Qeep the Leaves!

Day 45. As expected, our quarantine was extended to May 10th a couple of days ago, with the specter of another two week extension hovering over the conversation. Also expected, after the president announced that people needed a little fresh air and sunshine, and offered up a new ruling that we’d be allowed out for an hour a day for that purpose, staying with in the general area of our homes (500 meters), maintaining physical distancing and wearing masks.

Unfortunately, some of the governors and mayors decided that within the more densely populated areas of Greater Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santa Fé, they were overriding that ruling. While they had the legal right to do so, it didn’t make anyone happy, least of all those of us who want to get outside a bit. If they don’t relax this a little bit, I have the feeling that Argentines are going to go beyond a bit of grumbling, complaining, and pot-banging and take to the streets, and that won’t have the controls on it that a regimented exercise time would. Even if it felt a bit like being allowed out into “the yard” from “solitary confinement”.

In other not so great news, the president also declared that he’s keeping the borders closed until September 1st – at least as applies to air travel. It’s not clear if land/sea borders will be opened sooner. He’s also kept long distance domestic travel closed – by air, train, and bus. Needless to say, on our, personal end, that has a massive impact on Casa SaltShaker.

But, enough of the negative stuff.

I’m a big fan of using all parts of not just animals, as in nose to tail, but also of vegetables, as in leaf to root. So when I was on my weekly grocery outing last week and picking up some veggies at the local stand… and saw the young man whacking all the stems and leaves off a couple of bunches of beets and throwing them in the bin, I asked if I could have some. He chopped them off of another couple of bundles and handed them to me, with a quizzical look. Little does he know…. Do you?

So here are the beet greens. No, they’re not the same thing as red chard. They do look similar, but not the same, and their flavor is not the same – while chard leans towards a light bitterness, these have the sweetness and hint of earthiness of their roots – beets.

We’re going to make two different things out of these (there are plenty more things to do with them, but I picked these). So, I’ve separated the leaves from the stems, and washed them well.

First up, a pasta. I didn’t make the pasta this time around, just used a package of dried tallarines, the local name for fettuccine. I also tossed some cherry tomatoes in a little olive oil and put them under the broiler for about five minutes, shaking them around every minute or so. Beyond that, we have a sliced red onion, the beet greens, which I coarsely chopped, a couple of chopped cloves of garlic and a hot chili. And, some feta cheese. This goes fast, so I dropped the pasta in some boiling salted water and then started on the sauce.

Got a skillet nice and hot, with a mix of about 3 tablespoons each of olive oil and butter. Over high heat, sauteed the onions until softened, about 4-5 minutes.

Added the garlic and chili and sauteed another minute.

Then added the greens and cooked them down for about 3-4 minutes.

Added the cherry tomatoes to reheat them.

Added the feta cheese and a good ladle of the pasta water, and tossed it all together.

Drained the pasta and added it to the skillet, tossed it all together. Checked the seasoning – with the feta cheese and pasta water it didn’t need any salt, but I gave it a good dose of some coarsely ground black pepper.

And, served!

After lunch… it was time to make a spicy beet stem pickle. We have the beet stems sliced up into segments about ¼”. A chopped clove of garlic and a hot chili. A tablespoon of brown sugar, two teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon each of ground coriander, and five-spice powder. Three tablespoons of black vinegar and a tablespoon of olive oil.

Put it all in a small pot, add a cup of water, bring to a simmer over medium heat.

Cook down until you have a… relish consistency. It’s not going to get syrupy, there’s not enough sugar in it for that, it will still have some liquid, but not much. Maybe 15 minutes of cooking over medium heat. Cool, and store in the refrigerator.