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FrontRangeLiving.com -> Cooking -> Beets
 REDISCOVERING
AN OLD STANDBY: BEETS WITH GINGER AND GARLIC
By Niki Hayden
At the Zweck family farm, summer is in a lull between the spring crop
and the summer rush. Beets, broccoli, spinach, lettuces, radishes, scallions,
peas and strawberries are dwindling. Neon yellow zucchini flowers will unfurl
any day now. But for two weeks, Connie Zweck closes down the farm stand outside
of Longmont, Colorado.
"Other stands will buy produce to cover the two weeks between the spring
and summer crops. Since we only sell what we grow, it makes sense to shut
down," Connie says. So customers are eyeing the dark green chard and
romaine lettuce,
fingering the snow peas and beets. The English pea pods are swollen nearly to
bursting. Connie unzips a pea jacket to expose a pea the size of a small marble.
But it’s the beets that grab attention. Understated, unloved, you won’t
find many chefs proclaiming that beets are a favorite food on their menu.
Perhaps too
many people get to know beets as a canned ingredient alongside an indifferent
salad bar. Beets command respect due to their color and that’s the problem.
The inky red juice finds a way to seep into mashed potatoes or green beans,
ruining everything.
Connie’s beets look too beautiful to pass up. Customers are smoothing the
silky red-veined leaves. The beets are about the size of ping-pong balls,
freshly pulled from beds with wisps of dirt still clinging to their roots. Next
to the basket is one of Connie’s recipes. She recommends
steaming them, then dousing the hot beets with an olive oil balsamic vinaigrette and fresh
ginger. Proportions are up to the cook.
Beets are from the goosefoot family, the same family that brings us spinach.
So beets tolerate some shade, but do love sun, rich soil and plenty of
water. They can be sown early along with English peas, on St. Patrick’s Day, which makes them particularly popular in the cold climate of
northern Colorado. Harvested in June, they’ll have grown perfectly sized to be
tender and sweet. The greens are prized as a substitute for chard and when the
young greens are only a few inches high, you'll find a few nestled in a mesclun
salad.
You may associate beets with Russian, German or Polish fare. Those
old European recipes are based on Medieval flavors, before spice routes varied
European tastes. Honey and vinegar appeared as the dominant robust flavoring. Beets take
to Asian flavors beautifully, too, and fresh ginger is one of the most companionable. Like
the traditional German recipes, it’s the sweet and sour Asian combinations that work so well.
A simple dressing of honey and rice vinegar make a beet’s wardrobe complete.
The intensity of strong flavor in a beet insists on an equally strong
complement. Matchstick steamed beets pair with Gorgonzola or American blue
cheese. Garlic is a close friend to a beet and olive oil is the choice for
vinaigrette.
These days you’ll find red and white-ringed beets, almost a peppermint
look, called Chioggia and
golden beets the color of carrots. Those beets may thrill children who
squeal with dismay when beet juice runs into their neighboring foods. Try
mounding
beet and carrot salad in a lettuce cup or endive spear to contain the juices.
Bright red beets against a green leaf make a stunning contrast.
 BEETS
ROASTED WITH GARLIC AND FRESH GINGER
-
1 pound of beets, any color
-
4 garlic cloves sliced
-
1 fresh ginger knob, enough for a teaspoon grated
-
3 Tbs. olive oil
-
3 Tbs. water
-
kosher salt and pepper to taste.
Top and peel beets; cut into halves if small, quarters if as large as a
tennis ball. Place beets on a piece of aluminum foil, add oil, water, garlic,
salt, pepper and ginger; fold foil into a pouch. Put the beets in their foil case
inside a baking dish. Roast
at 350 degrees for about one hour or until the beets are soft. Check by
piercing with a knife, it should pierce easily all the way through the
beet. Serves four.
VARIATION: Follow all the directions above except leave out the ginger
and garlic. Instead, add one teaspoon of balsamic vinegar and one teaspoon of
honey.
BEET AND CARROT SLAW
- 3 raw beets topped, peeled and grated
- 3 raw carrots, peeled and grated
Combine the two slaws and add the dressing. Or toss the slaw separately so that
the carrot and beet retain color, or only lightly so
that the two colors remain distinctive.
For the dressing:
- 3 Tbs. olive oil.
- 1 Tbs. rice vinegar.
- 1 teas. honey
- Salt and pepper to taste
SAUTÉ OF BEETS
You may want to cook both red and orange beets for this recipe. If so, cook
them separately to keep a vivid color difference.
- 4 red beets, cut into matchstick sizes
- 4 orange beets, cut into matchstick sizes
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 slices from a knob of fresh ginger, about the size of a quarter, minced
- 4 Tbs. of canola oil, or any oil that can reach a high cooking
temperature
- 2 teas. honey
- 4 Tbs. orange juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Top and peel beets. Cut into matchsticks. Sauté garlic and ginger in hot oil,
Add matchstick beets and sauté until tender. Add honey and orange juice and
stir-in quickly. RAW BEETS MARINATED IN ORANGE JUICE This
simple recipe is unusual, but delicious. Beets can be wonderful as raw
vegetables served with a green salad. Grating them allows the sweet and sour
flavor to come through.
- 4 medium beets, peeled and grated
- 1 Tb. honey
- 1 Tb. white wine or rice vinegar
- 1 cup orange juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Combine all and allow to marinate for an hour. To serve, lift the grated
beets with a slotted spoon out of the marinade and serve in lettuce or endive
cups. Serves four.
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