The middle schoolers in Mr. Robinson’s class have been tending to their vegetable garden at Foreign Language Academy almost every school day this semester by watering, weeding, and observing the growth of their vegetable plants.
Last week the students harvested red and golden beets, spinach, Swiss chard, snap peas, radishes, carrots and kale, and were able to help prepare their veggies for a harvest party in their classroom. The menu included kale chips, sauteed beet greens, Swiss Chard dip, and spinach salad with snap peas, carrots, roasted beets and balsamic dressing! The students then sampled all of the dishes–the spinach salad was by far the class favorite.
Spinach Beet Salad
Ingredients:
- 5 medium beets – rinsed, trimmed and cut in half
- 1 cup snap peas
2-3 medium carrots – scrubbed and sliced- ¼ cup walnuts
- 3 tablespoons honey
- ½ tablespoon butter
- 10 oz. Spinach
- ½ cup frozen orange juice concentrate
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 oz. parmesan cheese
Directions
- Place beets into a saucepan, and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until tender. Drain and cool. then cut in to cubes.
- While the beets are cooking, place the walnuts in a skillet over low-medium heat. Heat until warm. Ad butter and stir in the honey. Cook and stir until evenly coated and golden brown, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice concentrate, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and salt to make the dressing.
- Rinse and drain spinach then place them in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with 1/4 of the dressing and gently toss. Add dressing as needed until mixed. Let students Place the beets, snap peas, carrots, walnuts, and cheese on their own plates using spoons
