Beetroot is a vegetable I discovered (and loved)
relatively late. In fact it doesn't belong to the culinary tradition of the
Italian region I come from, the Marche region. At least until my
twenties, when I moved to North of Italy (where instead beetroot are more common), I thought that beets
were used just to make sugar (as farmers in my area, including my grandfather,
used to grow only the sugar beets) but I had no idea of the existence of other edible
varieties. And also, after discovering the table beetroot, it was not love at
first sight. Because actually the first beets I tried were the pre-cooked ones
sold in supermarkets in vacuum-sealed plastic packages: not that delicious, to be
honest! But finally I had ash-roasted beetroot - some farmers use to make and
sell, but I could also found them in some vegetable shops - and realized how good
they can taste (even better than oven roasted as the flavor is more
concentrated and with a light smoked taste). Since then my liking for beets has
progressively increased. I have had, both at restaurants and at home, many different dishes made using beets, sometimes as main ingredient, other times
mixed with different things: salads (one recipe I love here), risotto, soups, spreads (like
this beetroot hummus), drinks, even cakes (beets and chocolate go particularly
well together) . And I am always curious to try new ways of preparing and
serving them. Middle Eastern cuisine - that I am enjoying much lately, also
making some recipes at home - makes a quite extensive use of beets (and
I am very glad of this), especially in salads, sides, and mezze, the
Middle Eastern appetizer, in which a selection of different dishes are spread
on the table for sharing among guests. One dish usually served as part of mezze is
Shamandar, a sort of dip made of diced beets in a tahini (a paste made from ground, hulled sesame seeds) and
yogurt dressing.
In the traditional recipe beetroot are boiled while the
dressing is made mixing yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, oil and garlic. To make it
at home I followed Suzanne
Husseini(1) recipe, a variation on the traditional one: beets are baked instead of boiled (this is actually my favorite cooking method for beets) and orange juice and zest are added to the dressing. The result is delicious, with the sweetness of beetroot balanced by the earthy flavor of tahini and the tartness of citrus and yogurt. And the color is absolutely amazing!
Shamandar: beetroot
salad with yoghurt tahini dressing
adapted from "When Suzanne cooks" by
Suzanne Husseini
serves 4 to 6
6 medium beetroot
40 ml yogurt
2 garlic cloves, crushed (I used only 1)
2 tablespoons tahini
pinch of cumin
juice and zest of 1 lemon
juice and zest of 1/2 orange
sea salt
mint leaves to garnish
extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat the oven to
200°C. Trim the beetroots stalks, wash well the beetroot, dry and coat with
olive oil. Wrap each one individually in aluminum foil, place on a baking sheet
and bake for about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour or until cooked through. Remove from
the oven and let cool completely. Then peel the cooked beetroot (using some
gloves may be a good idea), dice finely and place in a bowl.
Mix the yogurt,
garlic, tahini, cumin, zest, lemon and orange juice and salt to make a
dressing. Pour over the diced beetroot and mix to combine well.
Place in shallow
serving dishes, drizzle on some olive oil and garnish with mint leaves.
I had same salad recently at Le meridien hote in greek restaurant called acropolis.
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