Yesterday was Thursday and all day I was thinking about our CSA box. I was desperate for beets, so when I looked at the newsletter midday (I couldn’t wait it out), I discovered that beets were in the box! This was all very exciting since I was dreaming of a rice salad. This particular incarnation of the rice salad used so many of the items from the box that it’s a real winner. Since Storkbite was having a meltdown due to the heat that is gripping NYC at the moment, I had to attend to her quite a lot so it was a good thing that the 2 cups of wild and brown rice I made took an hour to simmer in chicken stock. That didn’t do wonders for the heat of my kitchen, but the outcome was well worth it. The contents of the bowl below before I added the rice are as follows – vinaigrette dressing over steamed beets, slivered fennel, zucchini, diced celery, chopped mint and basil. That made for a bunch of really pretty colors and a variety of complex yet complimentary flavors.

Then we added the rice, mixed it all up and topped our plates with crumbled goat cheese. Oh dear, it was a feast! The first of the season’s beets really sent me over the edge. I can’t wait until next week when we get some more.