Sunday, January 20, 2013

Beets & Their Greens with Orange-Pistachio Topping

Just another beet-citrus combo:


At the store, pick up a bunch of 4 smallish beets with nice tops (or, if you can't find any with tops, beets and a nice bunch of chard, which is the same thing).  At home, separate the beets from their greens and roast the beets in a covered baking dish in 1/2 cup of water at 400 for 30 or 40 minutes, until they are well and truly soft.

In the meantime, clean the beet tops and throw them in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes, just until they get dark and a bit limp.  Strain them and chop them a few times with a knife.  

Then make the orange mixture (what is the cooking term for something like this?  A relish?):  Peel a large orange or blood orange (or two small ones) and remove what pith you can, then chop each section into thirds.  Throw the orange chunks into some heated sesame oil in a skillet. Add a handful of shelled pistachios, crushed a bit with a mortar and pestle.  Add about 1 TB of capers.  Cook until the oranges look a bit... well, cooked... but no longer (just a few minutes).  

When beets are cooked and cooled, peel and slice them.  Toss it all together in a bowl and eat with nori salt (a great idea from the blog post that inspired this dinner).

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