The Beet Goes On
When I was a kid my mom and I love beets. Yes, even canned. It seems that almost everyone, including my brothers, hated them. I love how they came back into fashion. Now everyone’s a beet lover like they were never hating on them. Sure… Sure…
If I’d shown up with a roasted beet salad with a preserved lemon dressing topped with dukkah crusted labne balls I would have had to eat it alone.
Sometimes I feel like screaming, “I always loved you! Where were you all of you during the seventies and eighties and nineties?!!!— Fair weather beet lovers. Hmph. One of the reasons that I fell in love with Australia is that the Aussies revere a beet, so much so that they put them on their hamburgers. Yes, the canned ones, along with onions, lettuce, tomato, pineapple, egg and bacon. It’s called a burger with the lot = fierceness! They are so good that you don’t question the meat, which they mysteriously call “mince”, which may or may not actually be beef or even meat, when you eat one. I could murder a burger with a lot right now. BRING IT!!!
The upside of what will henceforth be known as The Beet Renaissance of the 21st-century is they’re everywhere. The downside is I have to share.
I made this cool looking and delicious salad with them. I know dukkah crusted labne balls sounds nasty, but they’re good. I hope you enjoy it.
Roasted Beet Salad With Dukkah Crusted Labne Balls & Preserved Lemon Dressing
Ingredients
- 16 ounces Greek yogurt
- 2 pounds whole beets, roasted, peeled and cut in wedges
- 1 small red onion, sliced thin
- 1/2 cup mint leaves, chopped
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup Dukkah
- 1/2 cup Preserved Lemon Dressing
Directions
- To make labne, line a strainer with doubled over cheesecloth and place over a medium sized bowl. Fill with yogurt. Gather the sides of the cheesecloth and bind it with a rubber band. Place in the refrigerator to drain for 2-3 days.
- Roll the drained labne into 1” balls and roll them in the dukkah. Set aside.
- Mix beets, red onions and half the mint with Preserved Lemon Dressing, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste and place in a wide bowl or pile on a platter.
- Top with labne and sprinkle with remaining mint.
Notes
This recipe take several days to make if you’re making the labne from scratch. You can buy labne at a Middle Eastern grocery store. My favorite one is Sahadi’s which is in Brooklyn, by me.