By Karen Hursh Graber, writing from Mexico
Warm weather and longer days bring with them an appetite for lighter meals. And these meals benefit from the inclusion of beets, an ingredient that appeals to the eye as well as the palate.
Modern Mexican chefs are composing healthy, attractive dishes with beets, whose color and taste add a vibrant touch wherever they appear. Salads, soups and even tacos are the recipients of the beet’s bright hue, either red, yellow, or candy striped.
But long before contemporary menus featured the vegetable, Mexican cooks were using the beet in every day recipes, as well as in the traditional ensalada de nochebuena, the holiday salad that historian Jose Luis Juarez Lopez has called a dish of Mexican culinary history.
First published in El Cocinero Mexicano in 1831, the recipe for the salad has undergone several changes and additions, but always depends upon the visual interest and sweet, earthy flavor of the beet. And salads in general, including beet salads, were an important element in the diet of Colonial Mexico.
The handwritten 1790 cookbook of Friar Gerónimo de San Pelayo, the chief cook of Mexico City’s San Fernando monastery, contains no less than 15 salads, including an ensalada de betabeles, or beet salad. Beets were planted in monastery and convent kitchen gardens in the Colonial era, and widely used in the colonists’ kitchens.
Today, they are found in markets all over Mexico, where they are a hearty perennial, withstanding the cool winter temperatures in much of the country, and having a long shelf life. Stacked on counters, spread on tarps, and sold shredded in small plastic bags alongside shredded carrots and cut-up fruit, beets are also a common presence at juice bars in markets and street stalls.
A Healthy Option
The vampiro, or vampire, named for the beet’s color, is a popular drink made from the juice of beets, carrots, and celery. It is touted as a remedy for everything from hangovers to high blood pressure.
The beet’s contribution to lowering blood pressure has a basis in science, and a 2019 blog published by the Mexican Secretariat of Agriculture promotes the health benefits of beets because of their nitrate content, which helps regulate hypertension. Also mentioned are the significant amounts of B vitamins and minerals, helping to reduce inflammation and boost the immune system.
Originating in the Middle East, beets were originally grown for their leaves, which can be used in cooking when young and tender. However, the beetroot, or beet as we know it, was appreciated by ancient peoples for the same health-giving attributes that we recognize today. Romans, Greeks and Egyptians all used beets in medicinal preparations. The Romans used beets to reduce fever, and the Talmud advised the use of beets to improve eyesight and regulate the vascular and digestive systems.
Beets Across the Border
The health aspect may be one reason beets appear on menus in Mexico, but color and flavor also play an important role in their appeal. Light, fresh cheeses present a visual contrast to the beet’s intense color, especially in salads, such as the beet salad with goat cheese served at La Palapa in Puerto Vallarta.
At Los Hidalgos in Monterrey, the roasted beet salad is accompanied by mozzarella, and Mexico City’s Sal y Agua serves beet salad with blue cheese and caramelized pecans. Nuts also come into play in the betabel gigante, a large roasted organic beet with pistachios and feta cheese mousse on the appetizer menu at Rosanegra in Cancun.
Another appetizer, at Guadalajara’s Restaurante Allium, is the betabeles ahumados, or smoked beets, with feta cheese, popped wild rice, basil emulsion, and honey vinaigrette. At that city’s Ofelia Bistro, a beet and watermelon tartare is served with goat cheese, basil oil, and a mango vinaigrette.
La Torreada, in Monterrey, presents a torre de betabel, or beet tower, appetizer, composed of sliced beets, grilled panela cheese, and sliced avocado, served with an artichoke and olive oil dressing. A side dish of the beets with the artichoke dressing is also offered.
At Los Hidalgos, the taco veggie Hidalgo’s is a tortilla layered with Mennonite cheese, beets, avocado, pico de gallo, and a cumin and chipotle dressing. Oaxaca’s Los Danzantes also flavors beets with a spicy dressing, the chile and nut combination known as salsa macha, that seasons the beet salad served with grilled octopus.
How to Cook with Beets
Both nuts and fruits are frequently partnered with beets in salads and side dishes. Pecans, pistachios, peanuts, oranges and mangos are all common additions. Try using whatever nuts are in your pantry, and whatever fruit is available.
If your freezer contains frozen mango, puree it and use it in a vinaigrette dressing, creating the same flavor profile that fresh mangos ordinarily would. And use pantry-stable ingredients, such as dried chiles and spices, to invent your own signature dressings and vinaigrettes.
Try the traditional Mexican Easter season drink called lágrimas de la virgin, a sweet agua fresca made with boiled beets and their cooking liquid, enjoyed as a cold drink, and often sold outside churches on Good Friday.
Use beets in tostadas de verduras, a typical restaurant offering in San Cristobal de las Casas, where a crisp-fried tortilla is spread with refried beans and topped with an assortment of vegetables, including beets, carrots, and potatoes, and garnished with cubed avocado. This is highly adaptable to whatever vegetables are available in your kitchen, at the store, or from your produce supplier.
When buying beets, look for firm roots with smooth skin. Small to medium size beets are easier for even cooking. If buying with the greens attached, look for bright red leaf veins.
Separate roots from greens by breaking off greens about two inches from the root. Unwashed roots stay fresh under refrigeration for weeks. Or they can be boiled, peeled, sliced or diced, and frozen as you would for any other vegetable. Greens will last for a couple of days in the refrigerator and should be used as soon as possible for salads.
Do not peel beets before cooking, as this will stain hands and aprons. If using them raw, wear gloves when peeling or grating. Steam them, boil them, or roast them in the oven, wrapped in foil.
Whether you choose red, gold, or striped beets, take advantage of their color to create appealing menu items, from soups and salads to side dishes and pickled garnishes.
Click here for a recipe for Ensalada de Betabel y Mango
Click here for a recipe for Betabeles Encurtidos, Estilo Yucateco: Yucatecan Pickled Beets
Click here for a recipe for Mexican Beet Soup