The Libraries are back at the farmers market this week and we’ve got two new recipes for you featuring two of my favorite vegetables — peas and beets! Yum!

Indian Curried Peas and Cheese

Let’s face it: a lot of us get into comfort zones with the food we allow to make up our diets. It can be hard to get out of these zones along with not knowing where to start it can be intimidating. That’s why we choose this recipe using the in-season peas at the farmer’s market you can experience another culture with this delicious Indian dish!

Ingredients

• 3 pounds fresh green peas in pods
• 2 onions, 3 ounces each
• 1 hot green chile pepper
• ¼ cup light vegetable or salad oil
• 1-½ teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 cup water
• 3 cups dry-curd low-salt cottage cheese
• Salt
• 10 fresh mint leaves

Instructions

1. Shell peas. Peel and mince onions. Wearing rubber or plastic gloves, slit open the hot pepper and rinse off seeds. Discard stem and ribs. Halve the pepper. Mince about 4 teaspoons for the recipe (or use more to taste), and refrigerate the rest.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onions. Saute until translucent. Stir in curry powder and turmeric and stir over low heat until fragrant and browned.
3. Pour in peas, mix, then add the cup of water. Cover the pan and simmer for about 20 minutes, until peas are tender. If the water evaporates too soon, add a little more, 2 tablespoons at a time.
4. Stir in cottage cheese and minced chile pepper and continue to simmer and stir until cheese is well mixed and everything is hot. Season with salt to taste set aside to cool.
5. Wash and dry mint leaves and sprinkle over the mixture. Serve as a cold vegetable; good with fish and poultry, or as a vegetarian main course.

Variations

1. Before mixing in the cheese, puree the curried pea and onion mixture in a food processor or with a food mill.
2. Use butter, or butter and oil, instead of all vegetable or salad oil.

By Inez M. Krech

Adapted from Beans & Peas

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Beet-Pickled Eggs with Hot Mustard Dust

For those who aren’t quite ready to go all in on a new exotic dish with their farmers market goodies, this recipe gives a fun, spicy feel to a traditional picnic favorite.

Ingredients

• 1 medium beet
• 1 ⅓ cups apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 5 small dried red chiles
• 1 3-inch cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 12 eggs (These can also be found at the market!)
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup canola oil
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 ½ tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Instructions

1. Wash the beet, trim the ends, and slice it into ½-inch-thick rounds. Pour 3 cups water into a saucepan and add the beets, vinegar, sugar, peppercorns, chiles, cinnamon sticks, coriander seeds, and ¾ teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Then remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Pour the pickling liquid into a large storage container and chill it in the refrigerator.
2. Set the eggs in a 2-quart saucepan and add enough water to cover by 1 inch. Bring the water to a gentle simmer, boil for 1 minute, remove from the heat, and leave the eggs in the water for 8 minutes. Drain the eggs, crack the shells against the side of the pan, and cover them with fresh cold water. Peel the eggs underwater and add them to the cold pickling liquid. Let steep in the pickling liquid in the refrigerator overnight or up to 7 days.
3. For the mayonnaise, pulverize the yellow mustard seeds in a spice-devoed coffee grinder until fine but not powdered. In a food processor, combine the egg yolk, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon water, and buzz to combine. With the machine running, add the canola oil drop by drop until an emulsion forms; then add the rest of the canola oil and the olive oil in a very thin stream. Season 4 teaspoons of the ground mustard seeds, the honey, the Dijon mustard, and salt and pepper to taste.
4. To serve the pickled eggs, blot them dry on paper towels, cut each one in half, and set on a platter. Drop a small spoonful of honey-mustard mayonnaise over the yolk of each egg, and sprinkle generously with the remaining hot mustard dust.

Notes

You can always use store bought mayonnaise and doctor it up instead of completely making it from scratch!

By Amy Thielen

Adapted from The New Midwestern Table