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Beetroot recipes for picnics
Buy it in bunches or vacuum packed |
I've only recently been experimenting with beetroot recipes for picnics, because, up until a year ago, I hadn't really considered them as picnic food.
There are probably a host of other recipes that I should scribble down on this picnic site before talking about beetroot. However, because it's currently one of my favourite things, I'm giving beetroot recipes a page to themselves early on!
Why have I just “discovered” beetroot when it's been popular in Eastern Europe (and Italy, but mainly for its leaves) since time began?
That's easy! Just because I'm now often able to buy bunches of beets in the UK (maybe they've come into fashion or perhaps I just haven’t noticed them in the shops and markets before).
When I was younger the only beetroot available was in vinegar and I wasn’t very partial to that.
Beetroot is too delicate for strong vinegar in my opinion. It’s a sweet, earthy vegetable and now I particularly love it raw as a salad ingredient.
You'll find good beetroot recipes, however, where it is baked in foil or simply boiled until just tender.
The first of my beetroot recipes that I’m going to share with you is the simplest.
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It’s stunning served with cold roast beef and watercress. Add some crusty bread (rye is good) and you have a great picnic lunch, - like I did yesterday :)
Simply peel a few raw baby beets and grate with a large grater (food processor is the easiest or your hands will pick up a lot of the red dye).
Mix with some horseradish sauce and crème fraiche to taste. I use one teaspoon of horseradish sauce to every desertspoon of crème fraiche but it really depends how strong your horseradish is and how you like it. Pure grated horseradish (not sauce) is even nicer if you have it, but use less unless you want to blow your head off!
Add some salt and pepper and that’s it!
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For variations on this theme of beetroot recipes you could add grated carrot, cabbage, sultanas, caraway or poppy seeds and of course you don’t have to add the horseradish. It just goes particularly well with roast beef. You could substitute mustard for example and serve with slices of succulent ham. It’s also yummy with blue cheese.
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Beetroot in its raw state doesn’t seem to bleed as much as when it’s cooked. However, cooked baby beets are also terrific in beetroot recipes. The trouble is unless you want the red dye to run into the other ingredients, they are best kept separated and added just before eating.
Also beware of spillage!. Beetroot is the last thing you want to stain your picnic clothes!
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Boiled beetroot (boil in skins and peel when still hot) is lovely marinaded in a vinaigrette dressing - and orange complements it well. No, this is not the same as beetroot in jars of vinegar!! Use a mixture of fresh orange and lemon juice instead of vinegar (or balsamic if you must!) with olive oil to taste, as well as salt and pepper.
If you’re short of time, buy it vacuum packed.
Try it with barbecued salmon steaks, herring or mackerel and serve with a peppery salad leaf like rocket or watercress.
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Use it chopped in a salad with chunks of carrot, boiled until just tender, segments of orange and crumbled goat's cheese. Make a dressing of olive oil and red wine vinegar with toasted cumin seeds and parsley and take to the picnic in a sealed jar.
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Beetroot couscous
In this beetroot recipe, you want the colour to run!
It becomes a pretty red salad, good served with barbecued chicken or sausages, or some sliced or crumbled goat’s cheese.
300 g of couscous
300 ml of boiling vegetable stock
300 g of cooked beetroot (see above), peeled and finely diced
300 g of tomatoes, skinned and diced
1 small red onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons of virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
salt and pepper
Make up the couscous with the stock as directed on the packet. Fluff up with a fork and leave to cool. Add the diced beetroot and up to two tablespoons of its juice, as well as the diced tomato and red onion.
Whisk the oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste and stir through the couscous. Pack in a food container and on the way to the picnic the couscous will turn red.
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Baked beets also make great beetroot recipes. Bake the trimmed and scrubbed baby beets in a double thickness of foil and then, to save mess, when they are almost done, pack the foil parcel in a food container to transport. They will continue cooking for a little longer in the foil parcel.
(This is how I cook and transport my roast beef as well. We like it rare so I normally give it less time than the beets, depending on the size of the joint of course. Aluminium foil is a great conductor of heat.)
If you can’t find really small beetroots, then cut bigger ones in half. Small should be about the size of a golf ball, bigger less than a tennis ball. They should take about an hour in an oven of 200 degrees C.
Before you finally fold up the foil around the beets, ready for roasting, leave space in the parcel for air to circulate and add some olive oil and red wine vinegar (or a cheap balsamic) – about 200 ml of vinegar and 100 ml of oil per 500 grams of vegetables.
You could also add some sprigs of marjoram or parsley and perhaps a few cloves of garlic, if you like. An alternative to this, especially good with cold lamb, is crushed coriander seeds and a good drizzle of honey.
Remember to seal the foil really well so the steam cannot escape or you'll end up with dried up vegetables.
Note: beetroot recipes for picnics are not finger food recipes! But at least al fresco they’re not going to drop on the cream carpet!
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