Beet, Bok Choy & Lamb Grain Bowls with Tahini-Date Sauce
It’s a big week for our little farm. This week is our first CSA harvest of the 2022 season. It feels so good to finally have some nice spring weather and a farm that is producing healthy crops after what seemed like an endless winter. This year our farm is feeding over 130 families which is the most we’ve ever had! We’ve come a long way since the early days 10 years ago when we were bribing my parents and their friends to be a part of our CSA. I remember thinking 10 families was a lot!! And here we are, on the same plot of land producing enough food to feed so many people. It feels great!
This year is also extra special because our daughter Pepper has been able to be out in the field much more with us. She doesn’t last long but she’s so intrigued by the veggies and loves helping us harvest. This week she helped pick lettuce for the CSA boxes. It was so sweet.
The recipe I’m sharing this week is inspired by this week’s CSA haul which includes beets, bok choy, green garlic, and a few other goodies. The lamb we used in the recipe is local to us, but for our CSA members (or any of you near and far) you can use any local ground meat that’s available (or any meat you can find) and the recipe will work just fine.
Here’s a little sneak peak at our first haul of the season. The boxes start off with tons of greens before moving onto more variety as the season progresses.
I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as we did. Even our 2 year-old liked this one. She was all about dipping her beets into the sauce. Go figure!!
Happy spring eating everyone!
Beet, Bok Choy & Lamb Grain Bowls with Tahini-Date Sauce
Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes Serves: 4
Tahini Date Sauce- 1 large Medjool date, pitted
- 1 green garlic stalk, minced (white part only) or one clove of garlic
- 3 1/2 Tablespoons tahini
- 3 1/2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup water to thin
- 1 Tablespoon cooking fat of choice (ghee, olive oil, or anything you fancy)
- 2 green garlic stalks, finely chopped (or substitute with garlic cloves)
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- a few grinds of black pepper
- 1 pound ground lamb
- 1 bunch of beets, with their greens
- 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 stalk of green garlic, minced (white part only) or sub with 1 clove of garlic
- salt and pepper
- 2-3 small heads of baby bok choy
- 2 cups of cooked quinoa, rice, or millet (or any grain you have)
- sesame seeds for topping
Preparation
- To prepare the sauce soak the date in a bowl of boiling hot water for 5 minutes to soften up. Reserve the soaking water. Place the date in the bowl of a food processor or blender and add the remainder of the ingredients (you can also use an immersion blender) Add the reserved soaking liquid from the date 1 Tablespoon at a time until you reach a pourable consistency. Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed.
- Prepare the meat by heating the cooking fat in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat until warm. Add the garlic, spices salt and pepper. Cook, stirring for about 1 minutes. Add the ground meat and cook, using a wooden spoon to break up the meat a bit, until no longer pink and cooked through, about 8 minutes.
- Quarter the beets and then very thinly slice the beet greens (you'll need about 1/2 cup of loosely packed greens) reserve the rest for another use.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the beets and cook until fork tender. About 10 minutes. Drain. When cool enough to handle you can slide the beet skins off (or leave them on, which is what I do). Toss the beets with the 1/2 cup of beet greens in a bowl with the vinegar, oil, and green garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Very thinly slice your baby Bok Choy leaves and stems. The thinner the better! Add the Bok Choy to a bowl and drizzle with half of the tahini-date sauce. Toss to coat the Bok Choy evenly in the sauce.
- Prepare your bowls by dividing the meat, cooked grains, beets, and Bok Choy. Drizzle each bowl with additional sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
*Use this recipe as a guide. Adjust measurements and ingredients as necessary. Taste test as you go.