Beets are (in my book) really delicious and really versatile. They are fantastically healthy for you as well. A food that is naturally that electric pink has got to be chock full of nutrients. The price is great too. In terms of vegetables, they are on the lower end of the price scale. Here are some ways I use them, maybe some are new to you:
Smoothies - I have been known to slice raw beets into a smoothie before blending with banana, frozen berries, kefir, hemp seeds and cinnamon.
Cake - I went through a big phase of making a chocolate beet cake. It’s a rich chocolate cake batter that has roasted beets in it. They serve as an earthy note but they also add moisture. It gets topped with a cream cheese vanilla bean frosting. VERY delicious.
Salad of all forms- Most commonly, I roast a big batch of beets at the beginning of the week. Peel and chop and into a glass container. I drizzle them with olive oil, vinegar slat and pop a smashed garlic clove in there. Those really elevate a common salad. My kids love these mixed with plain yogurt.
Dip!- They make a fantastic dip. Which is this week’s recipe. You can find that recipe at the bottom of this email.
What I’m Loving This Week:
Chopped Salads: I’ve been both buying bags of chopped greens and chopping them myself. The combination is any of the following finely chopped: kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, raddicchio (even my computer’s auto correct can’t inform me how to spell that word), or cabbage. A creamy homemade ranch dressing and lots of crunchy toppings such as: pistachios, sunflower seeds, chopped cucumbers, or cashews. I love olives so add chopped olives. But also any dried fruit or berries. Thats been my salad inspiration lately.
Weleda Skin Food: The temp has dropped here in NJ and next week I’m headed to frigid Minnesota. It’s like every year around this time, my skin whispers to me as a reminder “It’s time to buy Skin Food babe!”. I just re-upped on the classic Skin Food plus the Skin Food Body Butter. Theres a screenshot below showing you just how much I love this stuff…and that’s not including
RX Vanilla Almond Butter: I’m 99% sure I mentioned this stuff a few weeks ago. If I did, I’m here to say I’m still HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE. My goodness I have never had almond butter like this. It’s frosting.
Makes 2 cups
Labne alternatives: Labne is a very thick strained yogurt. You can find it in many grocery stores now. It’s delicious in so many ways. Using a thick greek yogurt (like Fage) will be fine for flavor but it may make the dip a tad bit runny- which wouldnt be the end of the world. You could try a combination of half greek yogurt and half cream cheese to combat that. Or you could put 1 ¼ cups full fat greek yogurt into a strainer lined with cheesecloth and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. This would create your own labne.
Toppings: My suggestion of za’atar and toasted sesame seeds are just that - a suggestion. Chopped dill and crumbled feta would be amazing. I personally am crazy for fennel seeds, so I think some coarsely ground fennel seeds would be great. Or even with nothing at all, you’re going to have a lot of happy customers.
What to serve with it: I love really high quality tortilla chips with just about anything. So I opted for tortilla chips and cucumbers. But any good cracker will do. And whatever you would serve as a crudités would be perfect dunked into this hot pink dip.
10 ounces roasted beets ( 2-3 beets)
1 cup labne
1 small clove garlic
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Toppings:
More olive oil
Za’atar
Well toasted sesame seeds
How to roast beets:
Heat the oven to 350°. Line a sheet pan with foil. Place beets on a piece of foil large enough to wrap around them. Drizzle the beets with olive oil and water. Wrap them up tightly and bake for anywhere between 45 minutes - 1.5 hours. The beets are done when you can easily pierce them with a fork. Let them cool slightly. This can be sped up with running them under cold water. When cool enough to handle, use your hands to slip off the skins.
Beet Dip:
Combine the roasted beets, labne, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt in a blender. Blend until super smooth. Using a rubber spatula, scrape into a serving bowl and dress with olive oil, za’atar and toasted sesame seeds.