I grew up in a “you-can’t-leave-the-table-until-you-eat-your-vegetables” household.  This wasn’t often a problem for me – unless beets were being served.  To me, that was the vegetable, the worse tasting, most gag-worthy vegetable ever.  I used to hide the beets in a glass of milk to avoid eating them.   Anyone who has ever eaten beets should quickly realizes the error of my thinking.  White milk does not make a good hiding place for bright red juicy beets.  What ultimately happened was that my parents outsmarted me, making me drink the milk (now warm after sitting out for so long while I argued with my parents about the disappearance of my beets) and then eat the beet chunks that miraculously appeared at the bottom of the glass. The beets tasted even worse by this point after soaking in the milk.  That was me.  Conniving -yes.  Sharpest tool in the shed – no.

The first time I ever enjoyed the taste of beets was at The Fireplace, a restaurant in Boston.  A beet reduction sauce had been artfully swirled below some sauteed greens and salmon filet and to my surprise,  it was fantastic.  Let me say that again – fantastic.  That dish was what prompted me to plant beets in the garden this year and now has me swimming in beets  (see Sept 18th “What’s Amy eating?”).   Kinda like the little beet-cubes that used to be swimming around in my glass of milk.

In an attempt to recreate that fantastic meal for some equally fantastic friends, I made this for dinner tonight:

Grilled Salmon topped with fresh golden and red beet salad and served with a beet reduction sauce (to make sauce:  simmer 1/3 cup beet juice, 3 tbsp red wine vinegar, and 3 tbsp red wine until thickened to a glaze, around 10-15 minutes) (to make salad: thinly slice 1 golden and 1 red beet; toss with olive oil, red wine vinegar, and tarragon)

Swiss Chard sauteed with garlic in olive oil

Mashed Potatoes

Apple and Raspberry Crisp with oat topping