Monday, October 20, 2025

Cream of the Crop Week 16: Beets!

 

Beets! Simple, easy, delicious, super healthy
by Miriam Meir


The only problem with beets is that they are so red! They are healthy. They are delicious. They don't need much aside of some lemon juice and salt, maybe a little olive oil. When you make them just with those ingredients, I recommend keeping the pieces larger - about 3x3".    
Beets make a great side dish for every meal. We usually have some on the table at dinner along with olives. You can also serve them with labneh or yogurt. 

Ingredients
4 beets
2 tbsp olive oil 
juice from 1 lemon
kosher salt to taste

optional additions: 
scallion
Aleppo pepper 
sumac
parsley
cilantro
lightly roasted and crushed coriander and cumin seeds
sliced almonds

Step 1. 
Preheat the oven to 350.  

Step 2.
Wrap each beet bulb in aluminum foil and place in the oven. Roast until a fork goes easily through the beets. This depends on the beets' size; it's usually around one hour.  

Step 3.
Cool and peel the beets with your hands - the skin will come of easily. I recommend wearing gloves for this step. Or reuse a plastic produce bag from the supermarket :) 

Step 4.
Cut the beets into 1x1" cubes. Mix with the lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. Ready! 
At this point you can mix in the add-ons. 


Tip
You can also boil the beets (in their skin) in water for one hour. The flavor is better preserved in the oven, though. 



About Miriam
Miriam is a mom, lecturer, and part-time grad student. Her family's kitchen is broadly Mediterranean, and inspired by their heritage: Belgian, Israeli, Moroccan and Syrian.




As always, please visit our blog for recipes over the past dozen years, and send us your recipes if you find something that you really love and that utilizes our current distribution.


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