Holiday beet-down
Rooting out a couple of festive dish ideas

This time of year, the Missoula winter farmers market rocks a rare energy. Crafty growers have figured out ways to make summer linger, and the bounty remains near full-on. You can bring home the bacon, lettuce, tomato, bread and eggs for the mayo, and a plate on which to serve your sandwich.

And then there are the beets, larger than softballs, grown by a Belarusian family, the Lemezas. A six-bag of these hard orbs felt heavy enough to feed my family for a week. Feeling goofy, I had to ask, “Do you have any beets that are, like, any bigger?” I held apart my hands to demonstrate big.

I broke the tension with a laugh. He punched me in the shoulder. Ouch. I asked them how they like to eat their beets. He leaned in conspiratorially. “Grated,” he said. “With Italian dressing.” He kissed his leathery fingertips.

Her recipe was more complicated. Lots of things cut up “cute,” she explained, including cutely cubed beets, carrots, potatoes, onions and pickles, all tossed in olive oil. A salad-like dish that triples as a side and condiment, I call it “Christmas Sweater,” because it’s busy and somehow cute.

As for grated raw beets, I was not expecting to like them. It turns out, grated beets are just as sweet than cooked and make a crunchy, juicy bite. You can play around with the dressing and other grated ingredients. I prefer my grated beets with grated carrot and a little grated garlic, olive oil, salt, white and red balsamic, and goat cheese.

But perhaps my favorite thing of all is to fry them into pancakes, like the potato ladkes my mom would serve for Chanukah. The beets melt into a sweet, savory brown mouthful. I thought that I invented this recipe, but of course, there are plenty of recipes on the internet. 

Whatever pickles your beet, the next time you come across a big ole sack, you will have the tools to handle it. As you would expect from something high in sugar that tastes like dirt, beets will keep you grounded and going, for the holidays and beyond.

Beet Ladkes

Serves 2

1 cup coarsely grated beet

¼ teaspoon of salt

1 egg

1 tablespoon flour

Couple dashes of pepper

1-2 tablespoon XVOO

Garnish idea: fresh dill and sour cream or mayo

Grate the beet. Measure out a loose cup, and mix thoroughly with the salt. Let sit about 15 minutes, and then squeeze out the salty beet juice, leaving a golf ball-sized wad of grated beet.

Whisk the egg and milk. Add flour and mix again. Then add the grated beets, along with the pepper. Mix well, and let it sit 10 minutes.

Heat oil and butter in a pan on medium. When sizzling, add tablespoon or larger-sized glops of mixture, and press them into pancakes. After about five minutes, flip. When nicely browned on both sides, serve with dill and your choice of crème. ?

Christmas Sweater

Serves 4 as a side, 2 as a main

2 half-pound potatoes, peeled and cut in half

1 pound beets, peeled

1 pound carrots, peeled

1 medium onion

2 cups dill pickles

½ cup olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

Steam the potatoes until soft on the outside with just a bit of stiffness in the middle, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350. Peel and cube the veggies as perfectly as possible. Do the beets last, as you will need to wash the cutting board immediately.

Full disclosure: I suck at cubing things. Just try as hard as you can to be neat and organized. Bake the cubed beets and carrots in separate dishes for about a half-hour, stirring each pan once (with separate implements), until they are a little soft and a little crunchy. Then allow them to cool to room temperature.

When everything is cool, cubed and cute, gently toss together, minus the beets, along with the salt, pepper and oil. Taste and adjust seasonings, and then gently toss in the beets.