Scrapes with Scapes, and a recipe for Beet and Carrot Salad

"I shouldn't say there was a great deal" was Marilla's encouraging answer. "I'm sure Mrs. Allan was never such a silly, forgetful little girl as you are."

"No; but she wasn't always so good as she is now either," said Anne seriously. "She told me so herself—that is, she said she was a dreadful mischief when she was a girl and was always getting into scrapes. I felt so encouraged when I heard that. Is it very wicked of me, Marilla, to feel encouraged when I hear that other people have been bad and mischievous?"

—L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

  Week two of my Enterprise farmshare included beets, tomatoes, various greens, and a dozen scapes. I'd heard of scapes before, but for me (like most people) they fell into the "what the heck do I DO with them?" category. Sure, you can always just chop ’em up and saute, but that's boring. I decided on a pesto recipe from Oh She Glows, which incorporates an extremely tasty recipe for vegan "parmesan."  The pesto did not turn out according to plan, however. That's because the recipe calls for three scapes, and I used all twelve. (What was I thinking, you ask? I suppose I wasn't.) So it came out more like a pâté.  No big deal though, I incorporated half of this pesto-pâté into a perfectly tasty pasta primavera sauce later (didn't take a photo, was at a friend's and forgot my camera) and used the rest of it as a spread or for some added texture on top of a romaine and avocado salad.As for the beets—I was much more sure of myself there:  Here's a quick recipe for this yummy salad, heavily inspired by the culinary genius of Aussie Kate at Sadhana Forest:

3 beets (setting aside the greens for stew, juicing, or what have you)4 large carrots1 cup peanutsjuice of one lemon (or more, to taste)fistful of mint, finely choppedsalt and pepper to taste

Peel and grate the beets and carrots, process the peanuts (or crush by hand with a mortar and pestle), and mix everything in. Ta da—a light refreshing salad for a day when it's much too hot to cook! Using this many beets and carrots will yield a nice big bowl, ten good side servings at least.  I tried another new recipe this week for the kale (not dehydrated—baked at 300 degrees for 25 minutes per Oh She Glows), and it turned out great:  I baked these for a party we were throwing Saturday night, but I ought to have made them later in the day, because they were fairly wilty by the time 8 o'clock rolled around. I just didn't want to be racing around the kitchen as guests were arriving! So I've decided that while kale chips (especially deluxe kale chips) are amazingly delicious, they are probably better suited to movie night on the couch. Next week: another Vegan Ireland round up!