Do you waste food?
I used to.
I would routinely buy something, like sour cream (in the US), use what I needed, then, two or three weeks later realize that the rest was moldy and through it out.
That rarely happens any longer. I started getting very conscious of it when I started my menu planning site (Thyme for Cooking) as I didn't want my subscribers to buy foods that didn't get used.
Now I'm just cheap.
I hate waste.
Still, there are times when I'm playing on the edge.
I take all the 'Use by' dates with a big grain of salt. If something has a shelf life of six months, surely another few weeks isn't going to render it unusable.
Like beets (beetroot).
I always keep a shrink-wrapped package of cooked beets in the fridge.
That's how one buys them here, cooked, in 500gr (16oz) packs of 4 or 5 whole beets.
They last forever and are handy to have if one runs out of other fresh vegetables for whatever reason – like unexpected snowstorms.
The problem is that they last for so long I tend to forget about them….
Then I check the date and discover I should have used them last month.
I'll have the proper recipe for you later, but for now, this is how I used up the last bit of beet….
As well as the last half of a sheet of puff pastry and a few leftover slices of goat cheese.
And if you have never paired beets with goat cheese – try it. You'll be glad you did!
Beet and Goat Cheese Tarts
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup cubed, cooked beet (beetroot)
- 3oz (90gr) aged goat cheese, sliced and cut to fit pastry
- 2 5" (10cm) squares puff pastry
- 2 tsp Balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp crumbled sage leaves
Instructions
- Combine beets and vinegar
- Lay pastry on baking sheet
- Arrange goat cheese in the center of the pastry
- Divide sage and sprinkle on goat cheese
- Divide beets and spoon in the center
- Bring up the corners of the pastry
- Bake, 400F (200C) 12 – 15 minutes until pastry is puffed and golden
Work continues on the ceiling
Yes, I do think he should stop and build an ark, but our house is up on a hill so I think we are still safe from serious flooding for the moment.
And maybe it will quit raining some day….
So, he's back at work on the ceiling.
And he's back to constant complaining.
He keeps saying that he has to cut the boards one at a time.
Well, I don't really expect him to be able to stack up the ceiling boards and attack them with the chain saw to cut them all at once!
Okay, in fairness, what he means is that every board is a slightly different length and slightly unique angle so that each must be carefully measured and cut.
Which, of course, means that he has to climb up and down the scaffolding in order to cut every board.
So…..
It was windy today, which meant that the house was colder than usual, which meant that we lit both fires earlier than usual to warm the house up.
But it was windy, so after we lit the fires the wind came down the chimneys and blew the smoke into the house, which meant that we had to open the door and windows to let the smoke out.
Which let the heat out…..
My beloved is terrified of my fridge because a) I hate throwing food out, b) he doubts my canning/pickling skills and c) he believes in “use by” dates with a passion. On the other hand, keeping chickens has made throwing out food (expecially elderly soups) much easier because it’s not waste, it’s just reuse. They make eggs and compost from it. So that’s been a relief.
I know how you feel about food waste! I am also being extra conscious about it. This lovely tart is definitely a delicious way to use up the last of your beets! Just posted about fried rice I made with leftover duck confit 🙂
Katie…the ceiling is going to look gorgeous. And anything with beets is bound to be delicious!
I would love buy cooked beats at the store. And, yes, I am bad about wasting food, especially those in containers like you mentioned.
Here we only find beets raw. I still love them. I’ve tried them with goat cheese in a salad with arugula and balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Yum.
I ignore use by dates !! I hate waste and freeze everything, even milk, to avoid throwing food away. I compost, recycle and feed dogs any dodgy leftovers !!!
Why oh why am I reading this in the middle of the night when it’s way too late to go into the kitchen and cook?! I’m drooling just thinking of these tarts. We have some goat cheese and old beets too but they’re not cooked. (I have a bad habit of buying beets for the greens – I love beet greens! – and then forgetting that the beets are languishing in the vegetable drawer. Luckily, as you say, beets last forever) We don’t have puff pastry though, but we do have butter and flour. So this tart won’t be ready for hours. Wwaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh! I want some beet and goat cheese tart NOW.
Charlotte, good benefits from the chickens…. Too bad your hubs has so little faith LOL
Joey, that fried rice looks delicious – thanks for the tip….
Ina, thanks – and the beets were good!
Pam, I’ve only rarely seen raw beets here – but piles of cooked!
Lorette, you are so right.. Yum!
manningroad, I’m getting much better at planning – and when I’m not, the dogs are happy! Did you know bottled water has a use-by date? How ridiculous!
Elizabeth, we never see fresh beets, so no greens for us…. but, yes the beets and goat cheese are wonderful.