Velvet Moon

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About a humble, yet colorful, member of the beet family (Ingredient Special on Red Beetroot plus Recipe ‘Beet Chair Pasta’, Rcp# 41).

There are many reasons to like red beetroot. One of the reasons I love it, is the color. It’s the color of roses, the color of summer fruit and the color of precious dark red velvet.

And I like to cook with this root. I use the young leaves ([‘Pizza Vagabond’]), the juice ([‘Liquid Grandeur: Divine Red’]), the root itself ([‘Freechiuli’], [‘Pasta alla Scolaresca’], [‘Multi-Meal Prep – The Sequel’]) and of course occasional pieces of the peel for [‘Vegetable Broth’]. And, last but not least: I even gave them a role in my love and crime story Salty & Cara ([‘Salty and Cara: ‘The Blue Dew’, Episodes 3 and 4‘], see Side Notes, item 4).

So these roots are obviously very versatile, and naturally have quite a few positive health properties, including a remarkable amount of minerals and vitamins (there are many solid online sources available on this). They even make good neighbors to a number of other plants in the garden patch [‘Best Beeties, Best Buddies’].

Still, when I talk to people about using red beetroot, or when I look at the supply bin for those dark velvet balls at our favorite grocery store, I can’t help but notice that many people aren’t comfortable cooking with them.

The arguments that come with the objection sound a bit like this:

“Yeah, I know they are good for you, but that color practically makes the whole dish pink.”

“They have a weird sweet-sour-earthy flavor. It is hard to match that”.

“Cooking with red beetroot is a total mess. Once you have cut them on the cutting board, everything is red. Including my fingers.”

I hear you, but all of the above mentioned challenges are not really difficult to overcome.

  1. About the cutting: Put on medical gloves, if you don’t want to stain your fingers. Another way to mask the intense color is to use other vegetables that produce a red color (tomatoes). Also, a good way to tame the red a bit is to cook the root whole and then peel it (you’ll still need gloves). On the bright side (literally), you can use red beetroot to dye food or fabric (look for professional instructions).
  2. The pink color turns to a nice dark reddish-brown, if you cook the meal a little longer, especially, if you add intensely green ingredients (arugula, spinach). Also, if you do not mix very light ingredients directly with the fresh beet pieces or the juice, but add them a little later, the effect will not be as strong.
  3. About that particular taste. Well, I have found that the best way to work with extremes is to understand their composition. That way you can divide them up. For example, the root has a sweet note, a sour note, and an earthy, almost bitter note. If you add ingredients that have these different flavors as their predominant characteristic, all the parts will blend better and the dish will have a special depth of flavor. I give you an example in the recipe for ‘Beet Chair Pasta’ below: Mushrooms for the earthy note, apricots for the sweet note, and dried tomatoes for the sour note. Another way to soften the extremes is the classic yogurt trick. Thickening with flours also has that effect to some degree.

Of course, you can always cover it up with sugar or salt. I do not like this solution, however, because it also conceals quite delicious notes. But there is one thing that does not suit this root: Being shy. It (b)rightly stands out and shines.

Side Notes

  1. Yes, as I am posting this, there is a full moon over Berlin. Arrooooh …
  2. Beetroot has been chosen by the German ‘Verein zur Erhaltung der Nutzpflanzenvielfalt e.V.’ (Association for the Conservation of Crop Diversity) as Vegetable of the Year 2023/2024. Thank you for your work and inspiration!
  3. Since there seems to be a beetroot hype in certain areas lately, I’ll repeat one of my grandfather’s favorite sayings here: “All in good measure”. Also, a good mix of foods is usually better than repeating your meals like a mantra every day or week. In addition to many other nutritional benefits, red beets contain elevated levels of oxalates and potassium. If you are not sure if this is right for you, or if you have special dietary needs, ask your doctor or nutritionist how much is safe for you to consume.

Beet Chair Pasta

With Ingredient Special on Red Beetroot (Rcp# 41)

Ingredients for Beet Chair Pasta

  • 1 red beetroot (180 – 200g without skin)
  • 1 kohlrabi (180 – 200 g without skin)
  • 2 fennel cores or 2 – 3 layers of fennel bulb (about 70 – 80 g, makes roughly 10 tablespoons of fennel bits)
  • 15 – 20 cremini mushrooms (about 140 – 150 g)
  • 5 dried and salted tomatoes (both halves)
  • 5 – 7 fresh chives
  • 10 dried apricots
  • 1 – 2 handfuls of arugula or salad rocket (40 g)
  • 10 – 12 fresh basil leaves or ½ – 1 tablespoon dried basil
  • 5 – 7 fresh sage leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried and crumbled sage)
  • 1 tablespoon ginger in oil or knife tip dried ginger
  • ½ teaspoon of a mild salt
  • Freshly ground nutmeg
  • 500 ml homemade broth [‘Vegetable Broth’]
  • 200 g oat yoghurt
  • Canola oil for browning
  • 400 g lentil or green pea penne pasta (about 100 – 125 g per serving)
  • chopped parsley

Preparations for ‘Beet Chair Pasta’

  1. Peel the kohlrabi and cut it into sticks (a little smaller than your pinky), then set the pieces aside on a plate. If you prepared the broth in advance and it is still cold, now is the time to take it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature.
  2. Peel the red beetroot and cut it into pieces of the same size as the kohlrabi on a large, sturdy plate or platter (do not use marble, wood or other color-sensitive surfaces for this, I use a regular, large, heavy porcelain plate), but keep it separate from the kohlrabi.
  3. Put the red beetroot sticks in a flat saucepan of about 2 ½ liters and add 400 ml of the broth. Heat and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove from the stove.
  4. Chop the fennel into small pieces (like onions). Cut the dried tomatoes into pieces the same size as the fennel. Chop the arugula and chives, but keep them separate. Mince the sage and mix it with the chives, fennel pieces and tomato bits.
  5. Heat up a frying pan with 2 – 3 tablespoons of canola oil. Saute the kohlrabi pieces until most of them are lightly browned. Remove the pan with the kohlrabi from the heat and set aside.
  6. Clean and separate the mushrooms (heads and stems). Cut the stems lengthwise and the heads into 2 – 3 slices, so that all the mushroom pieces are about the same thickness. Take the kohlrabi pieces out and saute the mushroom stems with the fennel and tomato pieces plus the chopped arugula in the former kohlrabi pan with 2 – 3 tablespoons of canola oil.
  7. When the stems are tender, turn the temperature down to low and add the sliced mushroom heads, the kohlrabi sticks, basil, chives, ginger, salt, freshly ground nutmeg plus 100 ml of broth and turn the heat off.
  8. Prepare the pasta.
  9. Reheat the red beetroot sticks in broth and bring them to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and combine the beets with the mushroom pan mix. Briefly heat to your preferred eating temperature (do not boil), then turn off the heat again.
  10. Cut the dried apricots into small cubes and add them to the mixture, gently folding them in. Just before serving, stir the oat yogurt into the sauce. Arrange the sauce on the pasta and garnish with chopped parsley.

Makes 3 servings.

Side notes:

  1. I hinted at this above: When working with red beetroot, wear clothing, that will tolerate a nice pinkish-red spot and/or perhaps an appropriately colored apron (mine is dark green). If the beet was smarter than you and got you before you could take the necessary countermeasures, be sure to immediately wash out the spot with cold water. There are various theories as to which detergent will help remove residual stains from different fabrics and materials (mineral water, lemon juice, salt, vinegar, special spot soaps… ). Make sure you do not have to test them. 😉
  2. Right now, the supply of beetroot in our area is changing from stored beets (last winter’s crop) to fresh beets. If you buy red beetroot at the market, you can easily tell the difference easily, because fresh beets will have their greens partially or completely attached to the root. If you cannot (yet) get fresh beetroot, try pre-cooked roots (jar, foil). Beetroot can also be frozen easily (peeled and cut), so you can have some on hand, if you like to cook with them (we do).
  3. If you have been following the adventures of Salty and Cara, you know that tomatoes are a member of the large nightshade family. That’s why I usually go to the trouble of cutting out the formerly green center of the dried tomatoes (now a yellowish-white circle), because they contain a substance that’s not so healthy (actually, it’s poisonous). By the way: If you want more action, join me for the next episode of my love and crime story in the world of fruits and vegetables, which will be released next Friday at the end of the month (here’s the link to the previous episode [‘Salty & Cara’, Silent Waters, Episode 5]).
  4. Why did I call this recipe ‘Beet Chair Pasta’? Because, technically, the two beets – kohlrabi and beetroot – make a cute striped pattern on and in the pasta. Which reminds me of the landscape of striped roofs on beaches these days. I love wicker beach chairs. They are the iconic symbol of a relaxed day by the water, doing nothing but watching the sea … . Ah, merry month of May.
  5. Speaking of beautiful stains: My favorite (red) basil turns my fingertips a wonderful deep purple every time I chop it. And the parsley leaves bring a really bright green to my white cutting board. Which I usually clean by fixing the board like a salad – with oil and vinegar (and then washing it as usual).

Please note: For all my recipes (text) on this blog (By MagS, Parsley-Lane Blog) I grant a CC license under the terms of BY-NC-SA 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike). For further explanations, please see the Legal Notice or visit creativecommons.org.