Mark won’t eat beats. He doesn’t like beets. Unless he eats beets and likes them and, in that case, he likes beets. Confused? Welcome to my world…

The trick with Mark is for me to take the foods he doesn’t like (in the context of a recipe), ask lots of questions to determine what exactly it is that he doesn’t like, then work around the offending parts to create something he does like. My first foray into this was, “I don’t like sweet potatoes. They are a crime against nature.”

This is the point where everyone says, “Well, you’ve never had my sweet potatoes!” Then the person goes on to describe their dish and, all the while, Mark is turning greener and greener… That, which is everyone’s favorite, is usually the exact kind of recipe he despises.

I discovered the ‘crime’ was the sweetening of an already sweet tuber. My solution, don’t add maple syrup, brown sugar, pineapple, marshmallows or even sweet nutmeats to make it ‘palatable’ for him – run in the opposite direction! Thanks to a recipe from an old Bon Appétit, I chose rosemary, Gruyère, Parmigiano-Reggiano, cream, salt and pepper and made a gratin combining sweet and white potatoes, which our friends have dubbed “Crack Potatoes” – because once you start, you can’t stop. Mark loves them.

In between sweet potatoes and beets (today’s subject) were Brussels sprouts, squash (all variety) and lima beans. I won’t go into the details, but if there were a category for ‘food dislike conversion’ in the Olympics, I would be sporting a gold medal. (A note on the Brussels sprouts – Mark ate them dutifully at home without complaint because they were grown by his beloved father.)

But here I am with a small bunch of lovely, locally grown beets and I am reminded of the dish that won Mark over. I recreated this dish when I returned from a trip to San Francisco where I dined at Clémentine, a lovely French restaurant in the Inner Richmond district, now sadly closed.

There, I had a visually stunning beet risotto topped with seared tilapia and a citrus beurre blanc. At that time, pre-Internet, it never occurred to me to write and request the recipe. I just made up my own version and have been using it since. As the years have passed, I have aged, and the fat content in my cooking has decreased; the beurre blanc for this recipe has lightened – a good change.

When I originally mentioned to Mark that I planned to make this dish for him, I got the funny wrinkled nose that non-verbally said, “I don’t like beets.” Before he could actually say that, I asked, “What is it about beets that don’t like?” “They taste like dirt. And I hate the pickled Harvard beets.” Fair enough, I thought. But I assured him out loud that he would like this. (But you haven’t had my beets!)

And he did like it. I am not saying that everyone will like this, but it’s worth a try! The creamy magenta-colored risotto topped with tilapia is wonderful, and the zingy citrus beurre blanc is the perfect foil for the earthy beets and sweet tilapia. If you are a vegetarian, make the risotto with veggie broth and skip the tilapia. Simply make a small indentation on the risotto and add the beurre blanc.

It seems that one either loves beets or hates them. Our friends Susan and Towny (The Modern Trobadours) did an entire post on how roasted beets are readily available in markets in France, and how they love them, and use them in many recipes. They also discuss how some people really dislike them, and why. Check out their post – Beets: Can’t Beat Betteraves Cuites from the French Markets.

So, if you have any beet-lima-bean-Brussels-sprout-sweet-potato-squash haters in your life, let me know and I am happy to share some more successful conversions.

Think pink!

~ David

Seared Tilapia with Beet Risotto and Citrus Beurre Blanc

Risotto
5-6 small beets, trimmed (reserve greens of another use)
3 large pieces of orange zest
3-4 fresh bay leaves (or 1 dried)
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, peeled and minced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons slightly sweet white wine
6 cups light chicken broth, low sodium
grated zest from 2 lemons (reserve zested lemons for lemon juice)
2 tablespoons goat cheese
minced parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Rinse beets and remove the leaves and cut the tails. Place them on a large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil, add orange zest and bay leaves; season with salt and pepper. Wrap tightly and roast until beets are tender – about 1 hour.

Let cool until you can handle them, then slip beets from skins, cut in half and put into the bowl of a food processor. Add 2 tablespoons of the wine and purée; season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Place chicken broth in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.

Sauté shallot in oil until clear. Add the rice and stir to coat – continue to cook for several minutes until rice is opaque. Add the remaining cup of wine and cook, stirring, until mostly absorbed. Add the chicken stock one ladleful (1/2 cup) at a time, constantly stirring, and cook until each ladleful is is almost absorbed. (While you are stirring the risotto, it is a good time to reduce the shallots and citrus juices for the beurre blanc.) Continue adding broth until only 1 ladleful remains in the pot – about 20 minutes. Add beet purée and lemon zest and mix well. Add the goat cheese and stir until fully incorporated. Season with salt and pepper.

At this point, take the risotto off the heat and finish the beurre blanc and sauté the tilapia. When the tilapia and beurre blanc are just about finished, bring the risotto back to a simmer and add the remaining broth. Divide among 4 shallow bowls and top with tilapia filets and spoon lemon beurre blanc over fish. Garnish with minced parsley.  Serves 4.

Tilapia
4 tilapia filets
1/2 cup flour
salt & pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Mix flour, salt and pepper on a dinner plate. Dredge filets in flour and sauté in butter until golden. Keep warm on a platter until ready to plate.

Citrus Beurre Blanc
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup mixture of strained lemon and orange juice (about 1 orange and 1 lemon)
1 tablespoon finely minced shallot
salt & white pepper
4-6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled

Boil the wine, juice and shallots salt & pepper until reduced to 1 1/2 tablespoons. Strain reduction into a clean saucepan and put over medium heat. Whisk in 1 tablespoon chilled butter at a time over low heat until creamy and ivory-colored. Season again with salt and pepper.