Beets and their greens with marjoram and pine nuts

PG tested

With many CSAs, you must realize, there are going to be beets. These are one of those vegetables that some people love and some people hate. But give beets a chance. And their greens, too, which are delicious. All you really need to do with either is steam and dress with a little salt and pepper, olive oil, maybe a little balsamic vinegar. And if you want to have beets like you've probably never had them, try this sophisticated recipe from Deborah Madison, who loves the marjoram pesto on beets and all kinds of other dishes and with good reason. You should have leftover pesto. Even if you hate beets, you might like it.

Marjoram Pesto with Capers and Olives

Deborah Madison tells you to make this in a mortar, but mine's not that big, so after starting it that way, I moved everything to a food processor.-- Bob Batz Jr.

• 1 small slice country bread
• 2 tablespoons aged red wine vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
• Sea salt
• 1/4 cup fresh marjoram leaves
• 3 tablespoons drained capers
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons pitted green olives
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground pepper
  
  

  Remove crusts from the bread, then soak it in the vinegar on a plate.

  Pound the garlic with 1/2 teaspoon salt in a mortar until smooth, then work in the marjoram leaves. (This is where I transferred the garlic paste to a food processor and continued). Work in the capers, pine nuts, parsley and olives until you have a course puree. Add the bread and olive oil and work until the pesto is well amalgamated. Season with pepper, taste for vinegar and add a little more if you think it needs it. The pesto will be very thick.

  For the beets

  • 2 small red onions, thinly sliced into rounds
  • White wine vinegar
  • 9 to 12 small beets, golden and/or Chioggia, including the greens (I used 3 large goldens, cut in half)
  • Olive oil
  • Sea salt
  • Toasted pine nuts for garnish

  Toss the onions with vinegar nearly to cover and refrigerate until needed. They will turn bright pink.

  Discard the beet stems and any wilted leaves, wash the remaining leaves and the beets, and steam the leaves until tender, about 5 minutes. Set cooked leaves aside to drain, then chop coarsely. Toss with a little olive oil and season with salt.

  Leaving an inch of stems and tails on the beets, steam until a knife pierces them easily, about 25 minutes. Slip off the skins. Trim the tops and tails, quarter them and sprinkle with a little vinegar.

  Toss the beets with the pesto (I used about half of it), leaving ample streaks throughout. Place them over the greens. Remove the onions from the vinegar and strew them over the beets. Garnish with the pine nuts and serve (it's good at room temperature).

  Serves 4.

  -- "Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmer's Markets" by Deborah Madison (Broadway, 2002 and 2007)

  First published on March 26, 2009 at 12:00 am