I am officially shocked. As a self proclaimed beet hater, I have now fallen in love with beets. When I knew I was getting them with my CSA last Thursday I figured I’d better browse around for some ideas. I found a simple recipe at Blue Egg Kitchen that would be a great base and an interesting beet chutney recipe on several blogs that originally came from Bon Appetit.
Make them both together or they are great alone. The relish would also be excellent with pork and if you make the soup I encourage you to experiment with different seasonings to change up the taste and make it your own. Then report back, of course, so I can try it out!
Carrot-Beet Soup and Beet Relish with Raisins and Fresh Ginger
1. Roughly chop onion, carrot and garlic. Place into food processor and pulse a few times to create a finer chop; pour into medium bowl. Follow the same process with the sweet potato and beets but leave those in the food processor as they will be added later.
2. Melt the Earth Balance and olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat, then add the onion, carrot, garlic, and a splash of broth, and cover. Cook about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the potatoes and beets and broth; simmer, mostly covered, until all vegetables are soft, about 30 minutes.
3. Remove pot from heat and blend using an immersion blender or in small batches in a standard blender. Season with coarse sea salt, to taste.
Nutrition Facts
4 Servings
***4 WW Pts Plus
Amount Per Serving
Calories 150.1
Total Fat 7.0 g
Saturated Fat 3.1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.1 g
Monounsaturated Fat 4.5 g
Cholesterol 12.8 mg
Sodium 994.8 mg
Potassium 714.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate 20.5 g
Dietary Fiber 3.2 g
Sugars 3.1 g
Protein 2.9 g
Vitamin A 234.6 % (WOW!)
Vitamin B-12 8.5 %
Vitamin B-6 14.2 %
Vitamin C 27.1 %
Vitamin D 0.0 %
Vitamin E 4.3 %
Calcium 4.7 %
Copper 19.3 %
Folate 12.5 %
Iron 9.3 %
Magnesium 5.3 %
Manganese 42.8 %
Niacin 31.1 %
Pantothenic Acid 5.2 %
Phosphorus 19.6 %
Riboflavin 12.7 %
Selenium 9.7 %
Thiamin 5.7 %
Zinc 5.6 %
Beet Relish with Sweet Raisins and Fresh Ginger
6 Servings
Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 3/4 cups chopped red onion
1 2-inch-diameter beet, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup champagne vinegar (or sub any vinegar you like)
3 tablespoon raisins
3 tablespoons agave
2 teaspoons chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 Tbsp whole grain mustard
Pinch of whole cumin seeds
Directions
1. Heat olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add chopped red onion, a bit of water and the beet cubes until onion is softened; stirring frequently, about 8 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water and bring mixture of a boil until thickened, about 5 minutes.
2. Add vinegar, raisins, agave, ginger, mustard, and pinch of whole cumin seeds. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until beet cubes are tender and relish is thick, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Nutrition Facts
6 Servings
***3 WW Pts Plus
Amount Per Serving
Calories 93.0
Total Fat 2.4 g
Saturated Fat 0.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.7 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 64.4 mg
Potassium 183.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate 18.9 g
Dietary Fiber 1.4 g
Sugars 13.4 g
Protein 1.0 g
I think I always say the same thing – YUM. I really need to remember to add beets to the grocery list.
I used to LOVE beets. They have a sweet and earthy flavor and they taste fabulous with goat cheese. However, 3 years ago I caught a stomach flu and got really sick after eating a beet salad and well … you know how the story goes. I cannot eat beets anymore
Yay! A beet convert! Aren't they the best? I love 'em roasted and tossed with fresh mint. I love the beet greens too. Mmmmm.
You know you've taken two of my favorite vegetables, carrots and beets, and put them in my current favorite thing to eat- soup! There is no way I can resist making this recipe in the immediate future!
I have recently fallen in love with beets too, especially golden beets. That soup looks delicious! Carrots and beets is a great combo. I have never made a carrot soup but I may have to take on the challenge with this recipe!
I'm telling ya…I didn't have very high hopes but I'm now a convert!
I'm not a beet girl…but this soup recipe looks pretty tasty. And if it converted you…then I may just have to give it a try! Thank you for sharing, sweet friend. May the middle of your week be full of joy and laughter.
This soup sounds a lovely idea today that is very cold here.
I completely understand the shock, Dawn. A few years ago I found myself enjoying a beet salad and it took me totally by surprise. However, it means that now I already know I'd enjoy this soup – it looks great!
this soup looks amazing:) i need to go out and get some beets now…yum! thanks for sharing this.
I can't vouch for pickled beets but so far I'm with you all on the fresh ones. SO good.
I'm not the biggest beet lover either but I've found that it really depends on the preparation. This relish, with it's intense flavors, would be like crack to me. I'm pretty sure I'd be eating it out of the jar with a spoon.
Beautiful photos Dawn. And I am surprised you didn't love beets before! I adore them too.
Laura
Carrots, beets and sweet potatoes. That's what I call a healthy soup!
Healthy but tasty!!!
It took me many tries until I started liking beets. One day they just clicked with me, and I'm so happy they did! I still keep saying I need to make a beet soup. I think what's holding me back is that I keep thinking of my mom wrinkling her nose at her own memories of her grandfather eating borscht all the time! It's just one of those foods with a bad rep, I think. I've been looking at some beet soups with flavorings other than typical Eastern European borscht, and they all sound intriguing – including yours. But frankly, anything you want to put raisins on top of, is going to be fair game for me
I love beets!! This sounds delicious!! Your vegetable pictures are gorgeous!
I just reread this post and realized you had not yet made the soup when you posted it, and it was not your own recipe. That stopped me from complaining about butter being the first ingredient. I don’t eat butter. It is like eating meat, and vegans do not eat it. Well, if they do, they are not vegan. I was first attracted to your blog by the vegan lasagna recipe, and the fact that you are in Florida. I will soon be on a two week vacation and will need to find Daiya cheese and other vegan necessities in or near St. Augustine, and in West Palm Beach. Do you have any grocery store or restaurant recommendations?
Have you tried the beet soup recipe yet, omitting the butter?
By the whey, whey and casein are all cow milk ingredients. Dairy allergic people must avoid all those, too, and many alleged nondairy foods contain those hidden cow pollutants. Food labelers are so deceptive.
Ok so if you can make it to Native Sun Natural Foods Market in Jacksonville I would first try that. In St Augustine there is a really small natural foods market called Diane’s. You can also check out Publix in St Augustine because you MIGHT be able to find Daiya there – they carry it at mine. They will carry almond milk and soy creamer but not any soy or almond yogurt which is a bummer. They do also have an organic produce section. For restaurants try the Floridian and Casa Maya (also serves breakfast) – they are both in downtown st Augustine and have DELICIOUS tempeh options. My third favorite restaurant there is the Manatee cafe for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If it was closer I swear I would eat there for all three meals. They have lots of vegan and gluten free options and are very knowledgeable. It is near the St Augustine outlet mall. Now that I think of it, I think they might carry Daiya too. They have a very small market with some of my favorite items.
As for the butter – I’m so glad you commented on this one! I just altered this recipe to remove the butter because that is a sub that will not make a difference. Since moving from Blogger to WordPress I am in the process of slowly going through all my back posts to update the categories (it brought them all over as “uncategorized”) and labeling the meat dishes with a BPBD label or “before plant based diet” and then altering any recipe where I can easily remove the dairy or meat and sub with something else. Like I said in another comment, I am debating on whether to completely wipe out all the meat based dishes but I have so many links, stories and back links that I’m afraid to do that and mess up links from other blogs and websites as well as within my own blog.
Is there another location you think I could post that there may be some meat dishes in the past before I switched to plant based that would be more prominent? I could put a text note on the front page. I definitely want people to know it is NOW a plant based blog. I added that into the title as well.
Oh my gosh yes, I am definitely aware of whey and casein because my daughter is allergic to dairy.