Beetroot Cooking Ideas

As beetroot has a sweet taste, it is a vegetable that is generally welcome by everyone (adults as well as kids). Though beetroot is as sweet as sugar, it is low in calories. Beetroot is also an excellent source of folic acid and iron, that's why beetroot is recommended to pregnant women, fight anemia and to prevent cardiovasculary diseases. Beetroot is also a useful food for athletes to fight muscle fatigue. With beetroot, we can combine pleasure and health benefits. So why not take advantage of beetroots? We can eat it raw or cooked. We can use beetroots in salads, soups, desserts...

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients (4 servings):

• 1 lb. cooked and peeled beetroots
• 16 oz. raspberries
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons wine vinegar
• 1 shallot, chopped
• salt
• pepper

Wash and dry the raspberries with a paper towel.

Slice the beetroots. Then cut in sticks.

Put the beets and raspberries together in a salad bowl.

Mix the wine vinegar with the chopped shallot and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing on the beets and raspberries. Mix gently and serve.

Tip: you can substitute the raspberries by red currants.

This cold beet soup is not only a delight for the eyes... It's also refreshing and tasty.

Ingredients:

• 6 medium raw beetroots
• 8 shallots, chopped
• 4 cups water
• 3 oranges
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoon sugar
• salt
• pepper

Zest one orange. Then, squeeze the 3 oranges.

Peel the beetroots and dice them. Put them with the chopped shallots and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat. Cook about 30 minutes: the beets should be tender.

Remove from heat and add the orange juice and sugar. Blend thinly. Add the balsamic vinegar and the orange peel. Salt and pepper. Leave the soup to cool. (At this stage, you can also freeze the soup for later use). Then chill for 3 hours.

Whip the heavy cream. Before serving, garnish the beet soup with the whipped cream.

For dessert, try this savory sweet beet tart...

Ingredients (6 servings):

For the crust:

• 1 2/3 cups flour
• 1 egg yolk
• 8 oz. salted butter, room temperature

Filling:

• 2 lb. cooked beetroots
• 3 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder
• 1 cup creme fraiche
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sugar

Prepare the crust: in a bowl, mix the flour, egg yolks and butter. Add a little bit of water (about 5 teaspons water). Squeeze together into a ball shape. Wrap it in a cling film and put in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Remove the dough from the fridge 15 minutes before using it.

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 360°F.

Peel and grate roughly the beets.

In a saucepan, mix the milk, creme fraiche and vanilla bean powder. Leave it to simmer on low heat for 5 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolks with the sugar. Add gradually the milk/ cream mixture and mix well. Add the beets.

Roll out the pastry dough and press into tart mold. Pour the filling on the tart crust. Bake for 45 minutes.

This tart is awesome when served with a raspberry coulis and vanilla ice-cream.

Tips:If you don't have time, you can make the pastry in advance. You can store the pastry up to 3 days in the fridge and up to 3 months in the freezer. Then bring up to room temperature before rolling out.

You can also use beetroots in can or vacuum packing beets; In this case, dice them.