January 27, 2014 • Nancy Wolfson-Moche

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These golden beets are peeled, boiled and served whole.  When you eat the whole beet its texture, color and mass are memorable. Eating this dish is a grounding, warming, and, yes, sweet way to start the day. The beautiful pewter plate with engraved pomegranates was made by the Iraqi artist Oded Halahmy.

serves 3

INgredients

3 gold beets

pinch coarse sea salt

½ cup raw pecans

1 ½ teaspoons pomegranate molasses (aka syrup) 

1-2 Tablespoons pomegranate arils

Process  Use a peeler to peel the tough outer skin of the beet.

Rinse the beets and place them, whole, in a medium to large pot.  Fill with water to cover the beets by at least two inches. Add a pinch of coarse sea salt and place on a medium to high flame. When the water boils, cover the pot and simmer the beets for about 20 minutes, or until a fork pierces the beet easily. Remove the beets from the water carefully using a wire mesh skimmer.

Set aside.  Heat a stainless steel or cast iron skillet on a medium flame for about 20 seconds.  Add the raw pecans and use cooking chopsticks to continually turn the nuts so they get roasted on all sides. Note: they should not be burnt, just a light golden brown. This should take about 3-5 minutes. Remove pecans from the pan and chop them into small pieces the size of pomegranate seeds.

Place the beets, whole, on a platter. Drizzle with the pomegranate molasses

and then the pecans. Use a whole pecan or a pomegranate seed to crown the top of a beet.

Scatter a few pomegranate seeds around the beets and serve.

©Nancy Wolfson-Moche 2014