From “A Middle Eastern Pantry: Essential Ingredients for Classic and Contemporary Recipes: A Cookbook” by Lior Lev Sercarz.
Honey-Glazed Beets with Orange
beets
Chilled Beetroot Soup
Adapted from a recipe in Food52, which adapted it from a recipe by Nigella Lawson.
(2023) Pickled Turnip and Beet
From Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook Jerusalem, who says “this is a cinch to make but must be prepared over two days. It is sharp and not too complex in flavor, perfect for serving with unctuous meats, a tangine, or hummus.”
(2021) Beet Burgers with Smashed Avocado and Pickled Red Onion
And then a recipe for beet burgers. And it also includes a recipe for quick pickled red onions. This one came from Nichole Dandrea-Russert of Purelyplanted.com. I’ve included a photo from her recipe. Read to the end for substitutes for ingredients you may not have on hand.
(2021) Crispy Smashed Beets With Garlic, Scallions and Chile
Was anyone else excited to see beets in our box this week? I’ve missed beets this year and have been hoping we’d see a few before the weather turned too hot. I found the recipe below in the Washington Post – Crispy Smashed Beets with Garlic, Scallions, and Chile. Since I’ve become a big fan of roasting potatoes this way (surely potatoes will be in our boxes soon) and wanted to try the idea with beets. It’s an adaption of a recipe in Gregory Gourdet’s cookbook, “Everyone’s Table” (Harper Wave, 2021). The box has beets, garlic and green onions. All you need is the chile pepper – and that, you can skip and use red pepper flakes instead. Our bunches of beets are big smaller than 2 pounds, but that’s ok. Just cut the recipe down.
(2018) Beet and Fennel Salad with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette
I’ve also got a fennel salad recipe from Christi Hansen of Hungry Heart Farm. She and Matthew Bagshaw are farmers who lease space from Mary Rigdon of Decimal Place Farm. But Christi is also a nutritionist who does lots and lots of recipe demos. She gave us this recipe for the AJC back in early winter. And there are still beets available from some local farmers. But that dressing is so good that you might just use your fennel and then cut kale in thin slivers, or add thinly sliced cucumber. It will all work. She was using Meyer lemons from a friend, but any lemon will do.
(2017) Raw Beet Salad
This is a recipe from Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.” In his notes he says, “Beets, like carrots, can be eaten raw. And they’re delicious that way, crunchy and sweet. So sweet, in fact, that they need a strongly acidic dressing like this one for balance.”
If you don’t have shallot, finely dice a little bit of the yellow-skinned onion in today’s box.
(2017) Beet and Mint Slaw
Love this recipe from Whole Foods. No need to cook the beets. Their recipe used fennel which of course isn’t in our box this week. You could add sliced radishes (sliced instead of grated like the beets so you can some contrasting textures). Hope you have mint in the garden because it really makes this slaw sing. I think I’ve mentioned before how much I like dried fruit in salads. Substitute golden raisins, chopped dates, dried cranberries or whatever you have on hand. And if you want a little crunch, chop up some pecans or add some sunflower seeds. Great for a Memorial Day picnic.
Beets and Almonds
My favorite way to eat beets is to roast them. Just roasted and sliced, I’m generally happy. But here’s a fancier version that doesn’t take too much more time. It’s adapted from a recipe in Cook’s Illustrated magazine. I’m including their method for cooking beets. You can follow that, or you can roast them in whatever way you prefer. Use the mint if you have some in your garden, or pick up a bunch at a local farmers market.
Linda Gable’s Chocolate Roots Cake
Linda Gable created this recipe as a way to make a delicious treat a little more healthy. She roasts a variety of vegetables – beets, rutabagas, sweet potatoes and turnips for example – and then peels and purees them. She says she always begins with a red beet and then adds whatever she has on hand. “If you have more puree than you need, it can be frozen for future use. Have fun experimenting with different vegetables. This cake also freezes well so sometimes I bake a few at a time and keep them on hand.”