To protect myself from the deep freeze that calls itself New York City, I put so much lotion all over my entire body, that I run the risk of my clothes slipping off before I get out the door. I eat for the weather as well. Beets are perfect when you are worried about, basically everything. I don’t think it gets much colder than it does in some parts of Russia where there is a good solid history of keeping beets in the pantry, and beets are brain food (full of manganese) which can assist those of us who feel like life has drained us of our brain reserves. If you are eating baked beans full of pork and bacon on alternate days, beets are a blood cleanser. If you are worried about your cells giving up on regeneration, beets are good for that too. They pack in calcium, iron, potassiumm beta carotene and Vitamin C, so if you are sick and tired of spending all that money on supplements that don’t seem to be doing much, beets.
Make yourself some borcht. It takes ten minutes. You saute your onion until it’s softened in olive oil, just beginning to caramelize, and beautiful. Season with salt. You throw in a potato, peeled and chopped, another pinch of salt, and wait until the potato begins to stick to the bottom of the pan. Add a bay leaf and three or four peeled, chopped beets. You want enough water to cover the vegetables (or homemade stock). Cover and simmer until the beets and potatoes are tender. I cut the beets into fairly small peices, smaller than the potatoes, because they take longer to cook. When it’s done, taste for salt and pepper, squeeze in a little lemon juice, swirl in small tab of butter (or olive oil) and ladle into the bowls. Top with a dallop of whole milk yogurt and a sprinkling of fresh chive, mint, parsley, or any combination.
I cut off the greens to make a salad to have on the side. Boil the greens in salted water with a little olive oil until tender. Add them to some rinsed off chic peas and cooked some sting beans or carrots (don’t overcook either, but be sure they are soft). Toss it all together with thinly sliced shallot right at the end, and either a classic dijon French dressing with olive oil, parsley, mustard, lemon and shallot, or just olive oil, a drizzle of vinegar, lemon, salt and pepper. Boil up some eggs (start in cold water and as soon as they come to a boil, turn off the heat and let them rest for five minutes in the water. Take them out and add them to ice water for a minute, then peel. Dress up your sald with these and call yourself ready.