Beets

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Golden Beet and Pomegranate Salad Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 golden beets (can use regular red beets if you want, just not as pretty)
• 1 cup diced red onion
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth
• 3 tablespoons Triple Sec or other orange-flavored liqueur
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
• 1 cup pomegranate seeds
• Salt
• 2 cups arugula and butter lettuce leaves
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Method

1 Cook the beets - either boil them for 45 minutes or roast them at 375°F for an hour. Let cool. Peel and dice into 1/2 inch cubes.

2 In a 10 to 12-inch nonstick frying pan over high heat, boil beets, onion, vinegar, broth, liqueur, sugar, and orange peel, stirring often, until liquid is reduced to 2 tablespoons, 5 to 7 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, or chill airtight up to 1 day.

3 Stir pomegranate seeds into the beet mixture and salt to taste. Serve on top of salad greens on individual plates. Sprinkle with feta cheese.

Serves 4.

Roasted Organic Golden and Red Beet Salad with Fresh Herb Goat Cheese

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds large (at least 3 in diameter) golden and red beets, washed and trimmed
• 1 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 recipe herbed Goat Cheese (see recipe), cut into eight round slices
• 1 to 1 ½ cups mixed organic baby lettuces, washed and dried
• 1/4 cup Organic Blood Orange Almond Vinaigrette (see recipe)
• Fresh Organic Basil Oil (see recipe) Balsamic Glaze (see recipe)

Method:

To Roast Beets:

preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the beets in a small roasting pan and pour in enough cold water to reach about one quarter of the way up the sides of the beets.

Roast the golden beets separate from the red beets in a separate pan so the colors do not bleed together.

Cover the pan with foil, and roast the beets until they are tender, 2 hours - 2 hours and 15 minutes depending on their size.

To check for doneness, gently insert a toothpick into a beet. The skewer should slide through easily. Remove the beets from the pan, cool and peel.

Cut each beet into 1/4-inch-thick round slices.

Cut each slice with a 2-3-inch round cookie cutter. (You will need ten rounds.)

Cut trimmings into 1/4-inch dice and reserve 1/2 cup for garnish.

In a sauté pan, bring ½ cup of vinegar and ½ cup sugar to a boil.

Stir to combine and sugar is dissolved.

Lower heat to a simmer and poach beets one minute per side.

Poach the golden beets first separately from the red beets to prevent the beets bleeding onto one another.

With a slotted spatula, remove and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Cover and refrigerate until needed. Repeat with the red beats.

Note: You can prepare this dish up to this point a day ahead.

When ready to assemble, heat the olive oil in a small sauté pan. Arrange the slices of herbed Goat Cheese in the pan and warm slightly, turning them with a small spatula just to warm both sides. This has to be done quickly or the cheese will melt.

To Assemble Beet Stacks:

Starting with a red beet round, place one round on a firm, flat surface and begin to layer.

Top with a slice of goat cheese, then a golden beet round, a second slice of cheese, another red beet round, a third slice of cheese and a beet round. (Continue until you have five layers of beets and four layers of cheese.)

Depending on the size of the beets you purchased from the market, you can either leave the rounds whole or cut them in half, placing them on their back when plated so you can see the gorgeous alternating colors between the cheese.

Repeat with the remaining beets and cheese.

To Serve:

If you have white plates to serve this dish on, use them as it looks spectacular.

Drizzle plates with Fresh Organic Basil Oil and Balsamic Glaze.

Arrange the stacks of beets in the center of each plate with drizzled oil and glaze.

Toss the baby lettuces with the Organic Blood Orange Almond Vinaigrette and mound half of the lettuces in the middle and in between the stacks of beets.

Sprinkle reserved diced beets on top of greens. Serve immediately.

Chef's Tip:

This is truly an impressive dish and fairly easy to do if prepared ahead. I have served this dish to people who do not like beets and they love it. My advice, don't tell your friends what they are eating until they have taken a bite. As always, use as many organic ingredients you can find for optimum flavor.

Raw Beet Salad with apples and Raisins

To those who don’t even like the thought of cooked beets, eating raw beets may sound like punishment. But this salad may change your mind forever about beets, raw or cooked. Try it with cold, leftover roasted or grilled meats.

• 1/4 cup low or non-fat sour cream
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• Small bunch beets, about 3/4 pound, trimmed and peeled
• 1 sweet and crisp apple such as a Fuji
• 2 tablespoons sultana raisins
• 1 tablespoon toasted hazelnuts, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives
• Salt and pepper to taste
• A handful of watercress

1) In a small bowl, mix sour cream, mustard and vinegar. Set aside.

2) Grate beets by hand using the second-largest hole on a 4-sided grater or using the grating attachment on a food processor. Put in a mixing bowl.

3) Core apple but do not peel. Cut into 1/2-inch cubes and add to beets. Add raisins, hazelnuts and chives. Season with salt and pepper. Add sour cream dressing and mix well. Taste for seasoning.

4) To serve, put watercress at the end of a small oval platter and spoon out salad onto the platter.

Serves 4.

Sam’s Cooking Tip: To remove hazelnut skins which can be bitter, put the toasted nuts in a tea towel and rub them together. The skins will slip off.

Beet and Beet Greens Gratin

• 2 small bunches of beets with greens, about 3 pounds total
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1-1/2 cups skim milk
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Butter flavored spray?(or, preferably, real butter!)
• 1/2 cup flavored bread crumbs

1) Separate greens from beets, leaving about 1 inch of stems on the top of the beets. Steam as described in the Preparation section above. Save the cooking pot with the water. Cool and peel off skins

2) Meanwhile, trim stalks from greens unless they are very tender. Stack greens and roll like a fat cigar. Cut crosswise into 1/2-inch wide ribbons. Wash thoroughly and drain. Add to the same pot that steamed the beets - with more water if needed - and steam over moderate heat just until wilted, about 7 minutes.

3) While greens steam, heat butter in a medium-size saucepan until it foams. Add flour and stir over moderate heat until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add milk, stirring constantly until the sauce comes to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, add garlic, salt and pepper and stir as it thickens to the consistency of a light cream sauce. Turn off heat.

4) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut beets into 1/2 inch cubes and add to saucepan with cream sauce. Squeeze out any excess moisture from the beet greens and add to the cream sauce, combining well. Season with more salt and pepper. Pour into a 2-quart gratin dish that has been sprayed with butter-flavored spray (or rubbed with butter).

5) Sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake 25 minutes or until top browns nicely and cream sauce bubbles up.

Serves 8.

Hot Beet Borscht

Borscht is an old-world favorite. It can be served hot or cold. Since we've officially entered the winter season with its crisp temperatures [sic], we prefer the borscht nice and hot. However, this is an equally refreshing cold soup for summer.

• 4 large beets with tops
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced, slices quartered
• 1 t. salt ?2 cloves garlic, minced
• Juice of 1 lemon, rinds reserved
• 3 quarts (3 liters) water
• 1 lb.(453 gr) unpeeled potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 T. light vinegar (rice, apple cider)
• Salt to taste
• Date sugar, dehydrated maple sugar or maple syrup to taste, starting with 1 or 2 t.
• Lemon juice to taste

1.    Cut off beet greens. Wash, chop, and set aside. Peel beets, coarsely shred in food processor or with hand grater, and put them into a stock pot.

2.    Add onion, salt, garlic, lemon, and water to stock pot including reserved lemon rinds. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn heat down to medium, and simmer gently for about 20 - 25 minutes.

3.    Add potatoes and vinegar to stock pot along with reserved beet greens. Cook 8 -10 minutes on medium-high heat or until potatoes are soft.

4.    Adjust seasonings with salt, date sugar, and lemon juice. Borscht should have a sweet and sour flavor. Since everyone's palate is just a little different, it may take a some playing with the salt, date sugar, and lemon juice to reach that perfect balance of flavor. Your palate will be your guide.

Serves 6 - 8.

Pickled Beets  (lacto-fermented version, for optimal health)

• 12 medium beets
• seeds from 2 cardamom pods (optional)     [I used pickling spices… T.]
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 4 tablespoons whey* (if not available, use an additional 1 tablespoon sea salt)
• [I used almost a quarter-cup... T.]
• 1 cup filtered water

Prick beets in several places,

place on a cookie sheet and back at 300º for about 3 hours, or until soft.

Peel and cut into a 1/4-inch julienne. (Do not grate or cut beets with a food processor—this releases too much juice and the fermentation process will proceed too quickly, so that it favors formation of alcohol rather than lactic-acid.)

Place beets in a quart-sized, wide-mouth mason jar and press down lightly with a wooden pounder or meat hammer.

Combine remaining ingredients and pour over beets, adding more water if necessary to cover the beets.

The top of the beets should be at least 1” below the top of the jar.

Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 3 days before transferring to cold storage.

*To make yogurt whey use 1 quart organic live-culture whole milk yogurt. Pour yogurt into a colander or strainer lined with cheesecloth set above a bowl or pot. Let drip for 8 hours or so (I usually put mine in the fridge while it drips). In the bowl or pot will be the whey. In the cheesecloth will be yogurt cream or yogurt cheese, which you can use as you would cream cheese.

Pickled Beets Recipe

(conventional version)

This recipe for pickled beets is made with beets, sugar, vinegar, and pickling spices.

• 12 to 16 small beets
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1 tablespoon whole pickling spices

Preparation:

Wash beets well; cut off leaves about an inch above beets.

Cook in boiling water for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until tender.

Cool; rub off skins, trim, and slice.

Combine sugar and vinegar in a medium saucepan.

Tie spices in a small piece of cheesecloth and place in saucepan.

Simmer for 15 minutes; add sliced beets and bring to a boil.

Discard spices and chill pickled beets before serving.

Recipe for pickled beets serves 6.

Red Flannel Hash

Claimed equally by the Yankees and the South, here’s a story version, from Cooks.com:

Suspecting her husband of unfaithfulness a mining camp wife, who also ran a boarding house, awoke in a bitter mood. When she went to cook breakfast for the miners she noticed the laundry hanging to dry in the kitchen. In a fit of anger she grabbed her husband's red flannel long johns, ground them up and threw them into the hash she was preparing. The breakfast was served and the miners kept asking for more of that "bright red hash". The wife had ground up her husband's only pair of red flannels, so she substituted beet in the next batch of hash. They proved to be just as popular.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. corned beef  (or other meat or meat-substitute of choice… T.)
• 4 cold boiled potatoes, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• salt, pepper and nutmeg
•  2 cooked beets, peeled and diced
• fresh herbs to taste
• 3 T. butter

Preparation:

Cut beef into small pieces, combine all remaining ingredients except the butter.

Melt butter in pan and when foaming add the meat mixture, spooned out evenly on the pan.

Cook over low heat, pressing mixture down with spoon.

Cook for 20 minutes.

When a crust forms on the bottom, flip all and cook for another 20 minutes.

Cut into wedges and serve.

Beet and Beet green salad with feta

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3 medium-large beets (about 3 inches in diameter) with greens
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon chopped drained capers
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 3 ounces)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk oil, vinegar and garlic in small bowl to blend. Season dressing generously with salt and pepper.

Cut green tops off beets; reserve tops. Arrange beets in single layer in 13x9x2-inch baking dish; add 1/2 cup water. Cover; bake until beets are tender when pierced with knife, about 1 hour. Peel beets while warm. Cut beets in half and slice thinly. Transfer to large bowl. Mix in capers and 1/4 cup dressing. Season with salt and pepper.

Cut stems off beet greens; discard stems. Wash greens. Transfer greens, with some water still clinging to leaves, to large pot. Stir over high heat until just wilted but still bright green, about 4 minutes. Drain greens; squeeze out excess moisture. Cool; chop coarsely.

Transfer greens to medium bowl. Toss with enough dressing to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Arrange beets in center of platter. Surround with greens; sprinkle with feta. Drizzle with any remaining dressing.

Moroccan Beet Green Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 bunches beet greens and/or spinach
• 2-4 cloves garlic
•  Extra virgin olive oil
•  Sweet paprika
• Cumin
• Salt and black pepper
• Juice of one lemon

Preparation:

1. Clean 2 bunches of beet greens, 2 bunches of spinach, or a combination, by putting them in a clean dishpan filled with cold water.  Agitate well, leave to soak a few minutes, lift out, drain the water (and sand!), and repeat until there is no sand.  (This is both easier and much more effective than the running water and colander method.)

2. Slice horizontally, about 1/4 inch wide, and put into a deep pot.  Add a spoon or two of water if they seem dry.  Cover and steam on medium low heat for 10-15 minutes or until soft.  Let cool.

3. Put the greens in a wire colander over a bowl and press out as much liquid as possible. (You can save it for soup made with all the holiday leftovers.)

4. Finely chop 2 to 4 cloves of garlic and put in a large frying pan with 3 T (tablespoons) extra virgin olive oil.  Saute at medium high until garlic begins to brown. Add greens, stir and cook a few minutes.

5. Add 1 t (teaspoon) paprika, 1 t ground cumin, 1 t oregano, 1 t kosher or other salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Stir and cook a few more minutes, adding a bit of reserved liquid or olive oil if it seems dry.  Add cumin if desired, but it’s easy to overdo the oregano.

6. Remove from heat, squeeze in the juice of one lemon (can be partly bottled juice), and taste for salt and lemon.  Serve at room temperature.

Beet Green Risotto

Hands-on time: 40 minutes

Time to table: 40 minutes

Serves 4

• 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 onion, diced small
• Stems from 3 beets, trimmed and diced small
• 1/2 cup risotto rice (Arborio is typical)
• 1/2 cup white wine
• Salt & pepper to taste
• The leaves from 3 beets, layered, rolled up into 'cigars' and then sliced very thin
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar (don't skip this, adds brightness)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan, grated (from about two square inches, I think it's two ounces)

In a small pot, bring stock to a boil, adjust heat to maintain a slow simmer.

In a non-stick skillet, melt the butter til shimmery, stir in the onion as it's prepped, stirring to coat. Add the stems as they're prepped, stirring to coat. Cook vegetables til they're beginning to soften. Add the rice and stir to coat, let cook for 1 - 2 minutes, stirring almost continuously. Add the white wine (it should sizzle) and stir til rice absorbs the liquid. A half cup at a time, add hot stock to the rice, stirring to incorporate, letting each addition get absorbed and the rice getting almost dry before adding more. (Stir very regularly during this process. You'll have time to make a salad, etc, just stay close to the stove so that you can watch what's happening and react quickly.) As the rice plumps up, begin tasting a grain or two for done-ness and seasoning. Risotto is supposed to be cooked only to the point that there remains a 'germ' in the center; I like it cooked past that point, more like 'rice'. To get to either stage, you may not need all the broth. If the rice needs salt and pepper, start seasoning it now, but go gently.

Stir in the beet greens (this is done late so they'll only cook a minute or two and retain their color) and the vinegar. Stir until greens are cooked. Stir in Parmesan. Serve immediately.