roasted beet, kale, and snap pea bowl with maple-tahini dressing

When you wake up at 4:15 in the morning to harvest fresh veggies for your second farmers market, you begin to crave dinner around 3:30 in the afternoon. That is exactly what happened to us! I think I have more in common with my dad every single day (he wakes up at 4 a.m. all the time.)

This is what sunrise looks like at Tumbleweed Farm! We spent the morning (4:30 a.m. to 6 a.m) harvesting and washing veggies for the Hood River Saturday Farmers Market. Don’t we look chirpy?

Once the caffeine from our 3 cups of coffee began to makes its way through our system things began to look up!

Harvesting first thing in the morning really is the best way to wake up. The birds are chirping, the air is crisp, and we feel like we are the only two people alive in the universe. It is actually really accelerating.

Once things were harvested, washed, and packed we headed to market (stopping along the way for our 4th cup of coffee of course!)

We made our display signs.

And set up our stand.

We love going to market. It’s so much fun chatting with customers and talking about recipes. However, the one down side to being at market is being away from the farm. It’s hard to think about all the things we “should” be doing when we are away. Such is life…..

We didn’t end up eating dinner at 3:30 (even though we wanted to.) We headed back up to the farm to take care of some things and finally made it back home in time to cook this lovely farm fresh meal featuring Tumbleweed kale!

The beets and snap peas are Oregon grown (our beets and snap peas are a few weeks out) However, our kale stole the show in this simple dish. (oh yeah, and a sample of Tumbleweed cilantro made and appearance) Dig in!

Roasted Beet, Kale, and Snap Pea Salad with Maple-Tahini Dressing (serves 2)

Ingredients:

2 TBS olive oil, divided

1 large beet (or two small beets), scrubbed clean and chopped into 1 inch cubes

1  cup snap peas, trimmed and chopped in half

1 large bunch of kale, stems removed and chopped into bite size pieces

1 yellow onion, diced

1 cup cooked brown rice

salt and pepper

Garnish:

chopped cilantro and walnuts

For the Dressing:

1/4 cup tahini

2 tbs rice vinegar

2 tsp white miso

2 tsp pure maple syrup

1 TBS tamari

pinch of red pepper flakes (a bigger pinch if you like a little heat!)

1/4 cup water

Directions:

1. With an immersion blender, regular blender or whisk, combine all ingredients for the dressing until smooth. Set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss cubed beets with 1 TBS olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on a prepared baking sheet. Roast in the oven until fork tender (about 20 minutes) Tossing beets once halfway through cooking time. Beets are done when easily pierced with a fork.

3. Cook brown rice according to your specific brands directions.

4. While beets and rice cook heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add remaining 1 TBS olive oil. Add onion and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add kale and cook for about 3-5 more minutes (or until kale is bright green and tender). Reduce heat to low. Add snap peas and cooked beets. Cook for about 1 more minute.

5. In a large bowl combine rice and cooked veggies. Drizzle dressing over mixture and stir until well combined.

6. Dish up each plate and garnish with chopped cilantro, walnuts, salt and pepper. Enjoy!