No sooner had I posted a link to this week’s column on social media, than my friend Judy commented, “My husband loves beets! I can’t abide them…” She didn’t even yet know that the topic of my narrative was just that! Even if you think you hate beets, I hope you’ll give them another chance, either with the recipe from this column, or the beet risotto with blue cheese from an earlier post.

BEET IT!

by Elizabeth Baer

Some topics are tremendously polarizing. And I’m talking about food! In my life as a food-focused person, I have come to learn there are certain foods you cannot assume are safe to serve to guests. I’m not talking about “safe” from the perspective of health issues, such as allergies, or religious practices such as kosher or halal, or even personal eating practices such as vegan. I always check about these issues when inviting guests over for a meal.

Instead, I am referring to foods that a fair number of people just refuse to eat. Lots of people do not like olives. Mushrooms can be another verboten choice. Even many carnivores eschew lamb. The texture of eggplant makes a fair number of people shudder. And then there’s one of my favorites – beets.

My sister thinks that beets taste like dirt. She’s eaten beets when I’ve made something with them, and still she kind of wrinkles her nose at the taste. True, the taste of beets can be cloying. (Some varieties, known as sugar beets, are processed into granulated sugar.) As a counterpoint I like to serve beets with something to offset the sweetness. One favorite that I’ve written about previously is beet risotto with blue cheese.

Another, the subject of today’s column, is one of my choose-your-own-adventure recipes. The building blocks are beets, fruit, and yogurt. That’s it. The fruit you choose; how you flavor the yogurt; and any garnishes, are up to you.

In the fall, I’ll use apple slices, and add tahini to the yogurt, with a sprinkle of sesame seeds over the top; a winter version employs citrus – a variety of oranges and/or grapefruit makes for a beautiful platter, adding citrus zest to the yogurt and toasted bread crumbs on top (the bread crumbs were my way of adding crunch while accommodating a friend who cannot digest nuts); when peaches are ripe, I’ve flavored the yogurt with peach purée (or even peach jam), scattering the platter with crumbled blue cheese and toasted almonds. Or mix and match!

BEETS AND FRUIT WITH YOGURT DRESSING

Serves 4-8 as a side dish, doubles easily

INGREDIENTS:

2 medium or 3 small beets, greens, if any, removed (golden or Chioggia beets won’t stain like red beets)
Pinch saffron (optional)
5-6 ounces Greek yogurt

DIRECTIONS:

Roast the beets. (This step can be done ahead of time.) Preheat oven to 400°F. Wash off any dirt clinging to the beets and place in a metal pan. Add about ½-¾ cup of water. Cover the pan tightly with foil. Bake until a cake tester or a thin knife goes easily all the way through at the largest part of the largest beet. For large beets this can take an hour, but baby beets might take as little as 30 minutes.

When done, allow the beets cool for a few minutes. Put on a pair of clean rubber gloves to protect your hands from the heat (and from turning red if using red beets). Over the sink, rub off the skin which should come off very easily. (You can do this without gloves, but will have to wait for them to cool fully.) Use a knife on any stubborn spots. Slice the beets into rounds and place in a covered bowl in the refrigerator until needed.

If using saffron, place in a small cup and add 1 tablespoon very hot water. Let steep and cool slightly. Mix into the yogurt. After adding the additional flavorings from one of the choices below, spread the yogurt on a serving platter.

Arrange the beet slices alternating with the fruit pieces from your chosen version below on top of the yogurt. Scatter any additional ingredients or garnishes on top.

VERSION #1:

Zest and juice of 1 orange
Pinch salt
1-3 citrus fruits, preferably a combination of different types of oranges and/or grapefruit
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ cup breadcrumbs

Add the orange zest, juice, and salt to the yogurt and mix well. With the other citrus fruits, cut off the peel taking a tiny sliver of fruit with each cut. Using a small knife, separate the sections from the membranes. (This is known as supreming the fruit.)

Melt the butter in a small sauté pan over medium heat, add the breadcrumbs and stir for 1-2 minutes until they begin to toast. Scatter on top of arranged beets and citrus for a garnish.

VERSION #2:

Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons tahini
Pinch salt
⅛ teaspoon Aleppo pepper (optional)
1 medium apple
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Place the lemon juice in a small baking dish or shallow bowl. Add the lemon zest, tahini, salt, and Aleppo pepper (if using) to the yogurt and mix well. Slice the apple thinly through core, remove seeds, dip in the lemon juice to prevent browning. Scatter sesame seeds as a garnish on top of arranged beets and apple slices.

VERSION #3

2 medium peaches
1 tablespoon peach jam (if peaches not juicy enough)
2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
2 tablespoons toasted slivered almonds

Cut a shallow ‘X’ into the bottom of each peach. Place in boiling water for only 1 minute. Remove immediately to a cutting board and allow to cool for a minute or two. The skin will have loosened and you should be able to grab a piece of skin from the corner of each cut and pull it off. Holding the peach above the bowl with the yogurt, cut each peach into 8-10 wedges, putting the slices aside but allowing any juice to fall into the bowl. If there seems to be less juice than will impart flavor, add the peach jam. Scatter crumbled blue cheese and toasted almonds over the beets and peaches as a garnish.

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