Sweet and Spicy Beets

Ingredients

1/2lb Beets

2ea Eggs

1ea Cayenne

20ea Cilantro Leaves

2tbls Sunflower seeds

2tbls Blackberry Jam

2tbls Keepwell Ginger Vinegar

1tbls favorite hot sauce

1ea Lemon

1tbls Sunflower seed oil

This is essentially a salad, but we first need to do some cooking to make the beets edible! We will start by turning your oven to 350. Get the beets cleaned and then put them into a roasting pan season liberally salt and pepper some sunflower oil and a little honey. Now fill the roasting pan with ½ inch of water and seal shut with aluminum foil and in the oven. In my experience beets take an hour and forty-five minutes almost every time…set a timer. When I cook beets I usually cook them a day in advance and marinate them for use the following day.

Now get on a pot of water for your eggs. When it is boiling gently place 2 eggs in for 8 minutes. I did mine to medium consistency, if you like hard go to 10 min, or for soft 6 min. When done run cool water over them to stop the cooking process. Once cool peel and set aside.

Very simply roast dry roast some sunflower seeds on a baking sheet at 350 for 5 min. When done season with salt as soon as they come out of the oven.

Now we can make the marinade for the beets. The idea of beets and berries might sound strange, but the two things work so well together the sweet acid of the berries balances the earthy flavors of the beets. Now that berry season is over, we will turn to preserves for our marinade. With a mixing bowl and whisk combine the Blackberry jam, hot sauce, ginger vinegar, and sunflower oil. Taste and adjust as you see fit.

When the beets are done you will be able to pierce them with a paring knife with ease. Once done allow to cool to the touch and put on gloves if you have them and peel the skins back, if they are fully cooked this should happen very easily and a paper towel or old dish rag is of great assistance. You can now cut them however you like I cut them into eights and then halved but its not important. Now get them into a bowl and season with salt, pepper, and the marinade, taste and adjust to your liking.

Grab that Cayenne and let’s slice it thin avoiding any seeds!

Now plate up! I did beets down then sunflower seed then I tore the egg in 3 and placed it down, then seasoned the dish with flake sea salt, then the cayenne, and a squeeze of lemon and finally the cilantro. That is it, beets can be a challenge, but they are a delicious one in my opinion. This could be amped up with a little yogurt or some goat chevre…feel free to experiment!