Thursday, July 2, 2009

Sesame Beets


I love beets. I could eat a bowl of beets everyday. I prefer them boiled to roasted but I like them either way. It seems as though my love for beets is causing me to rhyme. So, moving on! Beets are delicious. Really nothing not to love about them. I know I don't post recipes with beets that often but we do eat them fairly often. I usually just roast them with other vegetables or simple boil them and slice them up.


Here's Abby with a salad I made with these beets. (The salad had mixed greens, tofu, raw chayote and beets.)


This is a really simple recipe to dress up beets a bit. Nothing too crazy, but it's a nice change, and you can do what I did and add them to a salad. The natural beet juice and light sesame dressing can take the place of your regular dressing. Though I've started to eat my salad without dressing anyway. At first it was hard but you get used to it. Just like eating raw vegetables without dip. One thing I haven't done with beets yet is bake with them. I really want to try these double dark chocolate beet muffins. Oh and I forgot about these beet & carrot latkes, yum! Ooo and this maple-roasted pear salad (with beet dressing!) and this beet pesto. Wow I didn't realize I had all these beet recipes saved - I must get busy with beets!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Beet, Barley & Black Bean Soup
Asian Beet and Tofu Salad
Caribbean Roasted Vegetables
Maple Mustard Glazed Potatoes and String Beans

Sesame Beets
Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

The dressing isn't too strong so next time I might add more lemon or vinegar.

1 pound beets
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 green onion, minced
1 tsp sugar
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Trim the leaf stems of the beets to about an inch (if your beets come with leaves, save the leaves for cooking), scrub the beets, and place them in a pot with water to cover. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes, until tender and easily pierced with a sharp knife. Drain and rinse with cold water until cool enough to handle. Remove and discard the skins, which should slip off easily, and slice the beets into a bowl. Toss with the lemon juice, vinegar, sesame seeds, green onions, and sugar. Add salt and pepper to taste. Chill thoroughly for about 30 minutes and serve.

25 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Beets are so gorgeous - love the recipe!!

Aww, Abby :-)

Steph said...

I love beets too! I especially like them in soup when their sweetness adds so much flavour.

Johanna GGG said...

yum - I love beets too - you have reminded me about a beetroot and apple muffin recipe I must try

Alisa - Frugal Foodie said...

Oh man, now I totally regret not getting those organic beets that were on sale yesterday. It tempted me, but I thought, "what will I make with them?" Darn, here it is. Looks awesome!

Pearl said...

i recently discovered beets and have fallen in love! delicious, natural starbursts!

Xiaolu said...

That looks wonderfully simple, health, and tasty! I actually own that cookbook and should really use it. The first dish I'd tried was meh but I'm all about second (and third) chances. :)

What camera do you use? I'm trying blogging again, but my pictures always look off. The fact that I usually cook late at night is a big factor, I'm sure, but my camera IS old. Thanks!

eatme_delicious said...

Xiaolu: Yea not all the recipes in that cookbook are awesome but there are some good ones in there. My camera is a Canon PowerShot A530. I think taking photos in the day time with natural light makes the biggest difference in how photos turn out.

Xiaolu said...

That's good to know. I actually took all my pictures so far on my boyfriend's PowerShot, though he has a different model.

Liz said...

I love beets and sesame, so this recipe is perfect to make tonight!
Miam-miam!

fleur said...

O yum, I must try these thanks for posting it :)

Ricki said...

I love beets, too, even though they get a bad rap! Looks like Abby is considering them, also ;)

Hannah said...

I'm still working on my appreciation for beets, but I this sounds like a good place to start!

Sprouted Kitchen said...

this looks so fabulous! great blog!

Snooky doodle said...

these look nice and yummy. Great recipe :)

Mel said...

I don't ordinarily think to prepare beets, but this salad does look lovely! Abby is a very pretty feline!!

Lisa Turner said...

I love beets too. One of my favorite veggies in fact. I think I would roast the beets for this dish. Delightful, either way.

CookiePie said...

What a delicious-looking salad! I love beets.

Hartley from Kitchen Caravan said...

mmmm I love beets - and my love affair is fairly recent. It's as if I had decided my entire life that for no good reason I just didn't like beets. Then I ate beets and the rest is history.

One of my favorite beet recipes is this one for Mamaliga with Roasted Beets and Feta Cheese. It's delicious! Give it a try!

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

I could eat beets for lunch alone. They are so good. Great recipe from Moosewood.

Glitter Girl said...

Wow, these look amazing. I love beets with a passion usually reserved for desserts!

michal (W.I.T.W.I.M.) said...

I don't know why, but I can't get past a cat on the counter with the food. Ha ha! Maybe it is from my Food Safe days. Beets and cat hair anyone. Don't get me wrong, I love animals and I love food. I am just not sure about them together!

eatme_delicious said...

michal: Oh I'm with you! That's not the counter that she's laying on - it's the window seat. =) She doesn't go on our kitchen counters or dining table.

The Food Librarian said...

I love beets too! I love the golden beets...that is like eating candy! :)

Aaron said...

I notice there's no oil at all in this recipe. Would you think just a tiny amount of sesame oil would kick things up a notch in a good way, and if so, how much? Also, for more Asian-ness, is there some way to get some soy sauce into the recipe, or does that even go with beets?

eatme_delicious said...

Aaron: You could definitely add some toasted sesame oil and soy sauce. That sounds good to me. :) I'm not sure how much. Maybe start with 1 tsp of each and add more to taste?