Last week, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I made this delicious soup. Yes, I realize it isn't Irish (obviously)...but it's full of cabbage and for me, that was enough to qualify. In case you think that makes me lame, I also made Irish Soda Bread (which must be Irish because it's right there in the title). But even if I am lame, I frequently have homemade baked goods around, so I would argue that it's worth putting up with me.

RUSSIAN CABBAGE BORSCHT

Makes 4-5 servings

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced potato

1 cup thinly sliced beets

1 large carrot, sliced

1 stalk celery, chopped

3 cups chopped cabbage

1 scant teaspoon caraway seeds

4 cups stock or water

2 teaspoons salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon dill weed, plus more for serving

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon honey

1 cup tomato puree

sour cream for serving

chopped tomato for serving (optional)

1.      Place potatoes, beets and water in a saucepan and cook until everything is tender. (Save the water.)

2.      Begin cooking the onions in the butter in a large kettle. Add caraway seeds, salt and a sprinkling of black pepper. Cook until onion is translucent, then add celery, carrots and cabbage. Add water from beets and potatoes and cook, covered until all the vegetables are tender. Add potatoes/beets, dill, vinegar, honey, and tomato puree.

3.      Cover and simmer slowly for at least 30 minutes. Taste to correct seasonings.

4.      Serve warm topped with sour cream, dill weed, and chopped fresh tomatoes (if desired).

from Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen

peeling beet

sliced beets and potatoes in pot

I used a mandoline to slice them very thinly and then I very
roughly chopped them because I was imagining trying to eat these
huge flat slices in my soup. But as you can see in the photo
below, they kind of fall apart enough after they're cooked, so
I didn't need to worry about that after all.

cooked beets and potatoes

onion, salt and caraway seeds

cabbage, celery and carrot added

(I used a bag of already shredded purple cabbage.)

pouring in the cooking water from the beets/potatoes

adding the beets/potatoes and remaining ingredients

all mixed together

after simmering for 30 minutes

russian cabbage borscht

russian cabbage borscht (in a bowl, topped with
a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of dill)

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Beet and Carrot Pancakes

These beet and carrot pancakes are not only a striking deep red, but they taste terrific (especially with sour cream on top). I suspect even beet haters will like them. Of course I'm not totally sure because the beet hater at my house (my 6-year-old), wouldn't even taste one. I tried to coax her by adding sour cream (forgetting she doesn't like the looks of that either), so she just said 'ew'. Her loss (my husband and I happily scarfed up all of them).

BEET AND CARROT PANCAKES

Makes 6-8 pancakes

1 1/3 cups (packed) coarsely shredded peeled beets (from 2 medium)

1 cup coarsely shredded peeled carrots (from 2 medium)

1 cup thinly sliced onion

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

sour cream for serving
_______________________________________________________________________

1.      Combine beets, carrots and onion in large bowl. Mix in egg, salt and pepper. Add flour; stir to blend well.

2.      Heat the oil in heavy, very large skillet over medium heat. Using about 1/3 cup beet mixture for each pancake, drop pancakes into skillet. Flatten each into 3-inch round. Cook until brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side.

3.      Serve pancakes immediately, topped with sour cream. Can reheat in a 300° F. oven.

slightly adapted from Bon Appétit, March 1998

beets

carrots

beets, carrots and onions

adding the egg

adding the flour

all mixed

pancakes formed and cooking

pancakes flipped

served with sour cream

Yum. These are a nice change of pace from
potato latkes (and more nutritious too).

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Golden Beets with Beet Greens

When I spotted these golden beets at the store, I had to have them. The main attraction is of course the color. Not that regular beets aren't gorgeous, they are. But I'm a sucker for something a little different, so I seized my opportunity.

Since the greens on my beets were very lush, I decided to make a dish that would utilize those too. I cooked mine, but you can also leave them raw and enjoy this as a cold salad.

Another nice thing about golden beets is they won't turn your pee red like regular beets (which can be very alarming if you forget you ate them earlier).

GOLDEN BEETS WITH BEET GREENS

Yield: 3-4 servings

1 bunch golden beets (3-4 beets) with greens attached

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons + 1 ½ teaspoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon bottled horseradish, drained

1 clove garlic, pressed or minced

1 tablespoon minced onion or shallot

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1.      Preheat oven to 400º F.  Wash the beets (keeping the skins on) and the beet greens.  Remove both the beets and the greens from the stems.  Set aside the greens.  Wrap each beet completely in foil and roast until a fork can easily pierce through the center of the beet (1 hour to 1 ½ hours, depending on the size of the beets).

2.      While the beets cook, whisk together all the vinaigrette ingredients in a bowl.  Set aside.

3.      When the beets are ready, remove from the oven.  Let cool for a few minutes, then carefully peel the skin off with your hands (it slides off very easily).  Slice the beets into rounds (about ¼ inch thick). Then cut each round into halves or quarters.

4.      *Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Roughly chop or tear the greens and add to the skillet and stir until tender. 

5.      Add the cooked beets to the skillet and stir to combine with the greens. Add the vinaigrette and stir.

*This dish can also be served cold.  Just cook the beets ahead of time and cool completely (and skip cooking the greens).

in a bunch, with their greens

before roasting (don't worry about those unsightly blemishes,
they slide right off with the skin after they're roasted)

after roasting (the skin slips off very easily)

gorgeous once again

sliced (look at those beautiful rings)

quartered (closeup)

beet greens raw

greens and beets cooked

Beet-Goat Cheese Ravioli

I realize as I post this that most of you probably aren't interested in beets or think it's way too big of a pain to make ravioli at home (or probably both).  But I'm posting it anyway because a) I like it and this is my blog and b) this post is really more about a quick, fun way to make ravioli that's easy.  I have one word for you: wonton wrappers.  Okay two words.  Maybe you've never noticed them before or maybe you saw them and thought to yourself what is that? or I'm not interested in making wontons.  But I beg you to reconsider.  These thin little squares (or rounds) of dough are the perfect substitute for making homemade pasta dough.  Some may say it's cheating, but they can take it to another blog.

raviolis boiling away
I do like beets, but I admit it, I made these more for the pretty color

BEET-GOAT CHEESE RAVIOLI

Yield: about 60

2 large beets (about 14 oz.)

1 cup crumbled fresh goat cheese

salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs

60 wonton wrappers (round or square)

5 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

freshly grated parmesan cheese

1.      Preheat oven to 400° F. Wrap beets individually in foil; place on baking sheet. Roast until tender when pierced with knife, about 1 hour. Open foil carefully (steam will escape) and cool.

2.      Peel beets and finely grate into a medium bowl. Add cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in breadcrumbs.

3.      Sprinkle 2 smooth kitchen towels with flour. Place a few wrappers on work surface. Have a small bowl of water ready next to you. Spoon 1 teaspoon beet filling onto half of each wrapper (avoiding the edges). Dip fingertip into water and dampen the edges of the wrapper. Fold wrapper over the filling, pushing out as much air as possible and pressing edges firmly to seal. Transfer to prepared towels. Repeat with remaining wrappers & filling.

4.      Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

5.      Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat and stir in poppy seeds; keep warm.

6.      Working in batches, cook ravioli in the boiling water until cooked through, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to skillet with melted butter; toss to coat.

7.      Plate the ravioli; sprinkle with parmesan.

adapted from Bon Appétit

filling on wonton squares (I was hoping for rounds but they didn't
have any at the store today, so instead of half circles, I went with triangles)

before boiling (don't pile yours up this way, I did that for the photo)

the first batch after boiling (the poppy seed sauce hasn't been mixed in yet)

There are several brands of wontons available (in the refrigerated
section of most supermarkets), this is just one example.

So if you like ravioli, but don't like beets, go ahead and make some other type of filling (like cheese with garlic & herbs or your favorite meat or butternut squash with caramelized onions or lobster...you get the idea).  Add any sauce you like--be as simple or fancy as you want to be.  And maybe one day, when we're both comfortable making ravioli this way (and after I get that pasta machine I've had my eye on), we'll try making the dough from scratch.