Red Beet Risotto; sunrise

Americans call this root vegetable ‘beets’. I, being American, would say: We’re having beets today.

Brits call it ‘beetroot’. My neighbor, being British, would say: We’re having beetroot today.

Now you know.

The 2 most common colors of this vegetable are red and gold. Living in France I have rarely seen gold – perhaps at a farm market. The red, however, are very common.

I can buy red beets in any supermarket, cooked, peeled, and vacuum-packed, in 500gr (1lb) packages.

Some supermarkets will also sell them loose, but not raw. There will be a big bowl of cooked, unpeeled beets with a large fork and bags nearby. One spears them with the fork and drops them into the bag.

Apparently the French are adverse to cooking or handling this root vegetable but will happily eat it if someone else does the work.

I always have a vacuum-pack in the fridge. They keep forever and are a handy last-minute vegetable.

One can even make a pretty risotto…..

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Red Beet Risotto

Print Recipe

This is an easy, colorful side dish to accompany roast, fried, or grilled meat…. Steak to sausages.
Remember – risotto is easy. There is no need to stir constantly.

• Author: Kate
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 2 servings 1x
• Category: Risotto

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2/3 cup (4.2oz, 125gr) Arborio rice (or other rice specifically for risotto – Carnaroli or Vialone Nano)
• 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) dry, white wine
• 2 1/4 cups (18oz, 540ml) chicken broth
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tbs butter
• 1/2 cup (2oz, 60gr) Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• Condimenti
• 2 cups (9oz, 270gr) cooked beets, cut into small chunks
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tbs Greek or plain yogurt

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Instructions

• Heat chicken broth and keep hot over low heat.
• In medium sauce pan heat butter, add onion and sauté until transparent.
• Add rice and sauté, stirring, for 1 – 2 minutes until rice has white center.
• Add white wine and stir.
• When rice has almost absorbed all the wine add a 1/3 cup of broth, stir. (No need to stir constantly but do stir from time to time.)
• Add the beets and herbs to the rice.
• When broth is almost absorbed add another 1/3 cup and continue adding 1/3 cup at a time.
• Before you add the last 1/3 cup taste a few kernels of rice. They should be just ‘al dente’ – slightly resistant to the tooth but fully cooked. If more broth is needed add it a few tbs at a time and waiting until almost completely absorbed.
• At this point risotto will be thick but not stiff – there will still be visible liquid and it will not hold its shape on a plate.
• Add the Parmesan, yogurt, stir well, spoon into a bowl or risotto platter and serve immediately. It will continue to absorb liquid and the leftovers (if any) will be very stiff.

Notes

If you have raw beets, you can boil or steam for 30 minutes, then, when cooled, easily peel and chop. I buy vacuum-packed cooked beets.
Yogurt will keep several days in the fridge, covered.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1/2 recipe
• Calories: 563
• Sugar: 18.2 g
• Sodium: 561.7 mg
• Fat: 14.1 g
• Saturated Fat: 8.1 g
• Trans Fat: 0 g
• Carbohydrates: 78.4 g
• Fiber: 4.8 g
• Protein: 22.5 g
• Cholesterol: 32 mg

Keywords: red beets, risotto

Guapa and I went for a walk the other morning.

We don’t do that very often these days. Sometimes she sits in the door and watches me walk. Other mornings she just goes back to bed after getting her morning belly rub.

On nice mornings I like to go out for a few minutes, even if it’s by myself, just to see what the day is like.

Some mornings I’m rewarded with my dog following.

This morning I was doubly rewarded: a dog for company and a beautiful sunrise.

While she was happily sniffing every blade of grass I played with my camera.

I kept changing the settings to see what I should use.

I got the best photos with the right sky colors using a setting I shouldn’t use.

The flash.

Obviously, my camera flash was not going to light up the sky. It did light up the ground in front of me but left the sky colors true.

Sometimes, I have to just stop trying to do stuff the ‘right’ way and just accept the ‘best’ way.