Garlicky Greens

There are probably so many ways to cook collard greens, but I always end up with this one.
It's just that good.
Savory, sweet, packed with garlic flavor. Enough said.
You can use this with anything from collard to beet to mustard greens, kale, spinach or swiss chard.

Garlicky Greens
- 2 c greens, diced
- 1/2 sweet onion, sliced thin
- 5 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 1/4 sherry
- 1/4 broth
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- onion powder, garlic powder




Saute onions until soft, add garlic, stir, and when garlic is beginning to soften, add in sherry. Toss the diced greens into the pan and fold into the onions, then pour on the broth and Worcestershire sauce, onion and garlic powders, toss to mix, cover and simmer until greens are at your desired doneness.

Baby Broccoli Salad

This was supposed to be a Broccoli-Rab dish for a Christmas party, but apparently Santa does not bring Broccoli-Rab to the produce section of any of my local grocers.
He does, however, bring Baby Broccoli (not sure what the difference is). Or someone does...
Anyway, this was really simple, and came out freakin awesome.
This is a good, solid side that will complement almost anything, from fish to meat to itself. It's that good.

Baby Broccoli Salad
- 2 bunches Baby Broccoli
- 4 cloves Garlic, sliced thin
- 1 small Red Onion, sliced thin
- 1/2 bag Sun Dried Tomatoes, julienned
- 1/3 c White Wine
- Oregano, Basil, Black Pepper, Sea Salt

Steam Baby Broccoli til just tender - set aside. In a pan, saute onions until beginning to soften, add garlic, saute for a minute or two, and then add in the rest of your ingredients. Let simmer for a minute, then add the steamed Broccoli, tossing to coat, and then transfer to a dish. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Curry Dusted Seabass, Beet Puree

Last night I made an amazing dinner. It all came together, and was one of those well-rounded meals you can just pat yourself on the back for.

This was another one of those meals that just popped into my head; golden curry-fried chilean seabass over a mound of garlic spinach, topped with beet puree, with a side of sun-dried tomato polenta. I thought that the savoriness of the fish would be complemented by the salty-spinach and the sweet-earthiness of the beet. And damn was I right...

This $H!T was INCREDIBLE! Golden curry-fried seabass over a mound of garlic spinach. top that with an earthy beet puree.
Fantastic.

Slice some pre-cooked store-bought polenta, fry, and serve alongside.

Curry-Dusted Seabass

- 3 servings Chilean Seabass

- 3 tbsp Curry Powder

- 1 tbsp Tuermeric

- 1 tbsp Whole Wheat Flour

- 1 tsp White Pepper

- Salt

Puree

- 3 small roasted beets

- 1 tsp red wine vinegar

Puree beets with the red wine vinegar, set aside.

Sprinkle fish with salt. Mix spices with the flour and rub fish generously on each side, like a spice rub.

Heat a griddle till hot. Coat with cooking spray. Cook fish on one side until almost cooked through (will be firm and white). Flip and cook for 1 minute until crisped on second side.

Serve ontop of Garlic Spinach, topped with beet puree, with a side of fried polenta.

Enjoy with a deep red wine.

Honey-Curry Carrots

Honey-Curry Carrots
- 1/2 bag baby carrots
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- fresh cilantro, chopped

In a frying pan, melt butter and then add carrots. When carrots have begun to soften, squeeze in the honey, season with the curry powder, and cook to desired doneness. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Honey Butter Carrots with Tarragon

You know what's great about winter crops? You hardly have to do anything but pick them.

Big ups to winter crops out of my garden.
Especially for the love I didn't show them - I just dropped some seeds in the ground last fall and forgot.
Carrots, Swiss chard. Awesome
Went nice with some broiled fish.










HoneyButter Carrots with Tarragon
- 1/2 lb garden carrots, cut in rounds
- 1/8 c vegetable broth
- pinch salt
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp fresh tarragon, minced
Toss carrots into a frying pan with the vegtabe broth, cover and let cook until carrots have softened. Stir in the butter and then honey and continue to cook on low heat until most of the liquid is reduced. Sprinkle witht he tarragon, stir, and serve hot.

Beet Salad

This salad hails from my days spent as a Russian, and is only one of the many, many types of beet salads out there in that Slavic world.
This particular salad is called Vinagrette, and though like all salads it has many variations, its general components are usually the eponymous beets, apple, onion, cucumber, pickles, parsley or possible dill. I didn't have any pickles or cucumber, and no parsley, but I had beets, onion, apple and dill. You basically chop it all up, mix it all together, and let it marinate in a sweetened vinegar in the fridge until wanted for eating.
It keeps well, tastes good, and is probably full of vitamins.

Beet Salad
- 2 roasted beets, cubed (can used canned)
- 1/2 small sweet onion, diced
- 1/2 tart apple, diced
- fresh dill, chopped
- 1/4 c red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar

As said above, chop everything up, mix everything together, combine the sugar and vinegar and pour over top of the beet-apple-onion mixture, sprinkle with dill, stir it all up and stick it in the fridge to wait for you. Optionally, you can lightly dry-saute (w/out oil) the onions a bit to intensify their sweetness before adding.


linked up at Side Dish Saturdays over at Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice

Red Onion Tomato Relish with Cilantro

This is like caramelized onions on crack.
Cilantro and alcohol infused tomato crack.

Red Onion Tomato Relish with Cilantro
- 1 large red onion, sliced thin
- salt
- 1/3 c rice vinegar
- 1/3 c brandy
- 1/3 c water
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1/3 c sun dried tomatoes, julienne cut
- 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, minced

In a cast iron skillet, heat olive oil and when hot, add your onions. Sprinkle with salt and stir. Next, pour in the vinegar and brandy, sprinkle with garlic powder, stir and let simmer covered until onions have become soft. Add the tomatoes and the water, stir and let simmer covered until onions are very soft, almost mushy, and liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, stir in the minced cilantro, and enjoy over grilled fish or chicken.
I served this on grilled Mahi Mahi with Oven-Fried Green Tomatoes

Oven-Fried Green Tomatoes

So many green tomatoes.
must. not. waste.
Oven-Fried Green Tomatoes
- green tomatoes, sliced in 1/2'' rounds
- 1/2 c panko bread crumbs
- 1/4 regular bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
- 1 egg

Preheat oven. Slice tomatoes. Crack egg. Beat egg. Combine all dry ingredients.

Put your baking sheets in the oven to get hot, and meanwhile dump the beaten egg onto a plate and half of the bread crumb mixture onto another plate, and now you're set up and ready to start dipping. Dip the sliced tomatoes in the egg, let excess drip off, and then toss it in the bread crumbs, to coat on each side. Bake for 10 minutes and then give them a spray with cooking spray before flipping and cooking on the other side for about 5 minutes. When brown and crispy, remove from oven and serve immediately. Ketchup is optional, seconds are not.

Savory Israeli Couscous with Swiss Chard

You know those foods that are just plain good? Well this is one of them.
Savory, and packed with garlic flavor, this dish was as deeply flavored as it was light in the fluffiness of the Israeli couscous* and freshness of the Swiss Chard straight from the garden.
It's also really easy to make and is a great side dish for a sweet-flavored entree, like the Honey Mustard Baked Chicken that I enjoyed it with.

Savory Garlic Couscous with Swiss Chard
(serves 4)
- 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 bunch baby Swiss Chard, chopped
- 1 c Israeli Couscous
- 1 c vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp each Garlic and Onion Powder
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- salt to taste

In a saucepan, bring vegetable broth to a boil, then reduce heat to keep it warm. Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet and add the garlic, cooking until beginning to soften. Meanwhile, chop the Swiss Chard, separating the lower stems from the leaves, and then add the chopped stems to the garlic and sprinkle with a dash of salt.
When stems are just beginning to get soft, stir in the couscous to brown the grains slightly, and then add half of the warmed vegetable broth, the Worcestershire sauce and the garlic and onion powders, stir to combine, and then top with chopped Swiss chard and cover. As liquid is absorbed, stir the Swiss Chard into the couscous, gradually adding the rest of the vegetable broth until the couscous is done and all the liquid is absorbed - this should take around 15 minutes. Remove from heat, then let it sit covered for 2 minutes and fluff with a fork before serving.
(you may need more or less vegetable broth - just continue to add it in increments until the couscous is done)

* Israeli Couscous is larger than it's cousin regular couscous, and though it looks like a grain, it is in fact a type of pasta made from semolina flour. You can by it in most stores in the pasta and grain section.

variations: you could make this same recipe using pasta instead of couscous, or even go wild and add some beef or sausage and Parmesan cheese to the mix for a nice, one-pot supper type deal.

Homemus

Do you have a blender? Do you have a can of chickpeas?
Then you have Hummus.
Yep, it's pretty much that easy. Throw all ingredients in the blender, blend till smooth, scoop onto a plate, scoop with veggies, and enjoy! That's it!
This is as versatile as it is healthy; season with any spices you want, from savory to sweet, and top with different spreads and tapenades.
I made a garlic hummus topped with roasted red pepper spread, and (not to toot my own horn...) as far as hummus goes, it was pretty good.HOMEMADE HUMMUS
- 1 can chickpeas
- 1/3 c juice from chickpeas
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- salt to taste
- spices/seasonings of your choice

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth. Serve with veggies, crackers, pickles, fingers.

Roasted Butternut and Cranberry Salad

Butternut Squash and cranberries belong together. And who are you to get in the way of the universe?

Roasted Butternut and Cranberry Salad
- 2 small butternut squash
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 large sweet onion, sliced thin
- 1/8 c brandy
- 1/8 c balsamic vinegar
- 4 leaves fresh sage, minced
- 1 tbsp powdered thyme
- 1/2 pckg dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 375. Cut the ends off of the squash, peel and then slice into cubes, about 1 inch in size. Toss squash with olive oil and then the cinnamon, ginger and brown sugar. Spread squash out on two aluminum foil-covered baking trays and roast for 30 minutes, or until tender.
Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute onions in olive oil and when soft add in the brandy and balsamic vinegar. Stir in cranberries and cook until liquid is absorbed.
In a large bowl, add roasted squash, sauteed onions, minced sage, thyme and sea salt, and toss to combine. Let the salad sit out or in the fridge for a least an hour before serving so flavors have time to combine. Stir before serving and enjoy.

Garlic "Butter" Mushrooms

These mushrooms are a garlicky, buttery, complement to everything from steak to fish to salad to...actually they're even good on their own. Trick is, they don't even have any butter in them. I really like marinated or sauteed mushrooms, but they are often way too oily and slimy, but these babies achieve the same effect with out any of the sliminess. I got the idea from Kevin at Closet Cooking, who adds water to aid the process of caramelizing onions, but instead of onions I used mushrooms, and instead of water I used brandy. The results? Outstanding.Garlic "Butter" Mushrooms
- 1 box Baby Portobella Mushrooms
- 1/4 c Brandy
- 3 cloves Garlic, pressed
- salt to taste

Stem mushrooms and cut caps in quarters. In a cast iron skillet, heat olive oil, add mushrooms, and saute. When most of oil is absorbed, add brandy, cover and when most of the liquid is absorbed, add salt and garlic and stir. Cook for another minute, stirring until mushrooms are coated in garlic. Serve hot.

Green Beans in Balsamic Butter

This is a good way to enjoy green beans, hot or cold.

Green Beans in Balsamic Butter
- 1 lb fresh Green Beans
- 2 shallots (or 1/2 sweet onion), minced
- 1/4 Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 tbsp butter

Steam Green Beans until aldente, remove from pot and set aside. Saute shallot/onions in a small saucepan with a little olive oil until soft and translucent. Add vinegar, bring to a boil, and then reduce to simmer until all of the vinegar has absorbed into the onions and there is almost no liquid left in the pan. Stir in the tablespoon of butter, transfer mixture to a bowl and let cool in the fridge until ready to use.
Before serving, heat a skillet with cooking spray, add beans and then Balsamic Butter, and toss to coat beans until heated through. Serve immediately, and enjoy.

Charred Zucchini Salad

This is an original recipe of mine, and one of my favorites not just because I made it up, but also because it's freakin delicious!

Every summer I grow way too many Zucchinis and have to figure out what to do with them. In the past I've made stir frys, fritters, breads. I've pickled them, stuffed them, even eaten them raw.

And then I came up with this salad. It requires a little bit of forethought, just for the needed marinating and chilling prior to serving, but the final product is well worth it.

Deep and savory, yet refreshingly light, this salad gets all its freshness straight from the garden. It is simple goodness and a consistent crowd pleaser at summer barbecues. This is a recipe for your recipe books. Give it a try, you'll be happy you did.

CHARRED ZUCCHINI SALAD

(serves 4)

- 2 medium zucchinis, sliced in 1/2 inch rounds

- 1 small red onion, peeled

- 1 c garden cherry tomatoes

- fresh basil, chopped

- 1/4 c asiago, shredded

dressing

- 1/8 c Balsamic Vinegar

- 1/8 c Balsamic Hot Sauce

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 1 tbsp dried Basil

- 1 tbsp dried Oregano

- 1 tsp Black Pepper

Marinate sliced zucchini and the whole onion in dressing for at least 3 hours. Turn on grill and spray with cooking spray. Grill zucchini, basting with dressing as it cooks, until charred on one side, then flip, and remove from grill when charred on the other side. Cook and baste onion until soft and tender, remove from grill, and let cool before slicing into thin strips. In a bowl mix zucchini, onion, and quartered cherry tomatoes with chopped basil, cover and let sit in fridge, letting the flavors combine until cool. Top with shredded asiago before serving, and get ready to take all the delicious credit (except for inventing it!).
This Awesomeness was shared on;
Seasonal Saturdays on Bella Vita's Blog

Country Cookin'

To go along with my garden beans, I wanted a meal that would be flavorful, but light. Personally, I don't eat much meat, and almost never pork, but for some reason Pork Chops seemed the thing to do...
I made a Honey Mustard marinade and let the chops marinade over night so that they would grill up nice and moist the next day, and boy did they!
Although I made a tuna steak for myself, the Pork Chops came out sweet and mustardy, light but intensely flavorful. And what could go better with Green Beans and Pork Chops than Buttery Noodles?!?!?!Honey-Mustard Pork Chops
- 3 Pork Chops
- 2 tbsp stone ground Country Dijon Mustard
- 2 tbsp Honey Mustard Salad Dressing
- 1/8 c Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 tbsp Hickory Syrup (or Maple Syrup)
- 1 tbsp Ground Thyme
Mix all the ingredients to prepare marinade and pour over pork chops in a Ziploc bag to marinate over night. The next day, preheat grill, and grill meat, basting frequently with leftover marinade until meat is mostly white, but still moist in the center. Let sit five minutes before serving.

Buttery Noodles
- 4 servings egg noodles
- water
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
- sea salt


Boil water, add noodles, and cook 10 to 12 minutes until pasta is done. Drain. In a skillet melt butter, and once butter begins to brown, add noodles and stir constantly to coat noodles. Season with dill and salt and enjoy the deliciousness of simplicity.
I served these along with Honey Mustard Pork Chops and Rosemary-Infused Green Beans for a proper country meal.

Garden of Ethan

I keep saying this, but there's nothing like cooking from the garden. I love creating my dinner around what I have available and it's always extra cool to be eating food that YOU cooked from food that YOU grew!
So yesterday, when I saw that my beans had finally decided to grow, I started thinking about how I could showcase them, to keep it simple but to accent their natural taste...I first, I thought about simply seasoning this mix of Green Beans, Wax Beans and Purple Beans with some lemon and dill, but I wanted to serve them along with Pork and some noodles that already had dill... What to do? I needed something flavorful but simple. and that would compliment my other dishes...
And then it came to me; couldn't I steam the beans in something other than water? Sure! So could I steam them in wine, no, better yet in sherry? Why Not? And couldn't I also throw in some fresh Rosemary sprigs to infuse it all? Absolutely!

Rosemary-Sherry Infused Garden Beans
-Fresh Green Beans, trimmed
- 1/4 c water
- 1/4 c cooking sherry
- 3 sprigs fresh rosemary

Pour water into the bottom of a pot, insert the steaming rack, then put in the rosemary and then the beans on top of the rosemary. Steam beans until crisp but tender, then transfer immediately to a bowl and serve.
These are very lightly flavored, centering mostly on the goodness of the bean itself, but the sherry ads a slight sweetness and the rosemary flavor does come through.

variations: use this same idea for any vegetable with any steaming liquid and any herb (for example, I have steamed Cauliflower in curried vegetable stock...)

RATATOUILLE not RATatouille

Before the movie, no one had ever heard of Ratatouille, and still, the word probably only conjures images of a rat in a chef's hat in most people's minds.
But I grew up on Ratatouille and know what the REAL stuff is; a delicious, thick melange of vegetables, stewed and cooked down in wine. Mom would throw in everything from onions and peppers to eggplants and zucchinis, and like most things mashed together in wine and herbs, the finished product was always better than the sum of its parts.
So when I went out in the garden the other day and found, among my usual plethora of zucchini, some ripe eggplants and tomatoes, I knew what I had to do!
RATATOUILLE
- 1 vidalia onion, diced
- 2 to 3 small or 1 large eggplant, peeled+diced
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 1 small to medium zucchini, sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
- 2 vine tomatoes, diced
- 1 to 2 tbsp tomato sauce or tomato paste
- 1/4 c white wine
- dried oregano, dried basil, crushed red pepper
- fresh basil, fresh oregano (minced)
- capers

Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet then add onions. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the eggplant and once eggplant begins to soften, add the garlic. Throw in your sliced peppers and zucchini, and lastly the tomatoes. Season with dried spices, add the wine, and simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed. When liquid is gone and the mixture looks thick, stir in your fresh herbs and the capers, remove from heat, and let sit covered for five minutes or so to let the flavors combine before serving.
This dish goes great with everything from meat to fish, or even over rice as a vegetarian meal in its self.variations: everyone seems to have their own take on ratatouille; some stew it, some bake it...whatever. for me, the essential idea is to cook down vegetables in wine. it should always be herby and should always have SOME tomato, but the veggies are up to you: try adding carrots or summer squash, jalapeno or whatever you have on hand...

Salaad

This is a post for posting's sake, but nevertheless...
Salad is salad...right? WRONG!
Salad is what you make it; as boring or exciting as what you put into it. For me, the key to a great salad is contrasts: soft and crunchy, sweet and salty, chunks and shreds, base flavors and spices...
I like to add pickles to my salad, be they sweet gherkins, sweet peppers, beets, okra, mushrooms, onions... And I also like a mix of greens, especially romaine and baby spinach. Finally, my last beef with salad is that I like everything chopped up, so that it mixes well and gets equal access to the dressing. There's nothing good about having a giant leaf of iceberg with a small mushy, uncut cherry tomato and a carrot that you can't seem to get on your fork...
So go ahead, make a salad, but let go and have fun. The best thing about them is that you can put anything in; no rules, just have fun.Sweet and Savory Spinach Salad
- romaine, chopped
- baby spinach, chopped
- 2 small pickled beets, sliced thin
- 1 scallion, sliced thin
- 1 carrot, shaved
- 1/3 can Great Northern Beans
- leftover Cucumber Salad
Make a base of greens, top with beets, scallion, carrot, beans and cuke salad in that order. Pour juice from leftover cukes over salad, toss, and enjoy.
(Pair with BBQ of choice or just enjoy it on its own)

Gad Zuccs!

Remember when I told you how my garden pops out Zucchinis like it's its job? Well, it is it's job, and the this year my Zuccs are poppin!
When I got home from Guatemala last Tuesday I already had two on the counter, and since then I've picked 3 more and still have 3 outside. In the past I've dealt with this by making salads or zucchini breads or what have you, but this year a new idea stuffed itself into my mind....
STUFFED ZUCCHINI!!!!!!







(Before)

They came out awesome and aren't nearly as hard to make as it might sound. Basically just scoop out a zucchini, fill it, and bake... it even gives you that nice 20 - 30 minute baking period to get in a glass of wine. Or two...
I served this with a Brandied-Parsnip Tarragon Couscous, who's subtle flavors commented the herbiness of the Zuccs brilliantly. So, with that, get STUFFING, but first the zuccs and then your belly!
Stuffed Zucchini
- 2 large zucchini, scooped out
- 2 vine tomatoes, diced
- 1 small vidalia onion, diced
- 1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 1/4 c white wine
- Dried Oregano and Dried Basil
- Fresh Basil, Fresh Rosemary, Fresh Oregano, Fresh Thyme
- 1 lb ground turkey
- Salt, Pepper, Ground Thyme
Preheat oven to 425. Slice the top off the zucchinis lengthwise, and scoop them out, leaving about a 1/4 inch of flesh. You can save the insides for something like Zucchini Bread or Ratatouille, but you won't need it here. Put the Zuccs in a baking dish, cover with aluminum foil and put them in the oven to soften for 15 minutes while you prepare the filling.
In a frying pan, break up ground turkey, season with salt, pepper and ground thyme and cook until just barely pink, then drain and set aside.
In another pan, sautee onions until translucent, then add thin-sliced garlic and then minced jalapeno. When pepper is soft, pour in the wine and add the dried spices and then the tomatoes. Lastly, add the fresh herbs, mix and then add the turkey and mix again. All of the wine should be absorbed.
Remove Zucchinis from oven, fill each of them with the turkey mix and top with plenty of Parmesan or Romano cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the Zuccs feel fork-tender and give them a couple of minutes under the broiler so they get crusty before you take them out.
Serve them with Brandied-Parsnip Tarragon Couscous and enjoy!

Brandied Fennel-Tarragon Couscous
- 1/2 bulb fennel, minced
- 2 tbsp shallots, minced
- 1 tbsp tarragon
- Onion Powder
- 1 c dry Couscous
- 1 c vegetable broth
- 1 bay leaf
In a pan, saute fennel until brown, then add brandy and then shallots and cook until liquid is absorbed. Bring vegetable broth and bay leaf to a boil, then stir in couscous and fennel/shallot mixture, season with onion powder and tarragon, stir and remove from heat. Let sit five minutes and fluff with fork before serving.

When Life Hands You Cucumbers

I LOVE gardening. There's nothing like eating vegetables that you picked yourself out of your own garden. However, it's often hard for me to keep up with the bounty, especially the Zucchini, which seems to grow faster than I can pick it.
This year, however, it's not just the Zucchini going gangbusters out there, but a new culprit...Cucumbers, and lots of them!

I picked five of the beauties yesterday, and there's still six more out there!

So, what to do, you ask???????

Actually, I knew right away: When Life Hands You Cucumbers, Make Cucumber Salad!

This is a German-inspired cucumber salad with a few little tweaks that I added. Sweet, savory, cool and refreshing, this is a perfect accompaniment for everything from pork chops to burgers to crabcakes, or simply as a snack on a hot day.

Cucumber Salad with Sweet Onions

Sweet Onions

- 1/2 c fennel, sliced thin

- 1/2 vidalia onion, sliced thin

- 1/4 c apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar

- 1/4 sugar

- splash of pickled beet juice

- 5 whole cloves

Cucumber Salad

- 3 large cucumbers, peeled and sliced thin

- salt

- 1/2 c white vinegar

- Ground Mustard, Ground Thyme, Black Pepper, Caraway Seed

- Fresh dill, chopped

Usually this salad is made simply with red onions, but I had a better idea. Instead of red onion, I had Vidalia onions, and took the opportunity to add some complexity to the salad's simple flavors.

In a small saucepan I briefly cooked the fennel, just to soften it a bit, then added the vinegar, sugar, beet juice and cloves, brought it to a boil and then poured it over the sliced onions into a jar. I let this sit for a day before I made the salad, to let the color and flavor soak into the Onions.Next day, I sliced the cucumbers thin, tossed them with salt and let them drain in a collander for 20 minutes. Then I rinsed them with cold water, patted them dry and put them in a bowl and topped with chopped dill. In a small saucepan I heated the vinegar with the seasonings until the sugar was dissolved then removed from heat to cool. When the liquid is cool, pour it over the cucumber, stir and let marinate in the fridge for at least two hours, stirring occasionally before serving. Ten minutes before you want to serve, remove the cloves from the onions, strain, toss them with the cucumbers and enjoy! (Will keep in the fridge for a few days)