Roasted Beet and Potato Borscht

Friends sometimes say that my kids are easy in the variety of things they will eat. And I’ve kind of brushed that off – after all, James doesn’t eat meat, which is not especially easy, and Milo ate no fruits or vegetables at all except broccoli, apples and bananas, for years.

But then there was soup night potluck. When we brought out the borscht ,and James told the neighbor kids, eagerly, “Borscht! This is soo good!” and filled his bowl, and they looked on in faint stupefaction before turning to their hamburgers. Purple soup, who can blame them? Maybe my kids are a little odd. 

But if you get past the purple, this really is one fine and delicious dish.

Borscht isn’t a family dish for either of us, so we’ve tried a few different recipes along the way. My grandmother made a borscht that was more like a cabbage and tomato soup. The version Tom made for soup fest has a lot of beet flavor, no cabbage, and vegetables that are roasted adding richness. That, and the beets, also make the soup kind of sweet. Not sweet like dessert, but sweet like roasted onions and beets. 

Also on the menu was creamy squash bisque and chicken and kale soup. Look at these colors!

Add a little crusty bread and a peach cobbler made with the last of the frozen Michigan peaches, and you have the perfect winter potluck.

Roasted Beet and Potato Borscht

6 medium red beets, scrubbed and peeled.

2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

1 shallot (can substitute onion)

1 onion

½ tsp thyme

2 Tblsp. Olive oil

Kosher salt and black pepper

5 cups vegetable broth

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Garnish: sour cream, parsley or chives

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Serves 4

Cut 5 of the beets into medium dice. Coarsely grate the other beet and put aside.

Toss diced beets and diced potatoes, shallot and onion with the oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheets. Sprinkle with thyme. Roast about 45 minutes.

Bring broth to a simmer in a large saucepan or stockpot. Add the vegetables. Mash about half of the soup with a potato masher or the back of a spoon. Add the vinegar, salt, pepper, and the grated beet. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add additional broth or water if needed. Taste and add more vinegar if needed.

Serve garnished with a dollop of sour cream topped by the parsley or chives.

Beet and Potato Salad with Beet Greens and Blue Cheese

This is a combination of a couple of different recipes, with a nod to Martha Stewart, who has a similar recipe which uses the beet greens. I made this for Labor Day BBQ with our neighbors. The bright colors look great on a buffet!

Beet and Potato Salad with Beet Greens and Blue Cheese

• About 6 smallish/medium red/pink (not purple) beets, roasted, cooled, peeled and diced.
• About 6-8 medium Idaho gold potatoes (or other waxy potato). Boil with skins on, toss on some vinegar and oil to coat, cool. Peel and dice (you can skip the peeling if you like.)
• Sweet onion, 1 medium, chopped 
• Salad oil, about 1/2 cup
• White sweet vinegar, about 1/4-1/3 cup total. I used a combination of mostly white balsalmic and a little seasoned rice vinegar, which is really sweet.
• Salt and pepper
• Blue cheese, about 2-3 oz. I used an amish blue from Whole Foods, but any stinky cheese will do. I wouldn't use pre-crumbled crumbles.
• Beet greens, cooked as shown below recipe

Gently combine the cooled, diced beets, potatoes, and onion. Mix the oil and vinegar, adding salt and pepper to taste. Dress the salad with the oil and vinegar, stirring gently. You may need to add more or less, depending on how absorbent the potatoes are, your own preferences, size of the beets and potatoes you used, etc. You can also change the ratio to add more vinegar if you don't mind a stronger vinegar flavor.

Taste the salad and when it seems about right, put in a serving bowl. Garnish the top with dollops of the beet greens (be sparing - I used about half of what the greens from my 6 beets made) and then crumbles of the cheese. Chill until ready to serve.

Beet Greens

• olive oil, about 2 tablespoons
• 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, peeled, minced
• Beet greens from the beets, rinsed and trimmed and chopped into medium pieces. You'll only use about half of them, so don't worry if you have to discard a lot.
• Kosher salt (optional)

Heat olive oil on low/med in large skillet. Add garlic and cook until golden. Add greens and allow to cook down until completely wilted. If necessary, cover and stir occasionally. It will take about 5 minutes. Salt (optional) to taste. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Beets

Beets are like cilantro. Either you love them or they taste like dirt, and no amount of coaxing or persuasion can change the genetic programming of the tastebuds. 

Luckily, my whole family got the "loves beets" gene, because I don't think I could resist cooking with them this time of year when they're piled up all come-hither at the farmer's market. And they're great for you. The greens are higher in iron than spinach, and both the greens and the roots are packed with vitamins and antioxidants (lots of folate and Vitamin A.)

They're a useful little root, too. Until I left Michigan and couldn't find Pioneer any longer, I didn't realize that people don't make baking sugar out of beets everywhere. They also can be used to manufacture bioplastics. 

All that, and good-looking

In the fall, I'll be posting Tom's borscht recipe, but in the summer I usually just roast the beets and leave them in the fridge until I'm ready to use them. 

The other day at the farmer's market a shopper asked me how long to cook the beets so that they are still firm enough to use in a recipe that involves beets on a skewer and a dipping sauce. I didn't have an answer for her at the time, but after thinking about the times I've left my beets in the oven overly-long, I don't think they ever lose their firm, kind of gelatinous texture. 

More importantly, I forgot to ask her about the skewered beets recipe! Anyone have one? Would love to try it.

Roast beets

Preheat oven to 350

If this is your first time using beets and you've purchased the classic purple variety - be aware that the juice stains like crazy, including wooden cutting boards. PARENTS! Warn your kids (and their daycare providers) that their pee is going to be a bit pinkish/orangish the day after a meal of beets.

Gently rinse the beets. The skin will come off later, so don't worry about a little dirt. Don't trim the skin because you don't want the juice to flow out onto the pan. Trim off the greens, leaving about 1/2 inch of stem. (If the greens are still fresh, save them for cooking.) Leave some of the rooty bottom, too, again to keep the juice inside the beet.

I've seen recipes that say to put oil and salt and pepper on the beets at this point. But the skins will be coming off, so I skip that step. Put some aluminum foil in the bottom of a 9x13 pan (any pan with edges in case of juicing.) Put beets in the pan about an inch apart. Cover with aluminum foil. Roast for 45 minutes to an hour until cooked.

Allow the beets to cool enough so that they can be handled. Remove peels under running water (they will come right off.) If you will not be using the beets right away, they can be refrigerated with the skins on until you're ready to use them. 


Last night I prepared the beets I roasted a few days ago by just pan-sauteing with onion. Milo ran in from playing with the neighbors and grabbed a bite (of beet) out of the serving dish. "Mom, is this onion? Because if it is, it's the most perfect onion ever grown." 

best thing about summer cooking with fresh veggies: you really don't have to do much.

Rating: Four big, enthusiastic thumbs-up from my young diners.

Salad

After reading this post, you'll be shopping for beets this weekend, right? I've made myself hungry, at least. Here are a couple of other easy ideas. 

Roasted beets plus sweet onion and vinaigrette, garnished with hard-boiled egg slices, make a tasty and attractive salad.

If you've bought golden beets, you can use them in a summer potato salad. Also add sweet onions, some yellow and red bell peppers, and a dressing made with white balsalmic vinegar (1 part), olive oil (2 parts), some dijon mustard, and herbs of your choice. (I'd choose something sweet - marjoram and thyme, maybe.) Add a bit of honey if the dressing is too acidic. The sweetness of the beets complements the vinegar and the bland potatoes. Plus: mayonnaise- and egg-free, so you can pack it in your picnic basket.

USDA Beet Fact Sheet

Illinois Extension on Beets (scroll down on this page for another roasted beet recipe)