Wow, experimenting with beets this month has been fun! But also messy… my fingers were stained pink for several days out of the month. Beets are interesting and can take on many different flavor profiles: sour, savory, sweet, spicy, you name it! They can be pickled and cooked to bring out some of these different flavors. I especially love when you roast beets, it brings out some of the natural sweetness of the vegetable! I feel like I hear a lot of people say they hate how “earthy” beets taste, so I’m here to give you some options to embrace the earthiness as well as mitigate it by showing you beets 3 ways!
All of these recipes require you to start with roasted beets. To achieve a perfect roast, cut your beets into wedges or 1/2-inch slices, toss in a little olive oil, and roast in a 400 degree F oven for 45-60 minutes. The beets may take a little less or more time depending on the size of your beets.
All-Beet Salad
Did you know you could eat the greens of beets? They’re actually quite delicious and taste very similar to spinach! So you can treat them as if you would spinach in a lot of recipes – smoothies, salads, pasta dishes… the possibilities are endless! Not to mention that you’re able to cut down on food waste. So here is my recipe that I’m going to keep simple and informal:
1 cup of chopped beet greens + 1 cup arugula + 1 oz goat cheese + 1 tbsp roasted walnuts + roasted beet wedges + honey lemon vinaigrette
Beet Pancakes
For this recipe, I take very (and I mean very) minimal credit. A fellow RD (and chef!), Julie, has the absolute best pancake recipe I’ve ever had before and is currently a staple in my house. AND TALK ABOUT FLUFFY! So my tweak to this recipe was just to add 1 cup of pureed roasted beets and 1 extra tablespoon of sugar. They turn out HOT PINK! Even if you don’t add the beets to it, just go make her recipe anyway if you want to have a glorious Saturday brunch. You won’t regret it!
Julie’s Lemon Ricotta Pancakes + 1 cup pureed roasted beets + 1 tbsp sugar
Phyllo Wrapped Beet and Goat Cheese Tart
And for my final recipe, we have a beet and goat cheese phyllo tart! To be honest, I didn’t really know what to call this recipe. It turns out to be a great little appetizer, but be forewarned, a little labor intensive. BUT… the labor is worth it to get each of those sheets of phyllo dough perfectly flaky and delicious. One other thing to note about this recipe, make sure to bake the tarts on parchment paper! Otherwise the tarts will stick to the pan and you’ll have bottomless tarts. Not exactly what we’re going for. ANYWAY…
These little guys are great with the combination of honey, goat cheese, walnuts, and a little dried tarragon to round it out!
Phyllo Wrapped Beet and Goat Cheese Tart
Ingredients
- 1 egg white
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ tbsp water
- 18 sheets phyllo dough
- 12 slices roasted beets
- 4 oz goat cheese log, cut into 6 slices
- 6 tbsp toasted chopped walnuts
- 3 tsp honey plus a little extra to drizzle on top at the end
- 1 tbsp dried tarragon
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°
- Start by making your egg wash by whisking together egg white, water, and olive oil.
- Lay out your first sheet of phyllo dough on a piece of parchment paper. Lightly brush the entire sheet with your egg wash. Lay another sheet of phyllo dough on top of the first and brush again. Repeat with a third and final sheet of phyllo dough.
- Next, place one slice of roasted beet in the middle of the brushed phyllo dough sheets.
- Add a slice of goat cheese on top of the beet slice, and then top with another beet slice.
- Drizzle the top of the beet and goat cheesed stack with ½ tsp of honey and a pinch of dried tarragon. Add 1 tbsp of chopped walnuts.
- Start wrapping up your tart by folding one corner of the phyllo dough sheets to the middle of the beet and goat cheese stack. Then fold the corner of the first fold to the middle of the tart. Continue around the entire tart until all sides have been folded in and the phyllo dough encloses the beet and goat cheese stack.
- Repeat steps 3-7 to make the remaining 5 tarts.
- Once you have your tarts, lightly brush the tops with a little more eggwash and place on parchment paper on a baking sheet in the oven for about 12-15 minutes until the tops are starting to brown.
- After the tarts are cooked, remove from the oven and immediately drizzle with a little bit of honey. Then they're ready to serve!
And there you have it! Beets 3 ways!