Market Meals is a collaboration between Boulder Reporting Lab and the Boulder County Farmers Markets, featuring weekly seasonal recipes built around ingredients from local growers, ranchers and food producers. Find it in Nibbles every Tuesday and on Boulder Reporting Lab. Sign up to get Nibbles in your inbox.
Cooler, darker evenings have brought color to the leaves, pumpkin spice to the shelves and the end of the midweek Boulder Farmers Market. The Saturday markets in Boulder and Longmont will continue to run each week through Nov. 21. The Boulder County Farmers Markets will host more than 150 farmers and artisans at the Longmont Winter Market Dec. 5 and 6.
Back in April and May, we highlighted cool-weather crops like spinach, radishes and this week’s featured ingredient: beets. In spring, the recipes included fresh salads. In the fall, we bake and stew them to create hearty, warming dishes. Beets pair well with goat cheese and honey. They’re also nutritional powerhouses, high in folate, manganese, potassium, fiber and dietary nitrates. Beet greens are a great source of dietary fiber, vitamins K, A and C, iron, calcium, magnesium and potassium.
This week’s beet tart recipe is perfect as an appetizer for entertaining or as a light lunch paired with a salad of beautiful fall greens.
You can find locally grown beets, Boulder County goat cheese and distinctive honeys at the markets.
Boulder County Beet Tart
- 1 roll frozen prepared puff pastry
- 3 large beets, peeled, cooked and sliced thinly
- 7 ounces chèvre (goat cheese), crumbled
- 5 ounces mascarpone cheese
- 3 tablespoons of local honey, plus extra for drizzling
- ½ cup walnuts, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- 2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Peel the beets and simmer in water until tender. Remove, cool and slice.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix the goat cheese, mascarpone and honey in a bowl. Unroll the puff pastry, place it on a large baking sheet and slice it in half. Space the pieces slightly apart on the sheet.
Score the edge of each piece of puff pastry to create a border, and prick the pastry within the border with a fork. Bake for about 12 minutes or until lightly golden. Gently spread the cheese mixture on each tart. Add the beet slices and scatter the walnuts on top. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Return to the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted. Serve with a sprinkle of thyme and a drizzle of honey.
What’s fresh this week? Farmers are bringing pears, melons, summer squash, potatoes, eggplant, peppers, sweet corn, tomatoes, green beans, okra, carrots, garlic, sugar snap peas, fennel and more to the Saturday Boulder Farmers Market and the Longmont Farmers Market this week.
Visiting the Markets
- 13th Street between Arapahoe Ave. and Canyon Blvd.
- 8 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturdays, April 4-Nov. 21; 3:30-7:30 p.m., Wednesdays, May 6-Oct. 7
- More information
- Boulder County Fairgrounds
- 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, April 4-Nov. 21
- More information
Have a tip or suggestion? Send your comments, questions and ideas to nibbles@boulderreportinglab.org.
