Beet, Carrot, and Apple Slaw

Generally, when I have a whole bunch of vegetables in my fridge and I don’t feel like turning on the oven or getting out the cutting board, I ask myself,

“How much of this can go in the food processor?”

If the answer is “lots,” I say, “Great!” and start shredding.

No need to be intimidated. Ken from “What’s For Dinner?” was always scared. Or maybe it was Mary-Jo, but as long as you have the top firmly on (and most won’t even turn on if the top is loose), you’ll be fine. No beets flying everywhere like you imagine.

Plus, easy clean-up, lots of colour, no red, orange or yellow-beethands because you use a little bit of lemon juice to get the colour out. Or use gloves to peel the beets. Seriously, it looks like I’m a construction worker if I don’t scrub that blood-coloured beet juice out of my hands with lemon. I have nothing but respect for construction workers. Wish I could build an apartment building or fix a roof, or level a bookshelf for goodness sake, but my hands are probably better off without breaking into pipes and hacking through drywall. Beets are hard enough on them.

Beet, Carrot, and Apple Slaw

Don’t have a carrot? Leave it out. Don’t have an apple? No big deal. (Though here a bunch of reasons to buy some – plus a fun-fact history of the fruit in North America). Don’t have any beets? Red, orange, candy-cane or yellow? Well, as long as you have one or two of the other things, you’re A-okay. If you don’t have any of these things you might want to get a little more inventive with your vegetables in the recipe…

6-8 beets (or however many you want to use), peeled and halved or quartered (as long as they fit in the entry to the food processor it’s fine)

1-2 apples, cored and roughly hacked into 4 or 5 pieces (or more pieces if the apples are larger)

1-2 carrots, peeled and chopped into 4 or 5 pieces each

1-2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2″ piece of fresh gingerroot, peeled

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp toasted cumin seed (in an oil-free frying pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until aromatic. Throw in some mustard seeds or black cumin if you have them handy)

1-3 tsp olive oil (I don’t think it adds much to the recipe. It kind of makes it moister, but it’s so subtle that you can leave it out if you want)

juice of half a lemon (optional. If you like it sweeter just add more cider vinegar instead)

Instructions:

Add all ingredients to food processor while machine is on (either through top opening to shred it like slaw or have it already in the body of the food processor to dice it all together). Smile, because you’re done. Or heat the whole thing over medium heat until the beets and carrots soften and some of the sweet juice leaches out of the apples into the dish, and serve warm.

Serve with lettuce as a salad topper, or as a side dish with a main meal (as pictured above – blackened mackerel with two-potato masala from “Good Fish” by Becky Selengut.