Spicy Beets are an unusual side dish combining sweet, heat, and a tangy flavor adding a special dimension to dinner or a party
Spicy Beets are one of our more distinctive recipes with an unusual combination of sweet beet flavor and a flavorful sauce with a kick of heat. I’d serve it just as a side dish or it would be great at a game day pot luck gathering.
This actually started when I brought home some beautiful red beets. It’s rare that I cook beets, so I spent some time exploring recipes on the web and ended up adapting one I found. After tweaking the sauce a bit, I ended up with a very interesting, tangy sauce. It gets even more interesting when combined with beets as it’s not a sweet sauce at all. We ended up eating them as a side dish with dinner. These are good served with pork or a good steak; they might overpower chicken or compete with a spicy chicken dish.
We had a small amount left over that I ate a few days later. That was a memorable experience – it had lost its heat; you could hardly tell it had jalapeños in it. This is a natural effect when jalapeños (or other chiles) are combined with dairy products or an acidic juice. In this dish there are both – the yogurt and the lime juice. So if you tweak this dish to the desired heat by adjusting the amount of jalapeño, you’ll want to serve it within a few hours.
I’m expecting to do some more experimenting with similar combinations. It’s an unusual and memorable dish, and I think I could get addicted to it. I hope you try it and enjoy it!
- 1¾ pounds beets
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp kosher salt or to taste
- ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
- ½ tsp ground mustard
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- 1-2 garlic cloves, pressed
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 small or ½ large jalapeño, seeded and minced (~ 1 tbsp)
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
- 1-2 tsp lime juice (to taste)
- Chopped fresh cilantro or parsley for garnish
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel the beets and chop into ½ inch chunks. Mix the salt, pepper, mustard, cumin, and coriander. Toss with the oil, spread evenly on a large baking dish or cookie sheet; then sprinkle evenly with the spice mixture.
- Roast about 40 minutes, pricking with a fork to check tenderness.
- While beets are roasting, prepare the dressing: Place the yogurt in a bowl, and stir in the garlic, jalapeño, ginger, remaining ¼ tsp salt, and lime juice.
- Remove beets from oven and dump into a bowl; stir in the dressing.
- Garnish with the cilantro or parsley and serve either warm or cold.
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