Fit Fare

After many fitful starts and stops over the years, I’m finally more consistent in preparing healthy meals. Fortunately, my husband and I love fish, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, so including them in our meals was not difficult. But, taste is the most important thing in working towards healthier meals in my household. No matter how good the health benefits, unless it tastes good, most of the food won’t be eaten. Even worse, it often activates the Ben & Jerry Effect, in which an entire carton of pistachio ice cream must be consumed to remove the taste and memory of the offending food.

When I saw a recipe for edamame and beet salad in Food & Wine magazine, my brain yelled “BINGO.” Yes, the salad is rich in fiber, beta carotene and plant based protein. The most important thing is that we love soybeans and beets. My husband always hogs the edamame when we go to a sushi bar. And my love affair with beets goes back to my childhood, when I would paint my face with the juice. Back then the only beets available were the standard red variety. Now there are yellow, white and candy striped beets in the produce section. I used red and yellow beets in the salad, which looked beautiful mixed with the bright green edamame.

As I expected, this was a very good recipe. The dressing, which has less than two tablespoons of oil in it, could be kicked up a notch by adding other ingredients, such as chili oil. But it tasted fine made according to the recipe. The beet greens were very resilient and didn’t wilt, even after sitting several hours at room temperature. The flavor of the salad actually improved after a few hours of marinating in the dressing. However, over time the beet juice leached out onto the other ingredients, giving the edamame a slightly gothic appearance. Depending on the audience, that might not be a bad thing. All in all, this was an excellent salad. Beautiful in appearance, fun to eat, and good for you. Perfect.

Edamame Salad with Beets and Greens (Developed by Melissa Clark for Food & Wine magazine)

Ingredients
4 small beets (1 ounce each), trimmed, 1/2 cup greens reserved
2 cups shelled edamame (1/2 pound)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon julienned basil

Directions
1. In a large saucepan, set a steamer basket over 1/2 inch of water and bring to a boil. Add the beets, cover and cook over moderate heat until tender, about 20 minutes. Check the water level in the pan halfway through steaming and add more as needed. Transfer the beets to a plate. Steam the edamame in the same steamer basket until tender, about 5 minutes. Rinse the edamame in cold water to cool, then pat dry with paper towels. Peel and cut the beets into wedges.

2. In a medium bowl, stir the rice vinegar with the soy sauce, sesame oil and grated ginger. Add the edamame, beets, scallions and beet greens and toss to coat. Sprinkle the basil on top before serving.