Peachy Green

Last night, Austin decided 40 degree weather was grilling weather (I think he stopped feeling that way partway through the grilling, AKA too late). He walked down the street to The Spotted Trotter and came home with something called lamb dogs which he was pretty excited about.

Since he was firing up the grill, I figured I’d use its heat to cook some veggies for those of us* not partaking in the “lamb dogs”. I marshaled all our root veggies from every corner of the fridge & pantry, tucked them into a cozy foil packet, and handed them over to the semi-enthusiastic (too late!) grill master.

Nothing caramelizes quite like a grill. The veggies were delicious, soft and sweet and blackened in spots, and the pesto-dressed spelt made an excellent accompaniment. I topped the whole thing with a poached egg and must strongly recommend that you do the same. (Also, do you see the color of that egg yolk?! It’s oranger than the carrots!)

PESTO SPELT & GRILLED ROOT VEGETABLES WITH POACHED EGGS

Serves 4

1 cup spelt

3 cups water

1 cup sliced carrots

1 cup sliced radishes

1 cup diced sweet potato

1/2 cup diced beets

1/2 cup sliced red onion

1 tbsp minced rosemary

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

2 tbsp prepared pesto (mine, but you can use whatever you fancy)

4 eggs, poached

In a saucepan, bring the spelt & water to a boil. Cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook 90 minutes (a long time, I know! If you soak a few hours in advance you can cut that in half).

Meanwhile, heat the grill on low. Toss the root vegetables with olive oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Spray aluminum foil with nonstick spray, add vegetables, and fold the foil around the veggies, crimping the edges to seal. Poke a few fork holes. Place on the grill and cook 30 minutes, flipping the packet over halfway through.

When the spelt is done, stir in the pesto. Spoon spelt onto plates, place veggies over, and top each plate with an egg. Salt & pepper to taste, and serve.

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*Juuust me.

One last home-cooked meal before the whirlwind of wedding festivities starts! Last night I made up a little Southern-style veggie plate to use up the last of the week’s bounty. I made the squash casserole from this recipe, which I found all over the internet and which basically worked. I upped the thyme a bit and next time I’d bake it a little longer - ours was somewhat runny and the squash was just barely tender.

The sweet potatoes were simple and tasty. The hot potatoes mellow just enough of the raw garlic bite, and the thyme makes them fragrant. I served it all with a simple salad made of mixed baby greens tossed in balsamic vinaigrette and topped with sliced radishes & cucumbers. I love how spring veggies make a brief resurgence in the fall…it’s just what we need before a winter of root veggies and leafy greens.

GARLIC & THYME MASHED SWEET POTATOES

3 medium-sized sweet potatoes, scrubbed and diced with skin on

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp dried thyme

2 tbsp Earth Balance

Salt & pepper to taste

Steam the sweet potatoes until tender. Meanwhile, combine garlic, thyme, Earth Balance, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add hot sweet potatoes and mash, being sure to mix thoroughly. Serve.