Noel Barnhurst - Photographer

In California, "U-Pick" farms are very popular.  Drive an hour and half, in any direction away from the city of San Francisco, and you will stumble onto a farm that boasts for you to pick your own fruit.  But what happens after you've had your fun picking fruit and you realize that you have pounds and pounds of fruit that no human can eat without the aid of pepto bismol.  You can always make jam and preserve the fruit, but you'll tire of that just as easily as eating the fresh fruit.  Here are some great ways to use the fruit that you have.

Cherry Tea Cake

Vanilla Bean and Cherry Cheesecake

Cherry and Lemon Spritzer

Roasted Beet Salad

Ingredients:

1 bunch beets (3/4 pound without greens or 1 1/4 pound with), trimmed
1/4 cup sliced natural almonds
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
3 cups mâche or baby arugula (3 ounces)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F.
Wrap beets in foil and roast in middle of oven until tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Unwrap beets and cool.
While beets are roasting, cook almonds in oil in a small skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until pale golden. Cool almonds in oil (nuts will get darker as they cool). Transfer almonds with a slotted spoon to a small bowl and season with salt.
Stir together shallot, lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, salt, and oil from almonds in a large bowl.
Slip skins from beets and halve large beets. Cut beets into 1/4-inch-thick slices and add to dressing, tossing to coat.
Arrange beets on a platter and drizzle with any dressing remaining in bowl. Top with mâche, then goat cheese. Sprinkle with almonds.

Cooks' note:
Beets may be roasted and tossed with dressing 1 day ahead, then chilled and covered. (Keep toasted almonds, covered, at room temperature. Bring dressing to room temperature before using.)

Recipe Courtesy of epicurious.com

Find the recipe on Williams-Sonoma.com

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