Bitter Melon & Beet Greens

Let me state up front that most people will not like this. I would never offer this dish to anyone that has not already tried bitter melon because it is, well, bitter. Some people think bitter melon is an acquired taste, but I loved it the first time I tried it. I think young people do not like it, although my 3 year old granddaughter ate grilled bitter melon at a cookout. Granted, I had told her that 'you will not like this' and she may have been proving a point.


We picked up 2 bunches of baby beets with their greens and one bunch of bitter melon greens at the Noe Valley farmer's market last weekend. $ per bunch - what a deal.

We made a fine meal that afternoon with the beets, greens and a baked potato. I think potatoes go very well with bitter melon. We are making the same dish again this weekend - minus the baby beets. The beets were about twice the size this week, so we are reserving them for another meal.

First separate the little baby beets from the greens. I parboiled the beets and left the skins on since they were tiny.

Then cut up the beet green stems into 1.5 inch lengths and stir fry them with a little oil and LOT of garlic and ginger. I some of added the beet juice from boiling the beets and let it reduce a bit while the stems cooked.

The little beets were cut into halves or quarters, depending on the size and the beet greens were chopped into a manageable size. At the same time remove the bitter melon leaves from the primary stem. Do not keep the little tendrils, although they are pretty, they will never become tender enough to eat.



After the beets stems were mostly tender, add the beet greens and cook for a few minutes. You can season with soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, pepper and whatever you think would work. We added a bit of red wine in the batch today. Might work. Cover and steam.

Sweet Coconut Rice

This recipe came from a newsletter by yoga instructor Darshana Weill. We tried it for a Sunday breakfast and really enjoyed it. It is perfect for those cold, dreary weekend mornings when you really don't want to hurry out.

• 1 cup sweet brown rice
• ½ cup barley (or millet, oat groats or other crunchy grain
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 ½ cups water (1 cup if using light coconut milk)
  

Rinse the rice (and possibly other grain). Place all ingredients in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer, cover and let cook for 55 minutes.



We sometimes add raisins & nuts at the end. Darshana suggested trying spices; mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, turmeric, curry, cumin (about 1 tsp of each), or a Bengal spice teabag. We haven't tried that yet.