five ways with … a ton of beetroot

Beetroot was one of my star vegetables this year.  I harvested bunch after bunch in August/September and thanks to a late sowing in July I was still lifting beets in November.  With heaps of beetroot available you’d think I’d be trying a new recipe each week.  Quite the opposite is true – I love munching on freshly boiled, still warm, beetroots so much I’m hard pushed to venture to the B section of my recipe books.

I have from time to time you’ll be pleased to hear so my ‘5 ways with…‘ is not simply to boil/grate/roast/mash/soup them.  I am going to cheat a bit though by including a couple of recipes already put to the test but I think that’s forgivable in the run up to Christmas!

1.  Beetroot and Walnut Hummus
Hugh Fernley Whittingstalls recipe from ‘River Cottage Everyday’

• 50g walnuts
• 1 tbsp cuminseeds
• 25g stale bread, crusts removed
• 200g cooked beetroot (not pickled), cut into cubes
• 1 tbsp tahini (I didn’t have any so used whole sesame seeds)
• 1 large garlic clove, crushed
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• A little olive or rapeseed oil (optional)

How to make beetroot and walnut hummus (serves 4)

1. Put the walnuts on a baking tray and toast in an oven preheated to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for 5-7 minutes, until fragrant. Leave to cool.

2. Warm a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and dry-fry them, shaking the pan almost constantly, until they start to darken and release their aroma – this should take less than a minute, so be careful not to burn them. Crush the seeds with a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder.

3. Break the bread into small chunks, put in a food processor or blender with the walnuts and blitz until fine. Add the beetroot, tahini, most of the garlic, a good pinch of the cumin, half the lemon juice, a little salt and a good grind of pepper, then blend to a thick paste.

4. Taste the mixture and adjust it by adding a little more cumin, garlic, lemon, salt and/or pepper, blending again until you are happy with it. Loosen with a dash of oil if you think it needs it. Refrigerate until required but bring back to room temperature to serve.

2. Beetroot Chutney
from ‘Clearly Delicious: an illustrated guide to preserving, pickling.  and bottling’.
A simple, low sugar recipe that can be eaten immediately.

• 2 cooking apples
• 1 onion
• 240 ml (8 fl oz) malt vinegar
• 10 ml (2 tsp) freshly grated root ginger
• 5 ml (1 tsp) ground allspice
• 2 whole cloves
• 450g (cooked beetroots, leave unpeeled to cook to stop them ‘bleeding‘)
• 50g (2 oz) dark muscovado sugar
• 50g (2 oz) raisins

1. Core and slice apples.  Peel and slice onion.  Put both into pan and bring to the boil with the vinegar, root ginger, allspice and cloves.  Simmer, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes.
2. Peel the cooked beetroots, finely chop and add to the pan with the sugar and raisin.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Spoon into sterilized jars, seal and label.

3. Beetroot and Horseradish Relish
from ‘Recipes for self-healing‘; a lively 5 minute relish using cooked beetroot.

• 4 beetroot
• 1 onion
• 1 tsp fresh parsley
• 4 tbsp horseradish
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tsp mild honey
• salt
  Chop or grate the beetroot finely.  Chop the onion and parsley finely and grate the horseradish or us ready prepared horseradish from a jar (in which case use a little less vinegar).  Combine all the ingredients and let them sit for a while, the longer the better, before serving.  The recipe will make 2-3 cups and will keep for weeks in a sealed container in the fridge 4. Beetroot and Chocolate Muffins
  recipe previously posted here

  .
  5. Oven baked Beetroot Risotto
  recipe previously posted here

  If you enjoyed this roundup post you might find something to inspire here too ..

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