Summer is heating up now that we are well into July. Browsing the farm stands I have seen some gorgeous produce and cheeses.  I am so thrilled to have taken home a bunch of chiogga beets today and I enjoyed them simply roasted, served with some Capri, or ‘chevre” for us Americans.  Chiogga is an Italian open air pollinated variety found in many markets.  They are pictured in the center of the beets I photographed, a pinkish color. Inside they are a pinkish-white, striated in coloring.

Beets offer sound nutrition, an easily digestible source of carbohydrates, are high in folic acid, vitamins B1, B2, B6, C and A. They contain a powerful antioxidant, betalain, which gives them their coloring, helps ward off heart disease, certain cancers, and lowers inflammation. The greens are definitely edible, and  easy to prepare and have higher concentrations of iron as compared to spinach! For about one cup of beets you get almost 4g of fiber, 2g of protein and with high levels of water, only 58 calories.

While they should always be washed well before consumption, beets can be eaten raw as well as cooked. I choose golden or candystripe varieties for raw consumption, and buy them as ‘baby beets’ and just peel and slice them. Eaten like this with some cucumber slices and a little sea salt you have a great cool and crunchy snack. Beeturia is the coloring of urine or stool with the increased consumption of beets. It is harmless, but can be startling at first. It really tends to show when you eat them raw. Don’t let that stop you though! The sweet, earthy, crunch of young, raw beets, is wonderful. And when cooked, they become richly textured and are easily paired with so many ingredients.

The greens are an excellent source of minerals as well and are similar to Swiss chard. In fact, beets and Swiss chard are just different varieties within the same plant family! So when you trim the tops, save them in the vegetable crisper for later use.

Some ingredients I love to pair with beets are: Avocados, nuts, stone fruits such as peaches, cheese like chevre or capri, baby greens, chicory (including endive), citrus, onions, garlic, yogurt, pickling spices (in preparation for pickling), tarragon, dill, lemon, parsley, chervil, oregano, whole grains like barley, other root vegetables like heirloom carrots, beans and legumes such as lentils.

They can be grated raw to top soups or to be mixed into a carrot slaw for vibrant coloring or as an appetizer atop an endive leaf with some yogurt and lemon juice.

To roast them you just want to select your beets and make sure when you purchase them they are not shriveled, or have too many blemishes on them and that the tops are leafy and healthy looking. The tops aren’t perfect indicators of the root, but as they are such good eating, I’d look for leafy ones. Then you just preheat your oven to about 375F and get your good olive oil and after washing the beets, no matter the size, rub them well with olive oil and sprinkle coarse salt like Kosher or sea salt on them. Wrap them tightly in aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet in case of any dripping. You can put them in a casserole dish with aluminum covering them it they are smaller, or wrap them in groups just in the aluminum foil, as is.

For baby beets you want to roast them until just tender, about 30-45 minutes if they are small. Medium to large beets can go longer, also just until tender. About 1 hour 20 minutes. You also don’t want to peel them before cooking. Leaving the skin on helps lock in nutrients and flavor, especially if you plan to boil them until tender. Which, of course leaches some color, and rather than boil, bring it to a boil then gently simmer until tender. It’s worth the wait to roast them though, I believe, as you can impart better flavor to them through the use of herbs and garlic if you like.

Once you have cooked your beets until tender, let them cool enough so you can handle them, then what I do is with a not-so-important, yet clean, kitchen towel, gently rub off the skins. They will come off nicely when cooked enough. You could also use a sturdy paper towel or two for this technique as well. Once out of their fibrous skins, they are ready to use as you wish.

Beets do well as a side dish as is when they’re tender and young, or tossed lightly in a dressing, or as an ingredient in a salad or main dish. You could simply roast and peel some baby golden, red, and chiogga beets and drizzle them with olive oil and fresh pepper and that is a wonderful presentation of a simply perfect ingredient. In a spinach salad they really compliment the mineral, bite of the spinach leaf.

Baby beets and spinach with dark cherry balsamic dressing

2 cups roasted, peeled,  baby beets- quartered

4 cups baby spinach

For the dressing:

1/4 cup dried cherries

3 Tablespoons balsamic vinager

1/4 cup cranberry juice

1/2 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

salt and pepper to taste

Whiz all together in a blender and save the rest for later. Make sure you season to taste with some salt and pepper.  If you like this goes well with toasted pine nuts, a teaspoon or two sprinkled over the salad, should do the trick.

Roasted beet barley “risotto” serves 4

2 cups roasted, peeled, beets, diced

1 1/2 cups barley, rinsed

3-4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock, or even water. Heat the liquid of your choice until it just simmers on the stove top.

1 small, white onion, minced

1 clove of garlic, smashed

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

2 Tablespoons olive oil

In a dutch oven, or similar type dish, on the stove top, heat the olive oil and onions until they become translucent. Sprinkle a little Kosher salt on them to help. Pour in the barley and stir well to coat the grains in the olive oil and onion flavor. A ladle or a few cups full at a time, pour in the hot liquid you have chosen to use, stirring. Once the initial liquid has gone in add the garlic. Just like risotto, only you don’t need to stir as often, just to make sure things aren’t sticking on the bottom. When all the liquid has been absorbed and the grains are fully cooked, stir in the beets and cheese. Turn off the heat and make sure it is seasoned correctly. If you used red beets, the risotto will appear bright fuchsia. If you like, you can stir in the washed beet tops, chopped roughly, into the ‘risotto’ for extra color.  This dish is phenomenal under a grilled fillet of North Atlantic Salmon!

Beet and yogurt parfait serves 2-4

2 medium, roasted red, peeled, beets-sliced into rounds

1 cup blueberries

Greek style yogurt, any flavor you choose

3 tablespoons chiffonade mint leaves (pick the leaves off the stems, lay on top on one another, roll up like a cigar and slice thinly into strips)

Simply layer the beets, blueberries and yogurt into pretty dishes, or glass parfait cups with a sprinkling of mint leaves.

Beet root and carrot smoothie serves 4

2 cups young, carrots, washed, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup washed, peeled, baby beets (raw)

1/2 cup non-fat yogurt

1 cup apple juice

1 cup ice

In a blender puree ingredients until smooth. If you would like, you can sweeten the smoothie up a little with some Splenda sweetener.

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