Indulge in root vegetables with this vegan beet and turnip gratin recipe.

Beetroot and turnips deserve more credit than they often get. Tough when raw, but once cooked, each offer tender, and comforting textures reminiscent of the white potato. Meanwhile, their natural sugars emerge and provide an overtone of sweetness that delights the senses, even when the dish is overall savory. Turnips have a definitive peppery taste and beets, an earthy one. Together, they balance one another and make for both a delicious and eye-catching gratin without the heavy creams and cheeses of traditional gratins. Enjoy!

Beet and Turnip Gratin Recipe

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 1 pound beets
• 1 ½ pounds turnips
• ¼ cup olive oil, divided
• 1 large red onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, separated from stem
• 1 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Peel the root vegetables. Cut them into thin slices and toss them in a bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Arrange the beet and turnip slices in a cast iron skillet. Arrange slices in a side-by-side pattern with slight overlapping that rotates with the shape of the skillet and creates layers.

In a separate skillet over medium heat, add the remaining olive oil, onion, and thyme. Cook until the onion turns translucent. Add the orange juice, salt, and peppers. Stir for another few minutes and then pour the mixture over the beet and turnip gratin.

Cover the gratin and bake for one hour. Remove the cover and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Let the beet and turnip gratin cool for 10-15 minutes at room temperature before serving.

Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, extra fresh thyme, and a squeeze of orange juice for extra flavor.

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Beet and Turnip Gratin Image from Shutterstock

The post Vegan Beet and Turnip Gratin with Thyme and Extra Pepper appeared first on EcoSalon.

I love beets. Don’t get me wrong. In fact, I have some roasted ones in my refrigerator that I’ve been eating on salads all week long. They’re good for you, are sweet, tasty, easy to prepare and store, and are readily available, but if I see one more beet salad on a restaurant menu I might just hurl (the menu).

I’m prepared to argue that beet salads have become home food. And thus, their pervasiveness on restaurant menus is just boring.

Here’s one of the problems – seasonality. Because beets are available all year, most restaurants don’t treat them as seasonal. But I happen to think that we should concentrate hardest on eating beets in the winter when there are few other items with which to embellish salads. Why would you add beets to a salad in the summer, when you have corn and tomatoes? Or in the spring when you have asparagus and sugar snap peas? Or in the fall when there are delicious roasted peppers and good, crisp apples for only a short time? If you’ve got a beet salad on the menu year-round, it’s just not special anymore.

One more thing: if you’re going to offer a beet salad, can you pair it with something else besides walnuts and goat cheese? Please?

Bye bye boring beet salads: Here are some interesting ways to cook with beets.

I can’t wait to try this beet tzatziki from the New York Times. It’s absolutely lovely to look at.

Chocolate Beet Brownies from Mariquita Farm sound intriguing.

For a wonderful side dish or the base for a vegetarian meal, try this Beet Roesti from Mark Bittman via NPR.

Here’s an Indian take on beet soup from Martha Stewart’s Whole Living.

Editor’s note: This is a new column by Vanessa Barrington. For the lighter side of all things foodie, read Overcooked weekly. Overcooked: helping you make the most of today’s trendiest ingredient…before it’s overdone. Be sure to catch Vanessa’s original EcoSalon column, The Green Plate, on the environmental, social, and political issues related to what and how we eat.

Image: Vanessa Barrington

The post Overcooked: Beeting It Into the Ground appeared first on EcoSalon.

Recently when I was in Portland for the IACP conference, every menu seemed to have rhubarb on it. I ordered rhubarb crisp, rhubarb compote, rhubarb this and rhubarb that. Rhubarb is one of the shortest season produce items I know, which makes it all the more special. I’ve been hankering to make something with it myself and Mother’s Day weekend seems like the perfect time. I’m going to pick up some rhubarb at the farmers market this weekend and make this Spring Rhubarb Crisp, from fellow Oaklander, Romney Steele, out of her wonderful book My Nepenthe.

And while we’re on the subject of Mother’s Day, if your mom is a pancake fan, check out these genuine buttermilk pancakes from Culinate. You can mix the dry ingredients up the night before to save time. Why not make rhubarb compote to go with?

If your Mother’s Day brunch plans are savory, as are mine, this springy golden beet salad from The Kitchn is healthy, easy and super green. No waste here since you mix the beet tops in with the roasted beets and serve them all together. I’m serving this with my leek tart.

Image: garyknight

The post Three Recipes to Try This Week: Spring Rhubarb Crisp, Buttermilk Pancakes and Golden Beet Salad appeared first on EcoSalon.