Friday, July 02, 2021

Foodie Friday - Beet Gazpacho

 

I went to the Old Town Alexandria Farmers Market one Saturday morning recently, the cute young organic farmer had the most amazing looking beets, a little larger than a golf ball and with a nice deep color. Beets can be a love or hate root vegetable. Jay happens to love such things.  And it is nice to support the local farmer - he is about 30, tall, thin, tanned, balding, and as pleasant as he could be, he has about an acre of land, here in the local area.  He has a younger apprentice with him this year.

I thought about what to do with them, one bundle, probably 3/4 of a pound (about 400 grams.) I had a cold beet gazpacho at Jaleo recently when I met a colleague for lunch, I decide to try that.  

I peeled them, and steamed them for about 20 minutes until tender, put them in the refrigerator to cool.  I also chilled the liquid in the bottom of the steamer, probably about a cup, it was deeply colored and had a nice beet flavor.  To make the soup, I chopped two green onions, tops and all, half a stalk of celery, about 1/2 cup of chopped cucumber, one medium tomato- cubed, and roughly chopped the beets.  I blended all of that with a stick blender (a regular blender or food processor would work,) with a drizzen of apple cider vinegar until nearly smooth.  I served over a round of Russian Farmer's Cheese, a creamy, soft cheese about the same texture as goat cheese but milder in flavor (goat cheese or sour cream would work well,) sprinkled a little chopped cucumber over the top, a little salt and pepper, be careful salt would overpower it easily. Serve cold (I chilled it for 10 minutes in the freezer.) It made two oversized servings, probably four servings as a first course.  

Simple, cold, and absolutely packed with fresh seasonal vegetables. The cucumber,  celery and vinegar balance the woody or root taste of the beets. I bet I can do the same thing with carrots. 

22 comments:

  1. Sorry. I couldn’t even look at the photo. Beets is one of the foods I hate more than any other.

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  2. Anonymous7/02/2021

    'cute young organic farmer'. That grabbed my attention. I love tinned beetroot but I don't think I have ever eaten non tinned beetroot. I'd like to try.

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    1. Mission accomplished on the farmer

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    2. The real beet can be quite a different experience, esp. of well prepared.

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  3. A few weeks back, Mitchell talked beets and I said I couldn't tolerate them.
    And here they are again!!
    It's like the beets are following me everywhere i go, though they get there first!

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    1. I had already written this when Mitchell mentioned his concerns with beets. This is surprisingly good.

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    2. They are among the most persistent of vegetables. Once they fix their little beety eyes upon you,they seldom if ever let you go.

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    3. Beety little eyes, OGM

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  4. Ah beets. I have tried to like them, but I just don't. The color is amazing though!

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    1. Yes, the color is amazing, the flavor of this is really interesting

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  5. "Beets" -- so that's what they're calling them now, eh?

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  6. An adventurous recipe.

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    1. If I hadn't had something like it, I probably would have never tried it

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  7. It looks vile …..I bet it tasted lovely

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  8. Try Lágraimas de la Virgen (Tears of the Virgin) sometime. We float some peanuts on top. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/lagrimas-de-la-virgen-379459

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    1. I'm jennifer rose, signed in under my email, but for some reason, Blogspot prefers to call me unknown, which is fine with me. But I didn't want you to think you were being stalked.

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    2. Hi Jennifer, it is great to hear from you. I have never tried raw beet juices.

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  9. Simple, cold, and absolutely packed - liked my men.

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