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.