10 Ways Tuesday: Beets

I’ve come up with 10 ways to cook with beets during summer:

1. Smoked

The recipe for Smoked Beets in Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life, utilizes a charcoal grill and rosemary for intense flavor. The beets are served alongside grilled steak with a cottage cheese dressing. Smoky beets would also be tasty on an antipasti platter with some grilled bread and smoked meats. Use a tangy, creamy cheese and some honey to provide a foil for the smoky flavors.

2. Hummus

In Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s family cookbook, River Cottage Every Day, he shares a recipe for Beet and Walnut Hummus that includes tahini, garlic, and lemon but no chickpeas. A recipe from the Produce Bible for Beet Hummus makes use of chickpeas, beets, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and cumin.

3. Roasted

I’m obsessed with the London River Cafe cookbooks for their fantastic design as well as their focus on showcasing the flavors of beautiful ingredients. In Italian Easy you’ll find a recipe for beets roasted with garlic and thyme then served with arugula, grated horseradish, and red wine vinaigrette. Treat roasted beets with some care, don’t just shove them in some foil.

4. Soup

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall suggests balancing the sweet earthiness of beets with salty feta, acidic roast tomato, and rich beef stock. His recipe for Beet Soup in the River Cottage Cookbook is a purée that can be served hot or cold. This is the type of soup that leaves you wondering what the secret ingredient was- full of intriguing flavors! Hugh has another recipe for Beet and Cumin Soup with Spiced Yogurt in River Cottage Every Day.

5. Fresh Pasta

An old article I clipped from Martha Stewart Living Magazine gives detailed instructions for making fresh pasta flavored with vegetable purees for color and flavor. Martha’s Fresh Beet Pasta is a striking garnet red. I”m thinking beet ravioli with an herbed goat cheese filling. You could even do a pasta dough using beet greens that would be similar to spinach pasta.

6. Raw in Salad

You’ve probably had roasted or pickled beets in a salad, but have you ever tried raw beets? Patricia Wells includes a recipe for Grated Beet Salad in her book, Vegetable Harvest. Raw red and gold beets grated against a box grater are dressed in a mustard vinaigrette. You can also shave chioggia (candy cane) beets with a mandolin for a salad of fennel and peppery greens. Experiment with different cuts to add interest and variety to your salads.

7. Spicy Chutney

The Beet Chutney from Chez Panisse Vegetables is seasoned with fresh ginger, serrano peppers, peanut oil, lime, cilantro, and cayenne. This will certainly wake up a bored palate. Alice Waters suggests serving it with Indian-style braised meat/poultry, saffron rice, and a cooling cucumber raita.

8. Don’t Forget the Greens

Beet greens can be sautéed like spinach and added to pastas or stir fry. Nigella Lawson includes an Asian inspired Beet Greens and Buckwheat (soba) Noodles in her book, How to Eat. Last night I made an Italian inspired pasta with beet greens, cannellini beans, garlic, Parmesan, lemon, and fresh herbs from the garden. Tender young beet greens can be added to salads.

9. Pickle Your Own

The seasonal cookbook, Cooking in the Moment, shares a zesty pickled beet recipe that uses ginger, garlic, and dried de Arbol (red) chiles. Why not come up with your own house pickling spice for beets? If you’ve got a garden like me, there are plenty of beets to pickle.

10. Chips

The recipe for beet chips found in the book, Power Foods. by Whole Living (Martha Stewart Omnimedia) makes an impressively colored, crispy, earthy beet chip. All you have to do is slice beets thinly on a mandoline and bake until crisp. Season simply with olive oil, salt and pepper or try something more adventurous like cumin or your favorite curry seasoning.