Week Three: Healthy Stuff

I'm way late on updating this week - sorry! Between work, being sick, and the 4:30pm-on-a-Friday "The client says they still don't have this thing you sent two weeks ago" phone call... I've been distracted. But - the Whitecaps won again to become the Eastern Conference Champs, and off to Philly they go!

This week we picked up more garlic scapes, cabbage, lettuce, radishes, beets, collard greens, and chard. We had a cooking party, and Aly whipped up this recommended collard greens 'n' onions dish, I made a chard and feta pasta dish, and over the weekend I got in some baking. I made another Caesar salad since I was so happy with how the first one came out, but haven't had a chance to eat much of it yet.

We also discovered just how crazy good for you this stuff is. Did you know that 1 cup of collard greens has 288% of your daily recommended Vitamin A? And 57% of your daily recommended Vitamin C? And a cup of Swiss Chard has 44% of your daily recommended Vitamin A? Wikipedia tells me that Vitamin A is good for the immune system (so why am I getting sick, I ask?!) and "for the maintenance of good vision." Aly told me some time ago me that Vitamin C is good for building and maintaining connective tissue, which was good knowledge when we both injured ourselves with sharp objects - she just before telling me this, and my a week or so after.

So, on to cooking. I made some yummy cupcakes last weekend, and made more this weekend since I had more of my secret ingredient. It's a Martha Stewart recipe, because who else would add beets to chocolate cake? It's a very stealth-healthy recipe, so if you were looking for an excuse to eat chocolate cake, you're welcome.

Chocolate Beet Cake (adapted from Martha Stewart)

4 medium beets, trimmed, peeled, and cut into 2-inch chunks (I used 2 medium-ish beets, since that's what I had, and ended up with about 3/4 - 1 cup of puree)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Salt (about 3/4 teaspoon)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup safflower oil (I used vegetable oil)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Put beets in a small pot and cover with 2" of water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for ~30 minutes, until beets are very tender. Process in a food processor until smooth.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, then mix in beet puree, eggs, water, and oil.
3a. To make cake (which I haven't done yet): line a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper, and spray pan with cooking spray. Pour in batter and bake about 45 minutes in 350-degree oven. Let cool on a rack about 20 minutes, pop out of pan and allow to finish cooling right-side up.
3b. To make cupcakes: Line muffin tins with paper liners, and fill about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way*. My first batch yielded 15 cupcakes, my second 18. Bake about 20-22 minutes in 350-degree oven, rotating racks top to bottom and back to front so they cook evenly.

*Don't overfill the tins! The cupcakes dome like crazy. In my first batch, I was seriously considering redistributing the extra 3 cupcakes' batter back into the full pan of 12, and I'm glad I didn't. I'd have had a brick.