A DISH THAT CAN BE BEET

Roasted red beets.

You can take it to the bank: I am the Food-Weirdo in our family. The one who likes all the oddball dishes nobody else will touch.

Lamb? Duck? I love ’em... but the Missus loathes ’em. Same goes for organ meats of any description. I’m a self-confessed liver lover, whether it once belonged to a calf, a chicken, a duck, or a goose; however, being a liver lover is lonely business in my house.

Dark meat vs. white meat? I’ll grab the dark every time, whereas She Who Must Be Obeyed goes for the white.

And then there are Root Vegetables. Carrots and parsnips are neutral territory, but when you get into Beet Country, SWMBO and the Mistress of Sarcasm get stopped by the Beety Border Patrol while I sail through immigration with my Permanent Resident’s Visa.

SWMBO: “I don’t like beets!”

The Mistress of Sarcasm: “They taste like dirt!”

But I love ’em.

Sure, they have some earthy flavor undertones, but that’s part of their Root Vegetable Heritage. You just need to dress ’em up a little. Roasted, diced, and doctored up with a little sherry vinegar, tarragon, orange zest, and olive oil, they make a dandy salad... or a fine add-on to a pile of greens.



And if you shred ’em with carrots and onions, they form the base for some excellent latkes. If the flavor were not enough to excite you - even SWMBO concedes that Everything Tastes Better Fried - the bright, sunny colors of the shredded ingredients (golden beets, red beets, carrots, and onions) are enough to brighten the darkest winter day.


Shredded beets (red and golden), carrots, and onions - the raw materials for Beet and Carrot Latkes - await their date with the frying pan.


Weird but tasty, the finished result: Beet and Carrot Latkes.

Off the beaten path? Sure! But that’s where all the good stuff is.