)

Roasted roots

Picked

• lemons
• 2 punnets tomatoes ( berries and cherries)
• 3 zucchinis
• chillies

Tonight's beat the beet recipe is...

Roasted Roots
3 beetroot*
6 shallots
2 potatoes
sweet potato
half a head of garlic broken into cloves
bay leaves*
olive oil

Heat oil in roasting pan, toss in vegetables cut into small chunky bits add bay leaves and roast until everything is crunchy and caramelised and the insides are soft.

Tonight we are eating with berber sprinkled lamb skewers, baba ganoush, cucumber salad (borrowing from  Sydney Foodie with a few changes)

Smashed cucumber salad (I know this as La ban huanggua -  spicy mixed cucumber in Chinese)
I am grateful for Sydney foodie's recipe for reminding me of this. I have such fond memories of eating this dish in China in really hot and humid days.  The crunch of the cucumber and garlic and chillies goes great with a cold beer too...

smashed cucumber salad

2 cucumbers smashed and seeds removed*
1 clove garlic smashed and chopped
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
Chinese white wine vinegar
Chinese Shaoxing wine
Peanut oil

Leave the skin on the cucumber, smash the cucmber with a Chinese cleaver or other heavy knife,  when open remove the excess seedy bits (mine are quite seedy at the moment!). If the smashing doesn't give you small enough pieces break the rest up with your hands.  Breaking or smashing  it rather than cutting it really is a feature of la ban huanggua and gives you a nice chunky texture. Add garlic and chillies and mix.  Heat a small amount of peanut oil in a saucepan and when smoking pour over cucumber, it'll crackle. Then add a little Shaoxing wine and Chinese white vinegar. I think the vinegar really makes it. If you like a little chopped coriander is good too.