Beet and chevre salad

ur garden is rolling out the produce quite nicely, and I'm a wee bit blissed out with the harvesting of romaine, kale, potatoes and beets. Green beans need to be gathered soon, as do onions (Walla Walla Sweets!), and the zucchini and summer squash are starting to proliferate... amazing what a little sunshine will do.

So those beets... how about those beets? I have had "issues" with beets over the years... not many issues--the main one is that I think they taste like dirt if they aren't of the pickled variety, and I really can't stand the pickled ones! Generally, I've just avoided them. For some reason, though, over the past few years, I've felt like it's something I need to "work on." Because there aren't enough vegetables in my cupboard? Not sure. A nutritional psychologist could probably posit a theory or two...

Sweet Aunty M tried to convert me a few years back with some beets roasted in vanilla, and they were... okay... nothing I felt the need to do again. And borscht is borscht--as a soup it seems quite separate from beets themselves; I know, the contradiction makes no sense. I understand your confusion. I'm a little confused myself.

And yet, here we are: there are beets in the garden. Someone bought seeds (me) (notice that they are yellow and striped beets, how fun!) and planted them (me again) and even thinned them out (yep), and picked them, brought them inside, washed, peeled and roasted them (yes, still me). Sounds like someone who actually likes beets, doesn't it?

Well, true confession time, I've been moving sideways toward liking beets for a bit now. A couple of local restaurants have featured beets as salads and appetizers and the way that beets have found their way into my heart will come as no surprise: chevre. Yep, it's another vehicle for cheese! I knew you'd understand.

So, when I thought of how I'd want to eat my beets, I looked around for a beet and chevre salad, and found a few options. I settled on this one to model after, and the results were truly yummy.

Beet and chevre salad
2 cups washed mixed greens (I had romaine from the yard, but think in the future arugula would be my green of choice for this salad)
1 cup roasted beets, sliced or cubed
1/3 cup chevre, crumbled
1/3 cup roasted hazelnuts, chopped roughly

Orange vinaigrette
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Combine orange juice and oil in a jar with lid, add salt and pepper and shake until emulsified.

Put greens in a medium bowl and drizzle with enough orange dressing to coat and toss well. Layer the greens, then beets, then chevre, then hazelnuts on a dinner-size plate and drizzle a bit more dressing if you'd like.

Beet heaven! Two words I never thought I'd put in the same sentence.

How's this for a clever idea for roasting the beets and not having any colors run into each other? Those dark beets can really stain up whatever they touch! It worked so cleverly I had to post this picture to Pinterest (of course!).

Borscht: Childhood memories in a bowl

can't count the number of times I've eaten borscht in my life. It was a winter staple during my growing up years, and in spite of a very well documented and loudly stated hatred of beets themselves, for some reason I have always enjoyed borscht. Can't tell you why, it just is.

Here I am, decades later, still making borscht! Love the smell, the flavor, the excuse to eat big spoonfuls of sour cream... And while there are many versions of borscht around that incorporate beef and beef stock, I tend to stick with the vegetarian version--it's just a clean, earthy flavor that I appreciate. 

When I make borscht, it's like my childhood is alive in my kitchen. I can make believe this is an ancient family recipe that's been handed down and handed down... well, in reality, it's a little of this, a little of that. I think my mom made it one way, my Grandma Kandt had a few variations, and I probably add my own little twist as well... My Aunty MJ took the time and effort to write down her best approximation of my Grandma Kandt's borscht; it's pretty close to what I've always done. (Thanks for that, MJ. It provides a very good roadmap!)

Here's my take. More or less...

Borscht
1 small cabbage, finely chopped (I use a bag of preshredded coleslaw cabbage and it works just great)
1 large onion, diced
3-4 celery stalks, diced
3-4 carrots, diced
2 large potatoes, cubed
3 large beets, cubed
1 large tin crushed tomatoes
Dill, fresh if possible
Salt and pepper
Sour cream

In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil and add the onion, celery and carrots, having diced them each to the same approximate size dice. Saute until onions are translucent.

Add the cabbage, potatoes and beets and mix until thoroughly blended. Fill pot with water until the vegetable mixture is just covered, and bring to a gentle boil. Turn down heat and simmer until the beets and potatoes are tender.

Add finely chopped dill. I like a generous amount of dill, so I would probably put about a half cup in a large pot of soup. Go for it! Stir to incorporate the dill. Ladle into bowls and be ample with the sour cream too.

A bowl of this soup brings back wonderful memories of family suppers around the table, lots of fresh bread and warm soup. In my little Norman Rockwell fantasy, it's probably snowing outside. I'm undoubtedly winning at some verbal sparring match with my brother while my mom is keeping peace (or at least working at it) and my dad is rolling his eyes (and joining in). Ah, bliss.