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By MARY THERESE BIEBEL [email protected]
Wednesday, July 27, 2005     Page: 1D

Kudos to the chefs who rustle up savory buffalo burgers, buffalo meatloaf
and buffalo steaks in so many South Dakota restaurants. I’m just sorry I can’t
give equal praise to the rest of their menus.

After a vegetable-deprived – but otherwise thoroughly enjoyable — vacation
in the Black Hills and Badlands earlier this month, I was almost ready to
challenge the nearest sharpshooter to a duel for a side dish more lively than
iceberg lettuce and pink tomatoes.
One desperate day, I snagged a piece of pumpkin pie from the Mount Rushmore
cafeteria, scraped away the thick whipped cream and soggy crust and dug into
the filling.

At last, a vivid vegetable.

To reap the most vitamins and other antioxidants from your food, experts
tell us you should fill your plate with bright, deep colors. That’s not always
easy when you’re traveling.

So, soon after I came home, I visited the Wilkes-Barre Farmers Market to
buy a rainbow for the test kitchen.

Red beets, yellow wax beans, green broccoli and orange carrots would do
nicely and, because I wanted the true veggie flavors to shine through, there
would be no heavy sauces, just the simplest of adornments – onion, green
pepper, parsley, butter, lemon, honey and vinegar.

Actually, I would have been happy to eat all four vegetables completely
plain, but for the sake of this article, as well as the newsroom’s collective
taste buds, I figured I might as well tinker a little.

The red beets took the longest to cook, so I began with them. I cut the
greens off, leaving about an inch of stem on top so the beets wouldn’t “bleed”
too much into the water, and boiled them until they were soft enough for me to
insert one of my handy Ginsu knives.

Once the beets were cooked, I rinsed them under cold water so they’d be
cool enough to touch and rubbed the skins off with my hands – no peeling
necessary. (That’s a little trick an elderly neighbor named Edith long ago
taught my mother, who in turn taught me.) Then I diced the beets, added a
chopped onion, sprinkled the mix liberally with red wine vinegar, and put the
salad into the refrigerator to chill.

On to the yellow beans, which I trimmed, snapped into thirds and steamed
for three or four minutes. I knew they were done when they passed “The
Photographer Test.” This is when you pull a veggie from a steaming pot, hand
it to the nearest person – in the test kitchen, that’s usually a photographer
– and ask, “Do you think this is cooked enough?”

With the addition of half an onion and half a green pepper, plus a dash of
vinegar, the bean salad also was ready to chill.

For the carrot dish, I cut a bunch of them into circles, cooked them in a
scant amount of water until they were soft and added a bit of butter, a
handful of chopped parsley and a spoonful of honey. What could be easier?

Actually, broccoli – cut into florets, steamed and splashed with lemon
juice – is a little easier.

With two hot dishes and two chilled dishes, I made a grand entrance into
the newsroom and announced the ingredients loudly, hoping to spark enthusiasm.

“She said `onions,’ she said `butter,’ I’m there,” said taste-tester
Michele, who relished all four dishes – but especially the red beet salad.

“I’m lovin’ these beets,” she said. “They’re sweet, and the onion adds just
enough crunch.”

Taste-tester Anne preferred the carrots. “Mmm. They’re yummy,” she said.
Truth be told, she did not care for the lemony broccoli at all. “Too sour,”
she said with a grimace.

Taste-tester Isabelle appreciated the good-for-you aspects of all four
dishes. “I’m getting my fiber today,” she said cheerfully.

“I think I can lift a house now,” Michele agreed. “It makes you feel so
healthy.”

All in all, the red beet salad drew the greatest number of comments.

“It’s better than I expected,” taste-tester Lane admitted.

“Last time I ate a beet, it tasted like dirt,” tester Genelle said,
gingerly putting the tiniest piece of beet into her mouth.

“This doesn’t taste as dirty,” she said thoughtfully. “It’s one of the
better beets. At least I didn’t spit it out, like last time.”

Was the last time when she was about, oh, say, 2 years old?

“No, more like five months ago,” she admitted.

At least Genelle liked the broccoli. “It has a zest to it,” she said.

As for taste-tester Irene, she liked the bean salad. “I might make this at
home,” she said.

Of course, a representative of the anti-health-food contingent also was on
hand.

“There’s nothing deep fried, no hot sauce,” this co-worker said, looking
bereft. “I can’t eat anything here.”

He may have been disappointed, but taste-tester Michele’s happiness
overshadowed the gloom.

“Step aside, woman,” she told a bystander who was dawdling but not
sampling. “I could eat the whole bunch of beets.”

Here are the recipes:

PARSLEY GLAZED CARROTS

1 pound of carrots

Small bouquet parsley, chopped

2 teaspoons butter

1 teaspoon honey

Clean carrots and cut into circles. Cook in scant amount of water until
they soften. Put cooked carrots into a dish, dot with butter, add parsley and
drizzle spoonful of honey. Feel free to adjust the amount of the condiments,
as you wish.

WAX BEAN SALAD

1 pound wax beans

Half medium onion, chopped

Half green pepper, chopped

Dash vinegar, to taste

Steam beans to desired degree of doneness, add onion and green pepper,
sprinkle vinegar and chill.

LEMON BROCCOLI

1 head broccoli

Juice of one half lemon

Clean broccoli and cut into florets. Steam lightly, just a few minutes and
splash with lemon juice.

RED BEET SALAD

1 pound of red beets

1 onion

Vinegar

Cover red beets with water and boil until knife can be easily inserted
through center. Drain them, hold them under cold water and rub – they will
peel easily. Add chopped onion and vinegar to taste. Toss them until the
onions turn red with beet juice. Chill.