Baby Golden Beet with Carrot, Farro with Crookneck Squash and Leek (No Added Fat)

I don't generally like red beets but somehow moderately like golden ones, especially baby ones. I have enjoyed cooking with them and had good results, such as this past July. Pressure cooking cubes of maybe 1/2" or so for about 9 minutes seems to work well.

I have not often used the ancient farro grain, but have enjoyed it in the past, such as in March 2013 when I cooked it with mushroom and kale and stuffed it all into squash. I bought some farro recently, and decided to try it tonight. Here is what I did:


Ingredients Italicized ingredients are for the beet dish, other are for the farro dish

• 3 medium baby golden beets, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes (approx. 2 1/2 cups)
• 1 large carrot cut into 3/4" lengths and then quartered (approx. 2 cups)
• 2 cloves garlic finely (approx. 1/8") minced
• 1 vegan bouillon cube
• 1/2 cup water
• Small crookneck squash cut into 3/8" cubes (approx. 1/2 cup)
• Approx. 1/4 cup leek (or onion - I used the white part of a leek) cut into 1/4" cubes
• 1/2 cup farro
• 1 more vegan bouillon cube
• 1/8 t (or to taste) salt
• 1 cup water
• 2 or 3 T of leek prepared as above
• 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 t oregano
• 1/2 t salt
• 
  

Process

1. I put the beet, carrot, garlic, bouillon cube, and water into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked on high pressure for 9 minutes.
2. In the meantime, I put the squash, leek, farro, second bouillon cube, 1/8 t of salt, and water into a small pan, brought to a boil, and then simmered on low heat, covered, for 10m.
3. When I was ready to serve, I slowly let out the pressure from the Instant Pot and added the additional few tablespoons of leek, black pepper, oregano, and 1/2 t of salt.

Results

Dinner came out quite well - better than I expected. The beets and carrots were so tasty. I really liked the farro and should cook it more often.

Ideas for the future

I could have used a bit of ginger in the beet dish. A bit of lime juice would have been good in it, too.