DAILY ALMANAC
Today is Wednesday, July 17, the 198th day of 2019. There are 167 days left in the year.
Highlights in history
• In 1821, Spain ceded Florida to the United States. • In 1862, during the Civil War, Congress approved the Second Confiscation Act, which declared that all slaves taking refuge behind Union lines were to be set free.
• In 1955, Disneyland had its opening day in Anaheim, California.
• In 1981, 114 people were killed when a pair of suspended walkways above the lobby of the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel collapsed during a tea dance. • In 2009, former CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite died in New York at 92.
• In 2014, Eric Garner, an unarmed black man accused of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes, died shortly after being wrestled to the ground by New York City police officers; a video showed Garner saying, “I can’t breathe.”
Birthdays BRAISED BEETS WITH LEMON AND ALMONDS
Makes 6 servings
From “Vegetables Illustrated” by America's Test Kitchen.
1½ pounds beets, trimmed and
halved horizontally
1¼ cups water
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons distilled white
vinegar
1 tablespoon packed light brown
sugar
1 shallot, sliced thin
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest ½ cup whole almonds, toasted
and chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh
mint
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
Place beets, cut side down, in single layer in Dutch oven. Add water and ¼ teaspoon salt and bring to simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until beets are tender and can be easily pierced with paring knife, 45 to 50 minutes.
Transfer beets to cutting Braised beets with lemon and almonds
board to cool slightly. Meanwhile, increase heat to medium-high and reduce cooking liquid, stirring occasionally, until pan is almost dry, 5 to 6 minutes. Add vinegar and sugar, return to boil, and cook, stirring constantly with heatresistant spatula, until spatula
leaves wide trail when dragged through glaze, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat.
Once beets are cool enough to handle, rub off skins with paper towels and cut into ½-inch wedges. Add beets, shallot, lemon zest, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper to glaze and toss to coat. Transfer to serving platter, sprinkle with almonds, mint and thyme and serve.
PER SERVING: 137 calories, 5 g protein, 18 g carbohydrates, 5 g fiber, 11 g sugar, 6 g fat (0 saturated), 0 cholesterol, 285 mg sodium