The White Hat Guide to Beetroot (Beets)

This short article was first published in The White Hat Food & Wine Newsletter, December 2009

Beetroot (in some countries they are known as beets) is a much maligned vegetable. In Australia it usually comes out of a can and is placed on hamburgers to annoy Americans who retaliate by placing pickled cucumbers on theirs.

The main thing to understand when handling beetroots is that they can smell fear, so it all comes down to mental attitude. I prefer to slip on a pair of kitchen gloves and announce to the beetroot “the doctor will see you now”. Those words accompanied by the sound of snapping plastic gloves are enough to bring tears to the eyes of a grown man so it should work with a beetroot. With this show of strength having established the relative position of man and vegetable on the food chain you should find them cowed enough to subjugate themselves to your will and your unforgiving knife.

Roast beetroot salad

Individually wrap several medium to large beetroots (or a number of baby ones) in foil and cook in a low oven (180 for up to 1 hour). When cool enough to handle with kitchen gloves, chop off top and tail and peel. You should find the skin can be rubbed off without resort to a peeler. Cut into bite size chunks and while still warm dress with olive oil and lemon juice. For serving we suggest an accompanying bowl of yoghurt which has been spiced with harissa which can then be spooned onto the beetroot to form a strong contrast. This works best while still warm but also survives well as a picnic salad.

Raw beetroot salad

Peel a larger beetroot then grate the flesh as you would grate a carrot into a bowl. Segment some citrus (orange, mandarine or grapefruit) and place on top together with a healthy amount of parsley leaves. Dress with some oil (a strong nutty oil like Macadamia oil or walnut oil works well with this) citrus juice and red wine vinegar. Toss and garnish with roasted unsalted nuts to taste. This strong salad works well with barbecued meats and also benefits from the spiced yoghurt mentioned above.