Pickled beets as sweet as candy

Last week, I wrote about the Ruskin Woman's Club annual fundraising event where members made homemade watermelon rind pickles. After the pickling party, club member Dorothy Renshaw gifted me with a jar of the leftover pickle syrup and suggested I combine it with cooked beets.

The combination sounded a little iffy to me, I have a love-hate relationship with the root veggie. I definitely prefer them pickled, so I decided to try Dorothy's tip.

I went to Mabry's Market and purchased a half dozen or so fresh beets. Once boiled to a crisp-yet-tender state, I ran them under cold water and let them sit for about 15 minutes. After trimming, peeling and slicing the beets, I let them sit in the fridge overnight, covered with the sweet, spicy pickle syrup.

They were simply delicious!

Leftovers, should you have any, will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Spinach for breakfast? Popeye would approve.

I picked up this beautiful bunch of Okinawa spinach recently at Greens on the Gro Farm in Palmetto.

The charming seven acre hydroponic farm grows a variety of greens, fruits and vegetables.

Too pretty to eat? Hardly.

The edible dark green leaves, with reddish purple undersides were destined for a special breakfast treat - olive oil fried egg with wilted spinach.

Greens On The Gro Farm

2309 Ellenton-Gillette Road (aka 36th Ave. E.)

Palmetto, FL 34221

Little Habana, tiny treasure is getting bigger

I stopped by Little Habana Cafe today to get a coffee fix and a light lunch to go.

I found BIG changes! Owners Al and Tanya Estevez have knocked down an interior wall and have begun expanding into the space next door. A pass-through archway is finished, and the entire job should be done in August.

But some things haven't changed. Their Cafe con Leche, is still one of the best in town. Perfecto!

For lunch, I ordered Ensalada de Churrasco, strips of charbroiled skirt steak, that were cooked perfectly to medium rare, accented by a zippy chimichurri and served on a bed of fresh greens.

Al and Tanya have made the cafe a super-friendly place to relax with an old friend or meet new friends. The food is consistently great.

Little Habana Cafe

13352 Lincoln Road

Riverview, FL

(813) 672-5111