Golden beet tarte tatin

Pretty delicious, for just being essentially beets and puff pastry. The original recipe called for baby beets, halved, but I cut and peeled three big golden beets instead. Next time I might try a combination of beet colors.

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon canola 
or olive oil
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
2 teaspoons brown sugar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 big golden beets, peeled and cut into thin chunks

Melt the butter with the oil in a cast-iron skillet. Add the cider vinegar, sugar, and some salt and pepper, stir well, then 
add the beets and toss to coat. You want the beets to fill the pan snugly, in a single layer. Cover the pan with foil, transfer to the oven, and roast for 30 to 40 minutes at 375, until the beets are tender.

Take the pan from the oven and rearrange the beet halves neatly, placing them cut side up. Lay the pastry sheet over the beets, patting it down and tucking in the edges down the side of the pan. Return to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until the pastry is fully puffed up and golden brown.

Leave the tarte to cool in its pan for about 15 minutes, then turn it out by putting a plate over the top and inverting it. Pour any juices left in the pan back over the beets.

Roasted golden beets, potatoes and apples

Just that: roasted chunks of golden beets, new potatoes, and two apples. Mix with some olive oil to coat, salt liberally, and roast at 425 until the potatoes are done. The apples add a nice sweetness, different from the sweetness of the beets.

Warm golden beet salad with greens and almonds

From The Kitchn, reprinted below: 

1 bunch golden beets, roasted, peeled and cubed

The beet greens

Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
2/3 cup toasted almond slivers

Chop the beet greens into bite-size ribbons. In a large skillet, heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat and add the garlic. Cook on low for about 5 minutes or until the garlic is golden and fragrant. Add the chopped leaves and stir to coat with the garlic. Cook on medium-low for about 10 minutes or until the leaves are soft and tender. Remove from the heat.

Toss the beet pieces with the cooked greens, goat cheese, and almonds. Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or cold. (This also makes an excellent pressed sandwich filling, especially with some extra goat cheese.)

Farfalle with golden beets, dandelion greens, and goat cheese

Golden beets are so pretty. And yummy. I found three enormous ones on sale the other day, so I roasted them and then decided what to do with them. The beet greens were looking a little wilty, and I had a bunch of dandelion greens that was starting to look gross, so I combined the two in this dish and added most of a log of goat cheese. Delish.

1 box farfalle (or other pasta shape)
2 large golden beets, roasted, peeled and chopped
1 bunch beet greens, chopped
1/2 bunch dandelion greens, chopped
1 cup toasted pine nuts
3/4 log goat cheese
2 shallots
2 cloves garlic

Finely dice the shallots and garlic and saute gently in olive oil until the shallots are soft. Add the greens and cook until wilted. Meanwhile, cook the pasta. Combine the cooked, drained pasta with a little of the pasta water with the greens, toasted pine nuts, and goat cheese. Stir until combined. Salt to taste.

Warm mushroom and grated beet salad

This is just cooked mushrooms, with grated roasted beets, and a wee bit of cheese. If you have greenery (spinach, arugula, lettuce), you could serve this over a bed of greens. But I ate it all by itself and it was delicious.

1 box button mushrooms, sliced
2 medium roasted beets, peeled
Butter, olive oil, fresh thyme
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Lightly saute the mushrooms in butter and olive oil until they start to give up some liquid. Add fresh thyme, and grate the beets into the pan. Mix together and continue cooking until the mushrooms are as done as you want them. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm, with cheese.

As an aside, this was an excellent way to use up both some old mushrooms and a couple of old beets I found in the vegetable drawer.

Beets and burrata

Another nice thing about working in a restaurant is the inspiration factor. My restaurant is doing a new beet and burrata salad, which looked so delicious I thought I would take a stab at it.

Burrata is fresh mozzarella cheese, with a combination of fresh mozzarella and cream on the inside. I sliced it (well, "sliced," the inside is mostly liquid), drizzled it with olive oil, salt and fresh thyme, and laid it alongside roasted sliced beets. The beets got salt and pepper.

Verdict: not as good as the original, of course, but still an excellent use of beets. The creaminess of the cheese plays really well with roasted beets.

Beet gnocchi

Yesterday was the first day off I'd had in a few days, and I was in a mood to get things done. You know? I started by putting away all our winter clothes, then I rearranged the office and hung some pictures in there--which means our apartment is now officially complete--then I cooked a bunch of stuff. Creme brulee, ice cream, a mustard greens salad, and this beet gnocchi.

I've tried to make potato gnocchi before, but never had much luck. These, however, were delicious. These may become part of my regular rotation. They are a bit filling--I would recommend making small gnocchi, and counting on having leftovers. The beet puree holds them together really well, in addition to being colorful and tasty.

From Food and Wine:

2 pounds medium beets, scrubbed
Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 cup fresh ricotta (8 ounces)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Pinch of nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (3 ounces), plus more for serving
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cubed
16 small sage leaves
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 375º. In a 9-inch square baking dish, brush the beets with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Add 1/4 cup of water to the baking dish and cover tightly with foil. Bake the beets for about 1 hour, until tender. Uncover the dish and let the beets cool completely.

Peel the beets and cut them into 1-inch pieces. Transfer the beets to a food processor and puree.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, combine 1 1/2 cups of the beet puree (reserve any remaining puree for another use) with the ricotta, egg, nutmeg, the 3/4 cup of Parmigiano and 1 tablespoon of salt and mix at low speed until combined. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the side of the bowl. Sprinkle on the 3 cups of flour and mix at low speed until the dough just comes together, about 1 minute.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently just until smooth but still slightly sticky. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Line a baking sheet with wax paper and generously dust with flour. Cut the gnocchi dough into 10 pieces and roll each piece into a 1/2-inch-thick rope. Cut the ropes into 1/2-inch pieces and transfer the gnocchi to the prepared baking sheet.

Lightly oil another baking sheet. In a large, deep skillet of simmering salted water, cook one-fourth of the gnocchi until they rise to the surface, then simmer for 1 minute longer, or until they are cooked through. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the gnocchi to the oiled baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining uncooked gnocchi.

In a very large skillet, toast the chopped walnuts over moderate heat, tossing, until golden and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool.

Add the butter to the skillet and cook until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sage leaves and cook for 20 seconds, then stir in the lemon juice. Add the gnocchi and cook for 1 minute, tossing gently. Season with salt and transfer the gnocchi to plates. Sprinkle the toasted walnuts on top and serve, passing grated Parmigiano-Reggiano at the table.

Golden beet risotto with Dungeness crab

I'm so over budget for this month it's not even funny. But I'm rebuilding my pantry from scratch--and the extra cost amortizes out over all those months when we weren't buying anything, just using up all the pantry stores.

In the spirit of being way over budget, I got some amazing stuff at Pike Place Market, and made us a fresh seafood feast. First up: golden beet risotto with Dungeness crab.

I made a golden beet risotto, with about half of the beet greens, and topped it off with handfuls of fresh crab meat. I bought a whole cooked Dungeness crab, picked all the meat out, and made crab stock with the shell. Some of the crab stock went into the risotto (the final product was about two-thirds chicken stock), and the rest went into the freezer.

I drank a Laughing Stock Pinot Gris with this feast, and in the spirit of generosity, gave a tiny scrap of crabmeat to each of the cats.

Beet, apple, and ginger slaw

I've made beet, carrot, and zucchini slaw before. This is the same principle, with shredded raw beets, just with an apple and a little fresh ginger grated in as well.

I used raw golden beets (several small ones), an apple, and a piece of peeled ginger about the size of my thumb. I grated all that together, added a splash of olive oil and apple cider vinegar, and some salt and pepper. That's it, just let it sit for a bit before serving to let the flavors meld.

Beet-and-potato salad

Using some of the beautiful baby beets my mom brought me from her garden, and a few gold fingerling potatoes, I made a really nice potato salad.

4 medium gold potatoes, cut into pieces and boiled
4 medium beets, roasted and peeled and cut into pieces
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3/4 cup chopped onion (optional)
1 tablespoon capers
1/2 cup mayo
salt
cayenne pepper
1/4 cup peas (optional)

Combine the beets and 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, and let sit for 30 minutes. Drain. Combine with the rest, mix until well blended, and adjust seasonings to taste.

White beet salad

While at the winter farmer's market, I found these awesome white beets. All the beet flavor, none of the beet staining!

3 beets, roasted, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Pinch of paprika
Pinch of cumin
salt

Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, and spices in a bowl. Pour over the beets and toss well. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Beet, goat cheese and proscuitto sandwiches

The recipe is in the title--roasted, sliced beets, goat cheese, and proscuitto, on thick homemade peasant bread.

You could add some greenery, if you have some: baby arugula or spinach, perhaps.

Avocado slices would go really well, too.

You could also throw on a fried egg.

Or some ripe tomato (not that you'll be able to get good tomatoes this time of year).

Just be sure to pack a lot of napkins in your lunch. You don't want to drop any beets on your lap.

Roasted beet and peach salad with pistachios

Otherwise known as: Greatest Salad Evah!

(Ignore the pecans in the picture. Imagine pistachios in their place.)

Green lettuce
1-2 roasted beets, sliced thinly
1 big peach, peeled and sliced
Goat cheese
Shelled, salted pistachios

For the dressing, I used olive oil and my mother's blackberry vinaigrette.

Beet quesadillas

Sounds gross, but these are really delicious.

It's just sliced roasted beets, caramelized onions, pepper jack cheese, and some greenery on corn (or wheat) tortillas. I used baby beet greens and sorrel for the greenery, but you could use almost anything. Or nothing--I made some without greenery, too. Although I will admit the ones with greens were better.

And oddly, they were even better reheated, which is usually not the case with quesadillas.

1 big beet, roasted, peeled and sliced
1/2 onion, sliced and caramelized
shredded pepper jack cheese
beet greens or other greens
tortillas

In a skillet, warm some oil (olive oil is fine) and lay down a tortilla. Top with onion, sliced beets, cheese, and greens. Top with another tortilla. When the cheese melts, flip it over, and cook until both sides are browned. Repeat.

If you're using wheat tortillas, you can just fold it in half instead of using two per quesadilla.

Beet and yogurt salad

4 roasted, peeled and sliced beets
3 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 1/3 cups greek or plain yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped pistachios

Whisk the oil with the lemon juice and garlic. Add parsley, salt and pepper, and the oil to the beets. Mix the beets gently with the yogurt, or just pile it on, and top with the pistachios.

Beet cake with orange glaze

Yes, beet cake. Remember how delicious that zucchini cake with lemon glaze was? This is just as delicious, and may I add, a really wonderful color. If you have a little girl who adores pink, you want to serve her this cake. (It tastes like cake, by the way, not like beets.)

My version is not uniformly pink, probably because I used one regular beet and one Chiogga beet (the stripey ones). I imagine the stripey-ness created the rainbow hue, above.

From Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian:

2 medium raw beets, peeled and quartered
1 1/2 sticks soft butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk

Grease a 9x13 pan with a little butter. Put the beets and 1/2 cup sugar in a food processor and pulse a few times to puree. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In your KitchenAid, beat the butter and 1 cup sugar till creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Add the beet puree. Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture, then half of the milk, another third of flour, the rest of the milk, and then the rest of the flour. Stir gently until just mixed.

Bake at 350 45-50 minutes. Let cool completely before adding the orange glaze:

3 cups confectionary sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
a splash of vanilla (optional)

Mix until thick and smooth.

Beet burgers

Stay with me, now. I know you're all thinking, "Beet...burgers?" And then probably, "Ewwww..."

I got a bunch of beets with my CSA, and I wanted something to do with them that wasn't any of the usual things (pizza, risotto, salad). I found this recipe courtesy of Mark Bittman, and I think I have a new beet recipe to add to the repetoire.

I will say this: these burgers are sweet. They are excellent veggie burgers (and the color of blood, if you're into that kind of thing), but they are sweet. Traditional burger toppings, tomato/lettuce/cheese are okay, but you really want something to offset the sweetness--say, a jalapeno slaw on top. I tried spicy beer mustard on the first go-round, and that was fine, but pickle relish went better--and hot pickle relish would have been even better than that.

Also, handle the patties with care. They are soft.

From How to Cook Everything Vegetarian:

1 lb beets, peeled and grated (my food processor worked great for the grating part)
1/2 cup dates
1/2 cup almonds
1 inch peeled and sliced ginger
1/2 cup bulgur wheat
3/4 cup boiling red wine or water
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Red pepper flakes
Maybe some flour

Combine the beets, dates, almonds and ginger in a food processor and pulse until everything is almost a paste. Put that in a large bowl with the bulgur and some salt and pepper, and pour the boiling wine over everything. Cover and let sit 20 minutes. If the mixture is too wet to form decent patties, add some flour.

Cook patties over medium heat with olive oil or butter, 5 minutes per side.

Beet lasagna

I had all these beets in my CSA that I needed to use up, but I was tired of my usual beet options: salad, pizza, risotto. So I threw together this beet lasagna.

It's roasted sliced beets layered with goat cheese, lasagna noodles, and beet greens, with some parmesan cheese and basil on top. These were lovely golden stripey beets, so they weren't too beety and didn't turn everything red.

Caveat: don't use the no-boil lasagna noodles like I did. Be sure to use the regular kind of noodles, or fresh. The no-boil ones are too tough for this dish, since there's no liquid to soften them up like in a regular lasagna.

1 package of lasagna noodles
1 bunch of beets (4 medium size ones), roasted, peeled and sliced
the beet greens
1/2 log of goat cheese, mixed with 2 tablespoons heavy cream to make it more spreadable
parmesan

Layer the ingredients as so: goat cheese in the bottom of an 8x8 pan, noodles, goat cheese, a few beet leaves, beets, parmesan, repeat. Like this:

Add parmesan on top. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or so.

This is a small lasagna, maybe 4 servings. On the plus side, I used up an open box of lasagna noodles I had left over.