Food Day and a Roasted Baby Beet Salad with Arugula and Torn Mozzarella

What a week in the food world it has been! As many of you know October 24th is Food Day and there are events happening in communities all over the nation to raise awareness and address issues of hunger, health and nutrition, and sustainable farming practices. I’m so excited to have been a part of food day here on Oahu as eating healthy, real food is a top priority for myself and my family.

Want to take a quiz to find out if you eat real? Click here. I got a 94. Pretty good. They docked me for white rice and beer. Hey, no one’s perfect. Seriously though, white rice is a weakness of mine and I imagine it is for many who grew up in Hawaii. I’m going to work on making the switch over to brown rice. Except in the case of sushi, I’ll never do that.

So what happened this week? Well, a brand new, beautiful Foodland just opened here in Kapolei. I don’t know if you know this about me, but I heart grocery shopping. I even love it more than clothing shopping. I could spend hours going up and down every aisle, much to the dismay of my husband and children, reading the ingredients on all the products new to me. The new Foodland is especially exciting because now I have an alternative to Safeway- worst grocery store ever. But that’s a different story for a different post.

I started off the week with a field trip to Ma’o Organic Farms in Waianae with my first graders class. It’s been a long time since I’ve gone for a ride in a big yellow school bus and I can safely say that not much has changed. The bus driver is just as comical, the kids are just as loud, there are no seat belts, and I still sit in the front of the bus… (Nerd hot)

Ma’o Organic Farms is located deep inland in Waianae at the base of the mountains on the westside of Oahu. The area is green and lush and the air is cool and misty. Reminded me a little of Ioa Valley in Maui (sigh). We started off by all holding hands in a huge circle and each taking a brief turn to say aloha and introduce ourself to the land. We then went on a tour and learned about some of the amazing programs Ma’o Farms has. Did you know they put their youth employees through college? Awesome!

I will be signing up for their CSA weekly produce box. It’s a win, win. Help Ma’o Farms to achieve their mission and receive a box of beautiful, fresh produce!

After our tour, we did some weeding in the chefs garden. Hopefully, the first graders did more good then they did harm. Auntie Teri, who was running the show around there, is a smart lady and I think she had a bigger vision than just clean vegetable beds. Auntie Teri knows an important secret: the best way to get kids these days to eat their vegetables is to get them involved. After a hands-on vegetable gardening experience the greens we all tasted were not as foreign and not as scary for the kids to try.

I got to taste Auntie Teri’s Pickled Swiss Chard and I’ve thought of not much else since then. I am a huge collard greens fan. I tried to recreate this recipe for you, but I didn’t do it justice. I will try again. (So much to look forward to, get excited!)

So next on the list for my big week in food was the Food Fair at Liholiho Elementary School. The fine ladies of LDEI and I hosted this event to get kids to try new vegetables. It was a success! The kids were so cute, they loved everything. I hear a lot of parents complain that their kids won’t eat vegetables.  I don’t know if it was the peer pressure from their friends, or the open mindset of the event, but your kids were eating vegetables today! They tasted baby romaine with Ho Farm cherry tomatoes, kale smoothies, spinach pesto, vegetable beef stew, and an all natural ginger hibiscus cooler.

October 24th is Food Day. What are your goals for yourself and your family to eat healthier? Post them in the comment box below. My goal is more brown rice less white rice. I don’t want to talk about my beer consumption until after the holidays.

Roasted Baby Beet Salad with Arugula and Torn Mozzarella

A bunch of Beets (from Ma’o Organic farms if you live in Oahu, you can buy them at the new Foodland!)

Arugula

Fresh Mozzarella

Sea salt

Cracked Pepper

Good quality Olive Oil

This salad is so simple, but it really hits the spot if you are craving something fresh, clean and healthy. Since this salad has only 6 ingredients use the best quality everything, even the salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 425. Start by trimming and scrubbing the beets.  Drizzle with olive oil and salt then wrap them in foil.

Roast until fork tender. The beets I used were pretty small so I roasted them for 30 minutes. Let them cool, then peel with a paring knife and cut into quaters

Lay a bed of arugula on a plate and top with your beets and mozzarella. For the mozzarella, I like to tear it up. I don’t know why but it tastes yummier if you tear it than if you cut it. Go figure, must be like stringing string cheese vs just biting it.

Toss with great olive oil, salt and fresh cracked pepper.