rainbow roots.

roots are in season. and i am not just trying to justify the fact that i haven't highlighted my hair since before summer started. i am talking about vegetables. it is fall, even if berkeley somehow always feels like heaven outside and there are no leaves changing color and no threat of the first frost, and that means the roots have it. carrots, turnips, potatoes - it is indeed your time to shine. so tonight i let rainbow colored carrots take the driver's seat and we enjoyed ginger garlic carrots with baby bok choy, black beans, and rice noodles in a rice wine vinegar and blood orange reduction.

rainbow carrots are so so good. and what is the sweetest part of cooking with them is that they provide such a wide range of antioxidants. we normally eat carrots for their vitamin a and beta-carotene. which, yes, in and of itself is a good enough reason to include them in the diet. (i mean mr. magoo is cool and all, but who really wants to *be* him) but! there are different compounds with different health benefits in each color of the carrot rainbow. so cook up a bunch of rainbow carrots and not only are you getting all those eye sight saving vitamin a and beta-carotene benefits in the orange carrots, you are also getting lycophene, which is what causes the red carrots to look red, and is a carotene known for its heart disease and cancer fighting properties, xanthophylls from the yellow carrots that are pigments similar to beta-carotene which also support good eye health, and the anthocyanins in purple carrots, which are powerful antioxidants in a totally different class from other carotenes. one vegetable, so many different sources of nutrition. one stop shopping that doesn't require a strip mall or concrete jungle megastore. that is an idea this bird will always get behind.

ginger garlic carrots with baby bok choy, black beans, and rice noodles in a rice wine vinegar and blood orange reduction

1 bunch rainbow carrots

2 small bunches baby bok choy

1 bundle or serving of rice noodles

4 cloves garlic

fresh ginger

3/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1 blood orange

sea salt, to taste

wash, cut tops off & halve carrots

wash & cut baby bok choy at bottom steam to separate leaves

chop garlic cloves

thinly slice ginger

open & drain 1 can of black beans

steam carrots and bok choy with ginger and garlic (save about 1/3 of the garlic and ginger for sauce). drain.

prepare rice noodles. drain.

in small frying pan, heat garlic and ginger, add rice wine vinegar and juice of the blood orange. cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer. (*since there is no thickening agent, you are technically infusing your rice wine vinegar base with the blood orange, garlic and ginger flavors, but it is still reducing as some of it evaporates in the steam. nerd alert, i know.)

mix noodles, veggies, beans, and sauce. add sea salt to taste. enjoy.