An angel in the kitchen: Beetroot

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Summertime Wraps

We love colourful food & we love beetroot. We eat beetroots in all their glorious colours almost all year round as there are some fabulous beetroot growers at our Farmers' Market.
This dip is just amazing & so handy to have in the fridge for adding extra pizzazz to almost any meal. It is also an excellent ingredient to add in to summertime beetroot wraps.

The wraps themselves we get at New World- they are Farrah's Superbeet Wraps & such a cool colour & not at all stodgy.

Here's one version that we made last summer.

And here's the pictorial inspiration- just so we remember what to do next time round.

This beetroot dip was made with mostly yellow beets with one red one.

The first addition to this particular creation is some homemade pickled ginger.

Cucumber is always delicious however you want to use it- sliced, grated, shredded- even sticks.

The egg salad is also a great thing to have on hand in the fridge in summer- just boiled eggs, shelled, seasoned, mashed with the addition of some whole seed mustard & some good mayonnaise.

The carrot salad is just grated carrot, corn cooked & cut off the cob, salt & pepper, lemon juice & parsley, coriander or finely chopped mint.

Nasturtium leaves are a great addition- just a little spicy. And Red Shiso is one of our favourite summer herbs. Heirloom meaty tomatoes can be sliced very thinly- then sprinkled with salt & pepper.

Radicchio is so cool & perfect to add in to a wrap, as it's slightly bitter & nicely digestive, or use other lettuce or salad greens.

And then there's avocado or anything else that takes your fancy.
Wrap in natural greaseproof paper to take on picnics & make sure you have some serviettes to mop up the juicy, delicious mess.

Katie X

Friday, January 3, 2020

Beetroot Dip

We love beetroot & cook it often.
Bayfresh at our local Farmers' Market grow fabulous beetroot, as does Epicurean & Gay & Robert, when they're not too busy growing plants.
There are so many gorgeous colours now too.
It's marvellous used cold from the fridge or grated & mixed with a simple dressing & kept in the fridge for the week.
Sometimes, I roast beetroot, other times just simmer them until tender- slip off the skins & they're all ready to use. This delicious dip is so simple to make, ever so colourful & goes with almost everything.

Aren't choggia fascinating!

Whatever your preference- good old red beets or others.
Soak a cup of raw cashew pieces in water for an hour (or overnight if you've thought ahead)
Cook around 350 grams of beetroot until tender.
Drain the cashews thoroughly & slip the skins off the beets.
Place them both in to a bowl together- cut the beet up a bit.
Add 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar, or lemon juice or white balsamic vinegar- whichever you have one hand, or takes your fancy.
1/2 tsp sea salt & loads of freshly ground black pepper.
1/2 tsp cumin seeds ground in a mortar & pestle or spice grinder next then, if you like, add a 1/2 tsp honey.
Last thing- add 2 tbsp melted/softened coconut oil.
Add crushed garlic if it appeals. As soon as I find some onion weed "onions" I'll use a couple of those in the next lot.
Blend together with a stick blender or in a food processor.

Here are a few alternatives: instead of cashews use a cup of lightly toasted walnuts. Wild onion bulbs work as an excellent alternative to garlic- perhaps 6 or 7 bulbs would be great. Roll them with the flat of your hand on a hard surface & the papery skins come off, then process with the nuts. Olive oil is a good alternative to coconut oil you'll just get a different texture depending on which nuts are used & which oils. A little soy/tamari sauce in to the red beetroot dip is also nice.

The top version was made with red beets, yellow version was made with orange ones & the bottom bright pink lot was made with an equal mixture of the two.