Beet beat

There were several small beetroot in my veg box this week, so I decided to test a beet recipe from Maria Elia's The Modern Vegetarian. The recipe is for beetroot keftedes, part of a medley of recipes Maria calls 'textures of beetroot'. It's a mix of grated roast beet, feta, parmesan, parsley (I didn't have any dill to hand), egg and breadcrumbs. I've substituted couscous for breadcrumbs, as I used the end of a loaf last night to polish off some taramasalata. And I added a handful of pinenuts that were lurking around. Even before cooking, the mix tasted lovely. The patties cook very quickly, and I served them with Jersey royals and a garden salad of mustard, rocket, beet leaves and sprouted garlic chive seeds. And a dollop of greek yoghurt. A very satisfying and soothing supper.

At lunchtime, Bob arrived at work with the gift of a bottle of apple juice from his cousin's apple farm - a lovely trade for the tom, cuce and chilli seedlings I brought in for him on Monday.

West Lake Farm produces award-winning cider and apple juice, and the juice Bob brought is Cox/Bramley combo: very appley and syrupy. Yum! Thank you, Bob!