旬の野菜

　私たちが鎌ケ谷市に来たのは昨年の10月のことで、今月で1年になります。
　侵攻という残念なことがきっかけとなりましたが、それでも皆さんに出会い、鎌ケ谷に来ることができたのは、とても幸運だと感じています。今や、第2の故郷となりました。
　鎌ケ谷市での生活で、私や子ども達は梨が大好きになり、梨の時期を楽しんでいます。季節ごとに様々な野菜が店先に並びますが、ウクライナ料理に欠かせない野菜がビーツです。誕生日には花に代わって貴重な贈り物としてビーツをお互いに贈ります。日本にビーツがあると知らなかったので、スーパーや土曜日に朝市で見かけると、とても嬉しくなります。
　ビーツは砂糖やボルシチに使い、文字通り生活を甘くしてくれ、健康的で最高です。子どもの頃、茹でビーツがお気に入りのおやつでしたが、ご飯やじゃがいも同様に主食としても、デザートにもなり、子ども達も大好きです。

　ビーツの調理は下処理が必要です。皮はむかず、次のいずれかの方法で火を通します。

　冷まして食べたり、様々なレシピに活用できます。ぜひ皆さんも食べてみてください。おいしく食べて健康になりましょう。
　このコラムを読んでいただき、また、いつも応援していただき、ありがとうございます。どこかで見かけましたら、ぜひ声をかけてください。

A wide variety of seasonal vegetables

In October it will be exactly one year since I have lived in the wonderful city of Kamagaya! which became my second home. I'm very sorry that the reason I met you was the war in my homeland, but I still consider myself very lucky to get to your city.

Today, I will share with you how to cook the Ukrainian vegetable beets.
When I arrived in Japan, it was unthinkable to find beets, and we were so happy to be able to buy them. But today, I find beets on the shelves of our stores and even at the Saturday farmers fair in Kamagaya.

This root vegetable occupies an important place in Ukrainian cuisine! Beets make our lives literally sweet. Beets are used in Ukraine to make sugar and, of course, borscht! As a child, boiled beets were my favorite treat and now my children love them. And it’s wonderful because it’s sweet and healthy - perfect!

But be careful, beets have a laxative effect, this is an excellent way to cleanse the stomach.
This vegetable is very good for the heart and brain, maybe that’s why Ukrainians are so smart and so ardent in love, just kidding.
I’m sharing with you the secret of how to cook beets.
First of all, wash the root vegetable well; there is no need to peel it before cooking, otherwise the beets will lose their juice.

There are several ways to cook beets:
beets can be boiled this can take from 40 to 50 minutes; the larger the root vegetable, the longer it takes to cook. I like to add a couple of tablespoons of sugar to the water then the beets are sweeter. You can check the readiness of the root vegetable with a fork/chopsticks if it is easily pierced, the beets are ready!

The second method is considered the healthiest. The beets can be wrapped in foil and baked for 30 -40 minutes at 200 degrees.
Or the fastest way is to wrap the beets in a baking bag and microwave at the highest power for 15 minutes.

It’s great to add beets to a salad with arugula, cut beets and Feta cheese into cubes 0,5 cm and season with your favorite sauce, my favorite is honey mustard sauce (1 teaspoon honey, 1 teaspoon mustard, squeeze a slice of lemon and 1 tablespoon olive oil). You can also add avocado.

Another method, considered traditional, is to grate the beets and add finely chopped 3-4 prunes and chopped 2-3 walnuts, squeeze out 1-2 heads of garlic and season with mayonnaise or olive oil.

I will never tire of thanking you for supporting at the concert, helping Ukraine and my family. Thank you very much.
Eat deliciously and be healthy!