Unpopular Produce is Delicious Too!

By: Suzanne La Spisa

One of our newest projects at Crop Up is working with Darlena Goodwin of The Charleston area Children’s Garden project and the CDC on the Healthy South Carolina Initiative to pilot Farmer’s Markets in elementary schools. On May 25th Angel Oak Elementary School on Johns Island welcomed Crop Up into their community to host a Pilot Farmers Market Program. To prepare for the event we supplied the kids with premade seasonal grocery lists that they could take home and discuss with their families. The idea behind this was to have the kids and their families talk about the vegetables on the list and decide which ones they wanted to bring home. Once the market was over we collected the used grocery lists to see which vegetables had been the most popular, and in doing this we found that a lot of great vegetables were overlooked! In order to bring some awareness to these lonely, delicious and sometimes funky looking foods, Crop Up will be featuring one picked over vegetable on the blog each week with a recipe for you to try! Happy experimenting everyone!

Today Vegetable: Beets

Chocolate Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup butter or margarine, softened, divided

1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar

3 eggs

4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate

2 cups pureed cooked beets

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Confectioners' sugar

Directions

In a mixing bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and brown sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Melt chocolate with remaining butter; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Blend chocolate mixture, beets and vanilla into the creamed mixture (mixture will appear separated). Combine flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Cool completely. Before serving, dust with confectioners' sugar.

**If you try it and love it, please let us know!