Spring is quickly blurring into summer, with hotter humid days and rumbling thunder storms. The garden is starting to pick up speed, with everything seeming to sprout and grow right before my eyes. Looking out at the beet patch, it's time to give the beets more space to create big beautiful roots.

Thinning out vegetables feels like a cruel joke - you mean I have to rip out my plant babies?! It honestly took me a few years of gardening before I actually started properly thinning, and have learned it is a valuable part of gardening. I have also learned that many vegetable thinnings are delicious and super nutrient dense. It is basically the tiny version of that plant, with all the nutrients packed into that teeny tiny sprout - pretty amazing!

One incredible thing about growing your own food is getting to taste plants at a range of different growth stages. A baby beet is light and sweet, with a tender texture, while a robust fall beet is earthly and rich, with a hearty texture. Thinnings give you a whole new taste experience of these vegetables. Beet thinnings combine the fresh green flavor of a leaf vegetable with a light earthy-sweet flavor of beet. It is truly a gardener's delicacy.

This recipe was created after listening to Encyclopedia Botanica podcast's episode on Intuitive Cooking with Shannon Douglas. The big thing I took away from this episode was to start with what is growing in your garden, think about the flavor of this vegetable, and pair it with ingredients that will enhance and compliment it. It seems so simple, but it was a complete eye opener for me and how I garden and cook.

So, as I carefully thinned my beets, I munched on one, mulling over the flavor. After much thought, I landed on this galette - a flaky buttery crust, topped with creamy whipped goat cheese and a mound of lemon-y beet thinnings. The flavors come together to perfectly enhance and compliment the delicate greens.

For this recipe, I use Smitten Kitchen's galette crust, as it has a bit of tang from yogurt and lemon juice that works beautifully with the greens and cheese. So excited to share this recipe with you all!

Baby Beet Green Galette Recipe

Ingredients

Smitten Kitchen galette crust, purchased puff pastry or your own pie crust recipe will work as well, but I would highly recommend Smitten Kitchen's crust.

6 oz. goat cheese

2 large handfuls beet thinnings

2 Tbs. fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 Tbs. olive oil

Kosher salt and pepper

Instructions

When your beets are 3-4 inches tall, thin them to be 1-2 inches apart.
Wash beet thinnings and let dry on a towel.
Prepare crust.
While the crust is chilling, place your goat cheese in a blender or food processor. Slowly drizzle in olive oil until the goat cheese is creamy. Set aside.
Toss greens in olive oil, lemon juice and a pinch of salt.
Roll out your crust and place it onto an un-greased cookie sheet.
Spread the creamed goat cheese cheese on crust, leaving 2 inches around the edges.
Pile beet thinnings onto the crust, covering the goat cheese. A mound of greens is best, as they will cook down.
Fold crust over, covering the edge of the goat cheese and greens.
Top with additional salt and pepper to taste.
Bake at 400 for 30 minutes, until crust is golden brown.
Serve immediately with a spring salad.