Lettuce Turnip the Beet!

Three simple beet recipes you can make in a, um, heartbeet.

Photo via Flickr
 

There are two kinds of people in the world. You’re either a beet-head or a beet-hater. It’s rare to find someone who “kind of” likes them. Those are the people whose brownies I spike with grated beets. “Here you go, honey. Eat all you want.” In fact, I once packed a maple syrup-sweetened, beet-infused brownie in my daughter’s lunch when she was in preschool. Alas, she was not allowed to eat it because brownies are not considered “healthy.” I looked up the sugar content of chocolate milk, which is allowed, and found that it had way more sugar than her tiny piece of brownie — plus it didn’t nearly have the nutrients provided by beets.

Injustice!

Needless to say, the teacher got a note from me explaining the healthful benefits of beets.

I am of the kind of person who loves beets. And when my friend Brigid let me know she was coming into town and bringing some goodies from her Wisconsin farm, I got as many beets as I could fit in my fridge. Last week, I needed to use up remaining beets, so I crowd-sourced my group of food-maven friends for ideas. In the course of barely an hour, I had more options than I could possibly make with my stash.

Thanks to the 2,435th snow day of the year, I had time to use all my beets with three quick, yummy recipes.

I made a cleansing beet juice, a simple beet and avocado salad and perfect beet fritters for dinner with a creamy tzatziki.

These beet and quinoa fritters vary from most recipes because they contain cooked beets. It’s just how it turned out in my kitchen because I roasted the rest of the beets that I didn’t juice. As it turns out, I also like making them this way because the cooked beets act as a binder for the fritter, so you don’t need any eggs. Also, you don’t need to fry the beets in a lot of oil. You’re just aiming for a slight crisp on the exterior.

  Beet and Quinoa Fritters

Makes about 16 fritters

• 3 cups grated roasted beets
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• ½ cup chickpea flour
• 3 cloves of garlic, put through a press or chopped very finely
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl thoroughly. Let sit for about 10 minutes. Mix again.

2. Heat enough oil to lightly coat a cast-iron pan.

3. Using enough mixture to almost fill a ¼ cup, form the beets into patties by pressing between your hands.

4. Lightly sear both sides. Keep in a warm oven while you make the rest.

5. Serve with Cashew Cucumber Tzatziki or your favorite tzatziki.

  Cashew Cucumber Tzatziki

• ½ cup cashews
• ½ cup water
• 1 cup chopped cucumber
• 1 tsp dill
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt
• Pepper

1. You will need a powerful blender like a Vitamix of Blendtec.

2. Blend all ingredients in a blender until liquefied.

3. Add water in small amounts as needed to reach desired consistency.

For the cleansing beet juice and beet salad recipes, visit The Brazen Kitchen.