red beets

red beet pkhali / pkhali di barbabietole rosse

| Simona

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[versione in italiano]

red beet pkhali / IMG_4927

ready to spoon some?
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the novel The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan1 which tells the story of four women in Kent, UK, during WWII. The food rations in effect at that time play a central role: they affected everyone and cooks in particular, tasked as they were to prepare nourishing and tasty meals with what the rations provided. (Vegetable gardens and foraging enriched the limited availability of ingredients.)

The novel's title refers to a BBC program devised to provide ideas on how best to make use of those rations. The four women compete to become the program's co-lead by cooking a starter, a main dish and a dessert that showcase what's possible within the confines of the wartime pantry.

The book includes the competition recipes and a few others. It is interesting to read the alternatives people devised for ingredients that were in short supply, like sugar. The one surprise in the story is the croquembouche Zelda (the chef among the four women) brings as her entry for the dessert part of the competition.

Red beets are mentioned several times in the book using their British name, beetroots. Audrey grows them in her garden and they are featured in a couple of the recipes provided in the book. I don't grow them, but like to get them at the farmers market, particularly when they are sold with their greens, which are delicious in their own right.

I last featured red beets in a salad2 inspired by Finnish rosolli. This time, for inspiration I turned to Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook by Anya von Bremzen3 and John Welchman. The book includes recipes from a large area, from the Baltics to Uzbekistan. In the Zakuski section (appetizers, antipasti), I read about Georgian pkhali, a dish made from a finely chopped cooked vegetable (like spinach, eggplants, beets) with a dressing of ground walnuts (noci tritate), garlic, vinegar, spices and herbs. I decided to make Beet Pkhali.

I halved the recipe and adjusted a couple of other things, most notably 1) I toasted the walnuts; 2) used parsley instead of cilantro; 3) used sherry vinegar since I couldn't find tarragon vinegar.

The headnote says that pkhali must be made "at least 6 to 8 hours ahead for the flavor of the garlic to settle properly" (page  25). The result? Oh my! The vinegar and spices balance out the distinctive sweetness of red beets and the walnuts provide a light body to the soft texture of cooked beets. Pkhali is served as a pâté but I've also read it defined as a spreadable salad. It is a bit addictive: you taste a small spoonful, spread some on a cracker, drop a dollop on green salad, and before you know it, it's gone.

The second time I made the recipe I measured the ingredients more precisely, then the next time I adjusted some more. Below is my current version and further down there is a link to the recipe that inspired me.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Red beet pkhali

Ingredients:

  • 2 red beets to obtain 6 ounces / 170 grams when cooked and peeled (see Note below)

For the walnut sauce:

  • 1 1/2 ounces / 42 grams walnuts, preferably freshly shelled
  • 2 small garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tablespoon minced red spring onion
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/8 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground fenugreek
  • A small pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons / 22.5 ml water
  • 3/4 tablespoon / 11.25 ml sherry vinegar

For the pkhali:

  • The roasted red beets from above
  • The walnut sauce from above
  • 1/2 tablespoon / 7.5 ml sherry vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
  • Fine sea salt, if needed, to taste

Note: If possible, purchase red beets with their greens. Cut off the greens about 1 inch / 2.5 cm from the root and consume them as soon as possible like you would other types of dark leafy greens. (You can also use them, together with spinach, to make Spinach Pkhali) For efficiency's sake, I recommend that you roast more beets than you need for the recipe and add the extra ones to a soup or salad.

Heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C.

Scrub the red beets well. Wrap each beet in foil and place them on a baking sheet. Put the beets in the oven and roast them until easily pierced with a blade. Check after 45-60 minutes (depending on the beets' size) and gauge the cooking time remaining.

Let the red beets cool until easy to handle, then slip off the skin. Weigh the amount you need for the recipe. Cut the beets in bite-sized pieces and set them aside.

To make the walnut sauce
Heat the oven to 350 F / 170 C.

Distribute the walnuts on an unlined baking sheet or cookie sheet and place in the oven. Roast the walnuts for a few minutes until they smell fragrant. Remove them from the sheet and let them cool.

Ground the walnuts in a food processor. Place the ground walnuts in a bowl and add all the other sauce ingredients. Mix well and set aside.

To make the pkhali
Process the roasted red beets until coarsely minced. Add to the bowl with the walnut sauce. Mix well.

Add the other pkhali ingredients and mix well. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (6 to 8 is better).

Take out of the refrigerator the pkhali ahead of time, spread it on a serving plate and smooth the top with a spatula. (I shaped it more like a low mound.) With a knife, make a pattern of diamonds on the top.

Serve at room temperature.

Serves 4 as an appetizer.



A colorful, delightful way of serving this nutritious root vegetable.

1 The book's page on the publisher's website
2 From briciole's archive: Red beet, carrot, apple and egg salad
3 Cook the Books club read von Bremzen's memoir some years ago, and, inspired by the book, I made Mushroom and egg salad
4 Section on pkhali in Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook by Anya von Bremzen and John Welchman

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

pkhali di barbabietola rosse

or launch the pkhali di barbabietola rosse audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

CtBThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Claudia of Honey From Rock. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event. 

FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

red beets, walnuts, salad, spread, Georgian cuisine

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Newrule

pkhali di barbabietole rosse

red beet pkhali / IMG_4927

pronti all'assaggio?
(tovaglietta di La FABBRICA del LINO)

Le barbabietole rosse sono una delle verdure che amo comprare al mercato dei produttori, soprattutto quando hanno ancora le foglie attaccate (come nella foto in basso), che sono una delizia.

In un post dell'anno scorso le ho presentate in un'insalata ispirata al rosolli, piatto tipico finlandese. Stavolta l'ispirazione me l'ha data il libro Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook di Anya von Bremzen3 e John Welchman. Il tomo racchiude 400 ricette provenienti dall'area che va dalle repubbliche baltiche all'Uzbekistan. Nella sezione Zakuski (antipasti), ho trovato il pkhali, piatto tipico della Georgia composto da una verdura cotta e tagliata finemente (come spinaci, melanzane, barbabietole) condita con una salsa di noci tritate, aglio, aceto e spezie. Ho deciso di provare a fare il pkhali di barbabietole rosse.

Ho dimezzato le dosi e ho cambiato dei dettagli: 1) ho tostato le noci; 2) ho utilizzato il prezzemolo invece del coriandolo fresco (che negli USA si chiama cilantro); 3) ho utilizzato l'aceto di sherry perché non ho trovato quello al dragoncello. 

La ricetta nota che il pkhali deve essere preparato "almeno 6-8 ore in anticipo in modo che il sapore dell'aglio si assesti" (page  25). Il risultato è eccellente. Aceto e spezie bilanciano il sapore dolce delle barbabietole e le noci danno una leggera corposità alla consistenza morbida delle barbabietole cotte. Pkhali viene servito come pâté ma ho anche letto una definizione di insalata spalmabile. Ne assaggi un cucchiaino, ne spalmi un po' su un cracker, ne aggiungi un cucchiaio ad un'insalata verde e in un batter d'occhio non ce n'è più.

La seconda volta che ho preparato la ricetta ho misurato le quantità con più precisione e la volta successiva ho fatto minimi aggiustamenti. Qui sotto c'è la versione corrente e più in basso il link alla ricetta che mi ha ispirato (in inglese).

Ingredienti:

  • 2 barbabietole rosse per ottenere 170 grammi, peso cotto e netto (vedi Nota in basso)

Per la salsa alle noci:

  • 42 grammi di noci, preferibilmente appena sgusciate
  • 2 piccoli spicchi d'aglio tritati
  • 1 cucchiaio di cipollotto rosso tritato
  • 1,5 cucchiai di prezzemmolo fresco tritato
  • 1/8 cucchiaino di coriandolo in polvere
  • 1/8 cucchiaino di fieno greco (trigonella) in polvere
  • Un pizzichino di pepe di Caienna
  • 1/8 cucchiaino di sale fino
  • 1,5 cucchiai / 22,5 ml d'acqua
  • 3/4 cucchiaio / 11,25 ml di aceto di sherry

Per il pkhali:

  • Le barbabietole rosse arrosto (vedi sopra)
  • La salsa alle noci (vedi sopra)
  • 1/2 cucchiaio / 7,5 ml di aceto di sherry
  • 1 cucchiaio di prezzemmolo fresco tritato
  • Sale fino, q.b.

Nota: Se possibile, acquistare barbabietole rosse con ancora le foglie attaccate. Tagliare le foglie un paio di cm al di sopra del bulbo e consumarle prima possibile (si possono preparare come altre verdure in foglia). Per essere efficienti, raccomando di arrostire più barbabietole di quante ne servano per la ricetta e utilizzare il resto come ingrediente in una zuppa o insalata.

Scaldare il forno a 190 C.

Pulire le barbabietole rosse. Avvolgere ciascuna barbabietola in un pezzo di carta stagnola e metterle su una placca da forno. Infornare e arrostire le barbabietole rosse fino a quando si possono perforare facilmente con un coltello. Controllare dopo 45-60 minuti (a seconda della grandezza delle barbabietole) e valutare il tempo di cottura rimanente.

Far intiepidire le barbabietole, poi pelarle. Pesare la quantità necessaria per la ricetta. Tagliare le barbabietole a pezzi e metterle da parte.

Preparare la salsa di noci
Scaldare il forno a 170 C.

Distribuire le noci su una placca da forno. Tostare le noci per alcuni minuti.  Toglierle dalla placca e farle freddare.

Tritare finemente le noci nel robot, versarle in una ciotola e aggiungere tutti gli altri ingredienti della salsa alle noci. Mescolare bene e mettere da parte.

Preparare il pkhali
Tritare le barbabietole rosse nel robot. Aggiungerle alla ciotola con la salsa alle noci. Mescolare bene.

Aggiungere gli altri ingredienti del pkhali e mescolare bene. Coprire la ciotola e tenerla in frigo per almeno 4 ore (6-8 ore anche meglio).

Tirare fuori dal frigorifero il pkhali in anticipo, versarlo su un piatto da portata e lisciare la superficie con una spatola. (Io l'ho gli ho dato la forma un po' a collinetta, invece che piatta.) Con un coltello marcare la superficie con una decorazione a losanghe.

Servire a temperatura ambiente.

Serve 4 come antipasto.

1 Sezione su pkhali in Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook di Anya von Bremzen e John Welchman (in inglese)
2 Il libro di memorie di Anya von Bremzen: L'arte della cucina sovietica

UnMondoIngredientiLogo 329221889_1929099054116173_1830165923816230171_nContribuisco il mio pkhali di barbabietole rosse dalla Georgia alla lettera B di Un mondo d'ingredienti evento creato dall'instancabile Aiu' di Trattoria Muvara

 

FTC disclosure: Ho ricevuto gli articoli di lino gratuitamente dall'azienda produttrice (la FABBRICA del LINO). Non ho ricevuto e non riceverò alcun compenso per presentarli sul mio blog. Le opinioni espresse nel post sono interamente personali.

 

recipe: red beet pkhali

| Simona

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red beet, carrot, apple and egg salad / insalata di barbabietole rosse, carote, mela e uovo sodo

| Simona

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IMG_4299

Colorful salad: the view from above
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the spy novel Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews1. I chose this book for our Club in early June 2021. I had no idea that by the time I started reading it, it would feel like current events. It was hard to believe the book was published in 20132.

While I am an avid reader of mystery novels, this was my first experience reading a spy novel. I was attracted to it because each chapter ends with a short recipe (ricetta): more a list of ingredients and a sketch of the preparation than a real recipe. Still the contrast is intriguing.

The author is a former officer of the CIA’s Operations Directorate, so he wrote the novel from a place of personal experience. I was interested in the language (acronyms and some spy jargon) and the window the novel opens on the mechanics of some secret operations. I found the main characters in the novel interesting, in terms of how they end up doing what they do and also with respect to the question: how do they keep their humanity? How do they maintain friendships, marriages? Those relationships are rooted in trust, openness, sincerity, and yet the spy’s main role is to dissimulate and violence, some of it quite brutal (torture, murder) is part of the job.

IMG_4296 (1)

salad ingredients ready to be tossed together
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

As the story travels to different countries, the recipes span a number of culinary traditions. When the novel moved to Helsinki, I looked for Finnish recipes, since an important part of the novel takes place in the Nordic capital: that’s where Dominika meets and falls in love with CIA operative Nate, and befriends fellow Russian Marta, whose disappearance pushes Dominika to step over to the other side. In my search, I read about rosolli, a salad 

made of cooked, diced root vegetables, especially beetroot, carrot and potato, often combined with one or more of pickled cucumber (of either the vinegar or brine type), raw onion and apple. Variations may also include additional ingredients such as pickled herring or boiled egg…3

Then in chapter 40, I read:

On the way back to Tallinn, Benford stopped at a highway café grill, to see how the Lada would react. Surveillance proceeded two hundred meters and waited on the side of the highway. Benford made himself stretch out a lunch of boiled sausages, pickles, herring, Baltic rosolje salad, black bread, dark loamy beers.

and a recipe for Estonian Beet Salad—Rosolje appears at the end of the chapter, signaling that various versions of this dish are typical of the larger Baltic region. In fact,

Similar dishes are found throughout northern Europe, from the Low Countries across Scandinavia to Russia. Especially the Russian vinegret is very similar to the Finnish rosolli.3

The salad I made is a free interpretation: I roasted red beets and carrots, omitted potatoes, pickles, herring and the “cooked beef or pork” mentioned in the book’s version, used my homemade mayonnaise (maionese) as dressing and added blue cheese (formaggio erborinato). The combination is quite nice: sweet, tender vegetables, crisp apple, egg, a hint of sharpness in the cheese. You can roast the vegetables ahead of time, then assemble the salad right before the meal. I imagine preparing the ingredients and allow the guests to make their own salad, which can be served also as an appetizer (antipasto).

Print-friendly version of briciole’s recipe for Red beet, carrot, apple and egg salad

Ingredients per person (to be multiplied as needed):

  • 2 small red beets
  • 2 small carrots
  • 1 large egg, from pastured poultry
  • 1/2 medium apple
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
  • A pinch of freshly ground black pepper
  • A splash of sherry vinegar, to taste
  • 1-2 tablespoons / 15-30 ml mayonnaise, possibly homemade, to taste
  • 1/2 ounce / 15 grams Point Reyes Bay Blue4 OR other sweet blue cheese

Note: I recommend you purchase a bunch of red beets with their greens. Cut off the greens about 1 inch / 2.5 cm from the root and consume them as soon as possible like you would other types of dark leafy greens.

Heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C.

Scrub the red beets well. Scrub the carrots well and scrape the surface with a blade to remove a thin layer of skin. Wrap each in foil and place them on a baking sheet. Put in the oven and roast the vegetables until easily pierced with a blade. Check the carrots after 30 minutes and the beets after 45 minutes and gauge the cooking time remaining for each.

Let the carrots cool until easy to handle, then slice them (half the slices if the carrot is wide) and set them aside. Let the red beets cool until easy to handle, then slip off the skin. Cut the beets in bite-sized pieces and set them aside.

In the meantime, hard-boil the egg, let it cool, then peel it and dice it. Crumble the cheese. Just before assembling the salad, dice the apple (peeling optional).

Compose the salad using the vegetables, apple and egg. Season with salt, pepper and vinegar and toss. Add the mayonnaise and toss, then add the blue cheese, toss one last time, and serve.

1 The book’s page on the publisher’s website
2 A review of the novel on the NY Times
3 The wikipedia article about rosolli and a recipe for rosolli on the Finlandia Foundation website
4 Point Reyes Bay Blue cheese, “a rustic-style blue cheese with a natural rind. It is known for its mellow flavor and sweet, salted caramel finish.”

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

insalata di barbabietole rosse, carote, mela e uovo sodo

or launch the insalata di barbabietola rosse, carote, mela e uovo sodo audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

CtBThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by me, Simona of briciole. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.  

FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

red beet, apple, carrot, egg, salad

recipe: red beet, carrot, apple and egg salad

| Simona

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honeynut squash and red beet soup / zuppa di zucca e barbabietola rossa

| Simona

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honeynut squash and red beet soup
festive colors and bright flavor

Our current Cook the Books Club selection is Midnight Chicken by Ellen Risbridger1, a cookbook with stories. The most exciting thing for me related to this book is that I was able to get the electronic version from the library (biblioteca). I am still not sure how I got the various pieces to work, but one day, I clicked on a link in an email and pretty soon I could open the book in my e-reader. I don’t think this is the best solution for cookbooks (seeing as the kitchen is not the best environment for electronics), but for reading it is great. I am already half-way into the second book I borrowed.

Risbridger talks about her life and about how cooking helped her in moments of particular difficulty. She is open about her mental health and her struggles. She lives in London and her shopping and cooking are influenced by the urban environment. She favors prepackaged vegetables, like cleaned and cut winter squash, and canned legumes and wonders who makes homemade puff pastry (I do). Her ingredients are British, like self-raising flour.

I was not inspired to make any of the recipes, but one of them reminded me that red beets are called beetroots in England and that inspired me to grab a beautiful bunch of them at the farmers market, with their glorious greens (foglie di barbabietola) still attached. In our household we LOVE beet greens so those disappeared fast. The book includes a recipe for Butternut squash mash, which reminded of a recipe I made some time ago that brings together those two ingredients into a bright soup that is just perfect for when the weather is gray and cold.

This time I used honeynut squash, a relatively new variety of winter squash2 which I introduced in a post last year.3 Honeynut squash looks like a mini butternut squash: it has the same elongated shape, solid neck, bulbous end, but it is smaller, darker in color and sweeter in flavor. This year, a local farmer grew it, so I’ve been able to find it at the market. Given its small size, it is perfect for recipes where you don’t need a large squash.

Print-friendly version of briciole’s recipe for Honeynut squash and red beet soup

Ingredients:

  • 8 ounces / 225 grams red beets
  • 18-20 ounces / 510-565 grams honeynut squash
  • 2 tablespoons / 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 6 ounces / 170 grams red onion, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon / 15 ml grated fresh ginger
  • 3 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon hot paprika powder
  • 1 cup / 240 ml chicken or vegetable broth, preferably homemade
  • 2 cups / 475 ml water
  • 1/2-3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste

If you purchase a bunch of red beets with their greens, cut off the greens about 1 inch / 2.5 cm from the root and cook them as soon as possible like you would other types of dark leafy greens.

The honeynut squash and beets are roasted before being used in the soup. This step can be done in advance.

Heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.

Scrub the beets, wrap them in aluminum foil and place them on the baking sheet.

Cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds (a grapefruit spoon works well to do this). Place the squash halves on the prepared baking sheet, cut side down.

Bake the squash until it’s tender enough to pierce easily with a blade, about 40 minutes.

Bake the red beets until easily pierced with a knife, an additional 20 minutes or so.

Let the squash cool then scrape the flesh off the skin with a spoon.

Let the red beets cool until easy to handle, then slip off the skin. Cube the beets and set them aside.

Warm up the olive oil in a soup pot on medium heat, then add the onion, stirring well to coat. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the ginger and stir. Cover and cook on gentle heat for another 8 minutes, until the onion is soft, stirring often. Add the garlic, coriander, cumin and hot paprika, stir and cook for 1 minute.

Add the squash and the red beets to the pot, stir and add the broth and water. Bring the soup ring to a boil, covered, then turn down the heat so the soup bubbles gently. Cook for 15 minutes, then remove the pot from heat. Season with the salt and stir. Let the soup rest, covered, for 15-30 minutes, then purée it with an immersion blender.

Making the soup at least a few hours before serving will allow it to rest and ripen.

When ready to eat, heat the soup, ladle it in bowls and serve immediately.

Serves 4-5.

honeynut squash and red beet soup
shapes and surfaces

I like the bright red color and the sweet and spicy flavor of this nourishing soup.

1 An article with author’s interview on NPR
2 Bon Appétit article on honeynut squash
3 My post and recipe for Honeynut squash, blue cheese and walnut bites

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post

Cook the Books logoThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Debra of Eliot’s Eats. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

Souper Sundays logo I am contributing my soup also to Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, a weekly event created by Cook the Books club co-host Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

The roundup of the event.

Copyright © 2007 – 2026 Simona Carini. All rights reserved.

red beet, avocado, blood orange and daikon salad / insalata di barbabietola rossa, avocado, arancia rossa e ravanelli

| Simona

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red beet, avocado, orange and daikon salad / IMG_3716

before tossing
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the memoir Where I Come From by chef Aarón Sánchez1. I didn't know him before reading the book, but a few pages into it, I realized a few year ago I had met his mother, Zarela Martinez. She had been described to me as the chef who introduced Mexican cuisine to New York. It was interesting to read her story told by her son: what an amazing woman! On July 21, 19822 the NY Times published an article by Craig Claiborne titled Memorable Dishes From a Master Mexican Chef. Here's how Ms. Martinez is introduced:

A few months ago Pierre Franey and I were invited to plan a menu and supervise the preparation of quintessentially American food that was to be served to nearly 200 French chefs visiting this country. The vast majority of these chefs had never sampled the native fare of the United States. The dishes we proposed covered the country…

We also wanted to have Mexican-style food from Texas. When we canvassed our contacts for the best cook of the region, we were told that person was, hands down, Zarela Martinez-Gabilondo. She prepared the Mexican-American segment of the meal and her contribution was memorable.

Sánchez ends a few of the book's chapters with recipes, none of which is along the lines of what I cook, so I browsed the web for a Mexican recipe that would be. Recently, almost every day I have been making a salad using fresh vegetables from the farmers' market.

vegetables / IMG_3713

ingredients for the salad fresh from the farmers' market
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

A few recipes I found online3 made me draw up a list of ingredients: red beets, avocado, oranges and jicama. I couldn't find the latter, so I used daikon instead and was introduced to red and purple daikon, which are sold alongside their more famous white relative. I had not roasted red beets for a while and making this salad reminded me how much I like them. I buy them in bunches with their greens and stems (foglie e coste di barbabietola rossa), which are flavorful on their own (I will share a recipe soon).

I looked for lime but instead found variegated lemon (limone). Finally, in the citrus arena, I went for blood oranges, because I like their flavor and love their color. That all the salad's ingredients are grown in California is satisfying. My current favorite cheese addition to salads and other dishes is also a California production: Point Reyes Bay Blue4.

To me salad bowls are experiment benches: I mix and dress, toss and taste and tend not to repeat twice. For the photo op above I kept the ingredients separate, but then everything is tossed and eaten in the purple juice of red beet and blood orange. The citrus (agrumi) offset beets' sweetness and the blue cheese (formaggio erborinato) gives the salad a bit of a tang, while the daikon adds some zest.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Red beet, avocado, blood orange and daikon salad

Ingredients per person:

  • 1 red beet (4-5 ounces)
  • 1/3 of a medium purple or red daikon
  • 1/2 medium blood orange
  • 1/2 medium avocado
  • 3-4 tablespoons crumbled Point Reyes Bay Blue OR other sweet blue cheese
  • 1/8 teaspoon of fine sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon / 15 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons / 10 ml fresh lemon juice

Note: if you purchase a bunch of red beets, cut off the greens as soon as possible, leaving about an inch / 2.5 cm of stems and consume the greens shortly afterwards.

Heat the oven to 350 F / 177 C. If you only need 1-2 red beets, I suggest you bake them together with other foods, for efficiency's sake.

Scrub the red beets well. Wrap each in foil and place on the baking sheet or baking pan. Put in the oven and roast the beets until easily pierced with a blade. Let cool, then peel.

Prepare the vegetables in amounts according to the servings needed. Cut the red beet into bite-sized pieces. Brush and rinse the daikon, then grate it using the extra-coarse side of your grater. Peel and section the blood orange. Peel and slice the avocado.

Compose the salad using the vegetables and blue cheese. Dress with the sea salt, olive oil and lemon juice, toss and enjoy.

1 The book's page on the author's website
2 NY Times published an article by Craig Claiborne
3 The recipes that inspired me: Mexican Chopped Salad with Beets and Walnut Dressing, Xec, a Jicama and Citrus Salad, and Avocado, Orange and Jicama Salad
4 Point Reyes Bay Blue cheese, "a rustic-style blue cheese with a natural rind. It is known for its mellow flavor and sweet, salted caramel finish."

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

insalata di barbabietola rossa, avocado, arancia rossa e ravanelli

or launch the insalata di barbabietola rossa, avocado, arancia rossa e ravanelli audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

CtBThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Claudia of Honey from Rock. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

Small_NFlogoThis is my second contribution to the 41st edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I started 13 years ago and that I continue to host.

The roundup of the event.

image from 4.bp.blogspot.comI am contributing my salad to Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, a weekly event created by Cook the Books club co-host Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

The roundup of the event.

FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

avocado, red beet, salad, daikon, orange

recipe: red beet, avocado, blood orange and daikon salad

| Simona

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zuppa di lenticchie nere e verdure / black beluga lentil and vegetable soup

| Simona
black lentil soup

a few red beets give the soup its vibrant color

In her book Funny in Pharsi, the current Cook the Books club's selection, author Firoozeh Dumas tells stories about her experience as an Iranian expatriate in Southern California.

Some of the stories are funny, others less so, but the author tells them all with irony, so the reader is made to smile and at times laugh. Irony, however, is also a device behind which a writer can hide and this is what happens in this book.

Being an expatriate myself, I am interested in reading other people's experience. The book reminded me of stories I told my friends about funny experiences I had at the beginning of my life in California, like being asked "How are you?" all the time by perfect strangers that would then not pause long enough to hear my answer. Learning that it was a polite greeting expression did not make it any easier to get used to it. (In Italy, you ask that question only to a person you know — and you mean it.)

I expect a memoir to go beyond a series of vignettes and give the individual experience a universal flavor. This did not happen for me with Funny in Pharsi. Still, reading the book in the context of our club prompted me to learn a bit about Persian cuisine. 

Among the various recipes I browsed for inspiration, this one from Vegetarian Times reminded me that I had not made a lentil soup in a while. This version from the blog Turmeric & Saffron includes red beets (barbabietole rosse), an item in my spring CSA box, so I made up my mind to create a Persian-inspired lentil soup that would contain seasonal and local vegetables.

turnips

freshly harvested turnips

Besides baby red beets, in recent weeks my CSA box contained baby turnips (rape). The photo above, from last December, shows some small and some larger turnips I had harvested as part of my winter u-pick CSA. Turnips grow well in our area, yet are not as popular as they could be. Even in Italian, expressions that mention turnips are not flattering, like non si può cavare sangue da una rapa (you can't squeeze blood out of a turnip). A recent interesting article on the National Geographic website talks about this still underappreciated root vegetable.

I like turnips  and don't need encouragment to put a bunch in my basket. Of course, in the company of red beets, white turnips cannot avoid getting painted in the same color, but they don't lose their delicately spicy flavor and stand up nicely to the sweet beets, creating a balance in the soup, together with lentils and fresh spinach (spinaci), the latter also from my CSA share.

black beluga lentils

sorting through lentils before cooking them

My preference for small lentils made me reach for my stash of black beluga lentils for the soup: pretty, small and quick cooking. The photo above shows why sorting through lentils before cooking them is a necessary step: on the right there are the small pieces of debris I found during the operation.

So, here is my lentil and vegetable soup, inspired by the book and a Persian recipe, but fundamentally its own story, personal and local.

diced turnips and red beets

a bit of knife workout

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Black beluga lentil and vegetable soup

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup / 3.5 oz. / 100 g black beluga lentils
  • 1 tablespoon / 15 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium-large onion 9 oz. /250 g, finely chopped
  • 3/4 lb / 12 oz. / 340 g approximately half baby turnips and half baby red beets, greens set aside for another use (see Note below)
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (curcuma)
  • 2 cups / 475 ml light chicken stock or vegetable broth, possibly homemade +
  • 2 cups/ 475 ml water
  • 4-5 oz. / 115-140 g fresh spinach leaves or baby spinach
  • Fine sea salt — the amount will depend on how salty the stock or broth is
  • A dash of freshly milled black pepper

Note: The greens of both red beets and turnips are edible and quite nice. I cook them with other leafy greens, like rainbow chard and kale.

Sort through lentils and remove any pebbles and bits of debris, then rinse in cold water and drain.

Warm up oil in a 6-qt soup pot and add the onion. Stir to coat and cook on gentle heat for 15 minutes, stirring every now and then. The onion will be soft and start to brown.

In the meantime, scrub root vegetables well then dice them. To ensure even cooking, make sure the size of dice is about 1/4-3/8 inch / 6-9 mm.

Add turmeric to the onion and stir, then add lentils, beets and turnips and stir.

Pour stock/broth and water into the pot.

Cover the pot, bring soup to a boil and cook on gentle heat until lentils and vegetables are tender. Check after 20 minutes.

In the meantime, wash spinach leaves and chop them. 

When the soup is ready, season with salt to taste and black pepper. Add the spinach to the pot, cover and remove from the heat. The tender fresh spinach cooks in the residual heat.

It is better to let the soup rest for a while before eating it, to allow the flavor to ripen.

When mealtime approaches, bring soup back to boiling temperature and remove from the heat.

Ladle into soup bowls and serve, optionally topped with a dollop or two of homemade fromage blanc.

Serves 6.

black beluga lentil soup

just about perfect

I like this soup in both the vegetarian version and the version with chicken stock. Lentils and turnips give it an earthy flavor, red beets sweeten it and spinach brightens up the combination. 

CtB This is my contribution to the current edition of Cook the Books hosted by Rachel of The Crispy Cook.

The roundup of the event.

Small_NFlogoIt is also my first contribution to the 21st edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I started some time ago and that I continue to host.

The roundup of the event.

image from lh5.ggpht.comThe vegetarian version of my soup makes it eligible for My Legume Love Affair #71, the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen, and hosted this month by Sowmya of Nivedhanam.

The roundup of the event. 

Souper Sundayslogo Finally, I send my soup to Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, a weekly event created by Cook the Books co-host Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

The roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

zuppa di lenticchie nere e verdure

or launch the zuppa di lenticchie nere e verdure audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

lentils, turnips, spinach, red beets, soup, Iranian cuisine

Related articles
sagne incannulate con lenticchie al sugo / with lentils in tomato sauce

recipe: black beluga lentil and vegetable soup (zuppa di lenticchie nere e verdure)

| Simona

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barbabietole rosse da spalmare / red beet spread

| Simona

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

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When I was a child in Italy, red beets for me were steamed vegetables sold in vacuum-sealed packages that for some unknown reason I was not required to eat. Not that I wanted to: The color was appealing, but not enough to tempt me. Fortunately, steamed red beets were not the last word on the subject of this root vegetable. I think that roasting should be required before having children taste certain vegetables for the first time. But I digress. Of course, now I love red beets and have been eating them in various preparations. Seeing a recipe for roasted red beet houmous in Bread: River Cottage Handbook No. 3 was too tempting. I misread the recipe and overdid with the cumin, so I immediately made a second batch to dilute it. I then started to work on my own version of the spread.

I read around the web a bit, and found a number of recipes for red beet hummus that include chickpeas (like this one), making them closer to the traditional hummus. The recipe that inspired me has only red beets. Another traditional ingredient of humus is tahini, which I don't use, preferring olive oil (olio d'oliva). Because in the end I am not using any of the traditional ingredients of hummus, I will call my recipe red beet spread (barbabietole rosse da spalmare).

I start by roasting two red beets (14 oz. or so), scrubbed and wrapped in foil, at 375 F until I can easily pierce them with a blade. I also roast quattro spicchi d'aglio (four cloves of garlic), unpeeled and wrapped in foil. This is because I favor roasted garlic over raw garlic, whose flavor is too strong for me in many situations. The garlic cloves are ready well before the beets: I check them after 20 minutes and estimate the amount of time they still need.

When the beets have cooled a bit, I peel them and cut them into chunks. In a dry skillet, I toast a teaspoon and a half of semi di cumino (cumin seeds) until they smell fragrant (watching carefully to avoid burning). Right before use, I grind the seeds in a mortar. I put the following in the food processor, together with the beets and the peeled roasted garlic cloves: an ounce of bread crumbs (made using my homemade bread), two tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice, half a teaspoon of the ground cumin, sifted, one tablespoon of olive oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper. I process until smooth, then taste, then adjust any of the seasonings, to taste. I usually add more cumin, though not too much, as I have noticed that its flavor becomes more prominent with time. If you want a thicker consistency, add more bread crumbs. Refrigerate until use. Warning: it is addictive.

I like it better the day after I make it: the flavor is more mature. As I mentioned in a previous post and shown in another, this spread is great on bread and with cheese like my Stirred-curd Cheddar with caraway seeds and my fromage blanc (which I made with some goat milk, besides cow milk: more on this in a future post).

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

barbabietola rossa

or launch the barbabietola rossa  audio file [mp3].

[jump to Comments]

Newrule

barbabietola rossa

IMGP8743

Da ragazzina le barbabietole rosse per me erano quelle cose cotte al vapore vendure in buste sottovuoto, che per fortuna potevo evitare di mangiare. Non che mi lamentassi! Il colore era attraente, ma non abbastanza da farmi tentare un assaggio. Sono convinta che bisognerebbe arrostire certe verdure prima di farle assaggiare ai bambini per la prima volta. Scherzi a parte, adesso le barbabietole mi piacciono, soprattutto arrosto. Mi sono lasciata tentare da una ricetta per "houmous di barbabietole rosse" che ho trovato nel libro Bread: River Cottage Handbook No. 3. L'hummus è una pasta di ceci con tahina (crema di semi di sesamo) aglio, limone, cumino di origine medioorientale che esiste in molte varianti (come questa). La prima volta ho sbagliato a seguire la ricetta e ci ho messo tropo cumino, così ne ho fatta subito un'altra dose senza cumino per compensare e poi ho cominciato a fare esperimenti per creare una versione personalizzata.

Sul web ho trovato ricette (come questa) che usano sia ceci che barbabietole rosse, mentre la ricetta che mi ha ispirato usa solo queste ultime. Invece della tahina, io preferisco usare l'olio d'oliva. Visto che non uso gli ingredienti dell'hummus tradizionale, la mia ricetta si chiama barbabietole rosse da spalmare.

Arrostisco un paio di barbabietole rosse (400 g circa), ben raschiate e avvolte nella carta stagnola, a 190 C fino a quando si possono perforare facilmente con un coltello. Arrostisco anche quattro spicchi d'aglio, non pelati, anch'essi avvolti in un pezzetto di carta stagnola, perché preferisco il sapore dell'aglio arrosto a quello dell'aglio crudo, che per me, in molte situazioni, è troppo forte. Gli spicchi d'aglio si cuociono prima delle barbabietole: li controllo dopo 20 minuti e mi regolo su quanto tempo manca.

Quando le barbabietole sono tiepide, le pelo (la pelle viene via molto facilmente) e le taglio a pezzi. In una padellina calda, faccio tostare a secco un cucchiaino e mezzo di semi di cumino finché non profumano, facendo attenzione a non farli bruciare. Subito prima di usarli, li pesto nel mortaio. Metto i seguenti ingredienti nel recipiente del mio robot da cucina: le barbabietole a pezzi, gli spicchi d'aglio pelati, 30 g di pangrattato fresco (io lo faccio col mio pane fatto in casa), due cucchiai (30 ml) di succo d'arancia fresco, mezzo cucchiaino del cumino pestato e setacciato, un cucchiaio (15 ml) di olio d'oliva, sale e pepe macinato fresco. Faccio andare il robot finché non ottengo una pasta omogenea, assaggio e aggiusto i condimenti. Di solito aggiungo della polvere di cumino, ma non troppa, perché ho notato che il suo aroma si sente di più col passare del tempo. Se volete una maggior consistenza, aggiungete del pangrattato. Tenete in frigo fino al momento di servire.

Preferisco questa crema il giorno dopo: il sapore mi sembra più maturo. Come ho scritto in un post precedente e mostrato in un altro, ho spalmato queste barbabietole rosse su delle fette di pane e l'ho abbinate a due formaggi fatti in casa: Stirred-curd Cheddar con semi di carvi (o cumino tedesco) e fromage blanc (formaggio morbido che ho fatto con del latte di capra oltre al latte di mucca e del quale parlerò in un post futuro).