Caramelized Onion and Beet Soup

caramelized_onion_beet_soup

I don’t know where you live in the world, but as a West Coast resident, for me soup is by far the most essential culinary staple. I turn anything in my garden into soup, especially when I have bits of this and that on hand. Recently, I’ve found lonely beets stored in the root cellar (in my case, a container filled with peat moss) that already sprouted from the top. These are very reliable when we urban gardeners don’t have much else to turn to during garden transition times. I transform my beets into fresh juice in the morning and hearty soup later in the day. My mizuna is too tiny, radishes are too skinny, peas were dug up by birds—over time I have come to the realization that when everything is just starting to grow, it is good to have stored food.

beetscaramelized_onion_beet_soup2

Caramelized Onion and Beet Soup

I strongly recommend that you wear dark clothing, or at least wear an apron to prevent your clothes from being stained with all that brightly coloured juice! For the topping, I happened to have basil sprouts handy in my kitchen but if you can’t find them, almost any other type of sprout works. I prefer basil because it provides a special flavour punch when you first sip this soup, which is also topped with delicious almonds and sour cream.

Serves 4

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 large onion, sliced thinly

2 heaped cups beets, peeled and cut in chunks

4 cups chicken stock

2 cups water

1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Salt and pepper

Topping

Sour cream

Sliced almonds, lightly toasted

Basil sprouts (or any sprouts available)

Place the oil and butter in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat.

Sauté the onion, constantly turning until it caramelizes and gives off a sweet aroma.

Add the beets and sauté until well coated with oil, for about 5 minutes.

Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium low, cover with a lid and cook until beets are tender. Skim off the foam that appears on the surface occasionally.

Let the soup cool a little bit and then transfer to a blender and proceed until pureed. Place the soup back in the pot and add the Parmesan cheese. This is also the time to adjust the consistency of the soup by adding more water if you like. Bring to a simmer and adjust with salt and pepper.

Serve hot and top with the sour cream, toasted almonds and basil sprouts.

caramelized_onion_beet_soup

Beet & Chocolate Muffins

beet & chocolate muffins

Whether or not you are a beet lover, if you are looking for the way to someone’s heart, try these red muffins. They are fun to make, and even better the naturally intense colour of these muffins makes them an attractive as well as nutritious treat!

beet & chocolate muffins

The idea of perfecting this recipe came after I gently nagged a local chocolatier, my farmer’s market friend, demanding that he create beet flavoured chocolate to accompany their unique kale, tomato and other vegetable flavours. He explained that any additional flavouring added to chocolate making has to be strong and distinctive enough to overcome the taste of chocolate.

cooked beets

Since it didn’t seem like the chocolatier was inclined to try this experiment, I decided to create my own concoction. Since beet has an earthy, subtle taste, after a couple of trials with grape seed oil and/or brown sugar and/or whole wheat, I have settled on a mixture of butter, cane sugar and white flour that gingerly brings out the earthy flavour of the beet. A chocolate piece is then inserted inside the muffins, and the slightly roasted coconut flakes placed over top helps create the perfect match in your watering mouth. The dream team of my imagination finally came true!

beet & chocolate muffins

beet & chocolate muffins

Beet & Chocolate Muffins

Makes 8 muffins

1 cup cooked beets (about 3 large beets), cooled and finely shredded

100g butter, room temperature

140g cane sugar (fine texture)

2 eggs, room temperature, slightly beaten

200g unbleached white flour

¼ teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons milk, room temperature

8 pieces of dark chocolate

Shredded coconut flakes

Preheat the oven to 350F. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder.

Cream the butter in a large bowl and add the sugar in a couple of instalments. Continue to stir until pale and fluffy.

Add the eggs 1 at a time and continue to stir until combined. Add the beets and mix well.

Add half the amount of flour mixture and stir until mixed, then add the rest and gently fold with a spatula in a circular motion. Do not stir too much.

Divide the batter into prepared muffin cups in a tin. Insert one piece of chocolate inside each muffin. Sprinkle with coconut flakes on top. Bake until done, about 25 minutes.

Transfer the muffins to a rack and let cool.