I have been thinking about beets a lot lately. I don’t know why, but they are the one ingredient that has been inspiring me most this fall, and there doesn’t seem to be an ending to this state of affairs. I cannot get enough of the purple color, it simply makes me happy each time I cook with beets, and I think their earthy sweetness reflects the essence of autumn itself.

Here’s what I used:

• 6 beets, peeled and cut into wedges
• 2 big carrots, scrubbed and cut into thick sticks
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon crushed red chili
• 2 teaspoons muscovado sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

First, I preheated the oven to 200 Celsius, and prepped the beets, carrots, and garlic. Then I just placed all the ingredients in a baking pan and tossed them so that each veggie piece was covered with some spices.

I first roasted the veggies for 15 minutes, tossed them around a bit, roasted for another 15 minutes, tossed, and roasted for yet another 15 minutes. After this I checked the salt, and realized the veggies were done, so I turned off the oven. The rice we were going to have with the beets wasn’t quite ready yet, so I popped the vegetables in the oven that was still hot for another 10 minutes to keep them warm.

Most tandoori sauces seem to have red food coloring, and that’s not something I wanted to include in this recipe. I added a chopped beet to get a little bit of that red tandoori color, but my endeavor wasn’t a complete success: the result was unevenly colored, partly bright fuchsia, partly yellowish. Now that I think of it, I could have added the beets in when I was pre-cooking the rice, and the color would’ve most likely come out prettier! Another option would’ve been to add some beet juice in the sauce, so that the tofu would’ve had a pink color as well.

This recipe makes a lot of food, enough for about 4 hungry or 6 not quite as hungry eaters. I like to make a larger batch of food once I heat up the oven, so there’s leftovers for the days to come.

The Tandoori Sauce (adapted from this recipe):

• 5 garlic cloves
• 5 cm peeled ginger
• 3 shallots (or 1 regular onion)
• 1 small red chili with seeds
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons muscovado sugar
• 1 and 1/2 dl plain soy yogurt
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons paprika powder
• 1 teaspoon each: ground cumin and turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon each: cinnamon and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon each: freshly grated nutmeg, ground cardamom, and ground clove

Also Used:

• 500 g firm tofu, pressed and cubed
• 2 potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
• 1 beet, peeled and finely cubed
• 4 dl brown basmati rice
• 1 bay leaf
• water to cook rice in
• 4 dl vegetable stock

Three and a half hours before we planned to have dinner we started the preparations. I blended all the tandoori sauce ingredients with our immersion blender until smooth. Heikki pressed and cubed the tofu, and I mixed it with the sauce and put it in the fridge to marinate for two hours (overnight would be even better). I rinsed the rice at this point and let it soak in fresh water for two hours as well.

An hour and a half before dinner time I set the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Then I rinsed the rice, cooked it in ample water with the bay leaf for about 20 minutes, and drained it.  While the rice was cooking, I cubed the potatoes and the beet. When everything was prepped, I just mixed it all together in a large baking dish – tofu with the tandoori sauce, pre-cooked rice, potatoes, beets, and the veggie stock. Now, I covered the dish with a lid, and baked it for one hour.

Brown rice takes a long time to cook, but it results in a much more satisfying dish than white arborio rice commonly used for risotto. Brown rice isn’t as starchy as arborio rice at first, but it will get creamy after about an hour’s cooking. I’ve heard about brown arborio rice as well, but I don’t think it’s available in Helsinki. So, I didn’t feel like a heretic when I poured most of the cooking broth in the pan right at the beginning and covered the pan – I just let the brown rice reach the starchy stage this way, and once it was almost done, I started stirring in order to produce a nice and creamy risotto.

My Risotto Ingredients (serves 2-3):

• 2 and 1/2 dl short grain brown rice (soaked for 2 hours)
• 2 medium beets, peeled and chopped
• 1 small parsley root, scrubbed and chopped
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 dl flat leaf parsley (lightly packed), chopped

The Cooking Broth:

• 5 dl mild vegetable stock
• 1/2 dl mirin (or white wine)
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• (additional water/stock to add later)

The Lemony Tofu:

• 200 g firm tofu
• juice of 1 small lemon
• 1 large clove of garlic
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

First, I placed the rice in a small bowl and covered it with water, and let it soak for about 2 hours. Then I mashed the tofu with a fork and combined it with the lemon juice, garlic, sugar and salt. I placed it in the fridge to marinate while I was cooking the risotto.

Then I made the cooking broth by combining the hot veggie stock with mirin and soy sauce.

I heated the olive oil in a frying pan and fried the spring onions until soft, then added the root parsley and the beet cubes and fried for a few more minutes. I rinseed the rice and fried it for a few minutes as well, and then started adding the liquid to the pan.

Pretty soon I realized that I’d have to hang around the stove for a very long time if I was to make the risotto correctly, and it was lunch time after all. So I decided to make things easier and added all the broth in the pan at once, lowered the heat to a light simmer, covered the pan, and set the kitchen alarm to 30 minutes.

After the first half an hour had elapsed I checked the risotto every now and then, stirring each time, until it started to thicken. I needed to add some more water toward the end of the cooking, maybe 3-4 dl altogether – it all depends on how runny you want your risotto. During the last 15 minutes I started stirring the risotto continuously while adding a little bit of liquid to get the consistency I wanted, and it was ready after about an hour and a half of total cooking time.

When the rice was soft and creamy, I stirred in about two thirds of the lemony tofu and the chopped parsley, and saved the rest for garnishing purposes. I also crackled some black pepper over my lunch portion.

Here’s my scrubbed parsley root, alongside some of its leaves.

We had the leftovers for lunch on the next day, and the flavors had blended a little more than I’d have liked. So in case of leftovers I recommend storing the lemony tofu and the risotto in separate containers, and only combining them right before serving!

Since the sunflower that had decorated our living room for a few weeks had just started to wilt, I used a few of its petals to garnish our soup. They were actually quite tasty as well! I’m also thinking that coconut milk instead of the cashew nuts would probably be a nice tweak.

Here’s what I threw in the pot (enough for 3-4 as a main):

• 3 large beets
• 1 medium cauliflower
• 2 red onions, roughly chopped
• 1 red chili
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 7 and 1/2 dl water
• 1 dl cashew nuts
• juice of 1 lime
• zest of 1/2 lime
• (pinch of cayenne)

I heated up the oil in the cooking pot and fried the onions until they’d browned. Meanwhile, I prepped the veggies: peeled and thinly sliced the beets, chopped the cauliflower, and de-seeded and sliced the chili.

When the onions were soft and browned, I added the chili to the pot, fried it for a bit, and added the beets, the cauliflower and the garlic. I fried the vegetables for a few more minutes and then added the water, the cashews, and the salt in the pot. Now, I cooked the soup until the beets were tender, for 20 minutes approximately.

I puréed the soup with our immersion blender until it was completely smooth, and stirred in the lime juice and the zest, a little cayenne pepper for extra heat, and checked the salt.

We served this dish with a simple side of cubed daikon radish, dressed with some lemon juice, linseed oil, and a pinch of salt and sugar.

The Beet Quinoa:

• 2 and 1/2 dl quinoa, well rinsed
• 2 small beets, finely grated (about 2 dl)
• 1 onion, cubed
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 dl kalamata olives, sliced
• 1/2 dl red wine
• 4 dl water
• 1 teaspoon marjoram
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• freshly ground black pepper
• salt to taste
• canola oil for frying

I first fried the onions in the oil until translucent, then added the garlic and the herbs, and fried a bit more. Now, I added the quinoa and the beets, and fried for a minute or so, just to coat them with the oil. Then I added the water, the red wine, and the olives, covered the pan, and let the quinoa absorb all the liquid, which took about 18 minutes. I checked it more often toward the end of the cooking time, and added just a little bit of water when it started to dry out but wasn’t quite done yet.

When the quinoa was cooked, I stirred in the Dijon mustard, salt, and black pepper, and the dish was ready to be served.

The Beluga Lentils:

• 2 and 1/2 dl Beluga lentils
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, pressed

I cooked the lentils with the bay leaf until they were soft, which took about 15 minutes. Then I drained the lentils, removed the bay leaf, and added the rest of the ingredients. Then I let the flavors develop in room temperature until the quinoa was all cooked.

We enjoyed our borsch with a big dollop of plain soy yogurt, sprinkled with plenty of frozen parsley. This was the first time I added soy protein chunks in borsch soup – they’re a totally optional ingredient that makes the soup even more filling.

The process of making this soup is pretty easy, but it is actually even better the next day, so we made a huge batch. I would say that even half of this amount should leave plenty of leftovers for two people.

What we used:

• 2 big onions
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 6 beetroots (about 500 g)
• 3 carrots (about 200 g)
• 500 g cabbage
• 400 g sauerkraut
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1,5 dl textured soy protein chunks
• 2 l vegetable stock (3 cubes & 2 l water)

Seasonings:

• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
• a lot of freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons dried marjoram
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1 dl frozen parsley

First, I peeled the beets and brushed the carrots. Then I sautéed the onion in oil until translucent. Meanwhile, Heikki grated beets, carrots, and cabbage coarsely in our electric grinder. Then he added the grated veggies in the cooking pan, and sautéed them for 10 minutes or so.

Now, I added the tomato paste, garlic, and sauerkraut, and sautéed this for some 5 minutes. Now everything was medium done, and I added the vegetable stock, and all the seasonings, and brought the soup to a boil.

Then I rinsed the soy chunks thoroughly in cold water, added them to the soup, and let it simmer for about 50 minutes.

The plate in the picture is actually my leftover lunch, since there wasn’t enough light to take a decent picture when we had this for dinner. This recipe is adapted from the first vegetarian cookbook I ever owned, ETNOkasviskeittokirja from 1994. Another leftover item in the photo is beetroot salad that Heikki made.

Here’s what I used:

• 2 onions, finely cubed
• 1 big carrot, finely cubed
• 1 package vegan sausages, sliced (or fried cubed tofu)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• salt, white pepper, black pepper, and marjoram to taste
• a pinch of sugar
• 1 tablespoon barley (or potato, or corn) starch mixed with 1 dl water
• 2 Russian style pickled cucumbers, cubed
• 2 tablespoons plain soy yogurt

I fried the onion cubes in a little olive oil until browned, and then added the sliced veggie sausage. After frying them for a few minutes, I added carrot cubes, tomato paste, and garlic, and fried them for 5 minutes. Then I added the mustard with about 2 dl water, seasoned to taste, and let the sauce boil until the carrots were done.

Now, I added the starch mixture, let it thicken up the sauce, removed the pan from heat, and mixed in 3/4 of the pickles and the soy yogurt. Before serving, I sprinkled the additional pickle cubes on top.

Sliced Wheaty sausages before frying look a little too much like bratwurst to me…

There’s some fresh arugula and fried tofu and yogurt sauce on the plate with the mash. The tofu was marinated for an hour or so in Dijon mustard, some lime juice, pinch of sugar, freshly ground black pepper, and garlic, and then fried in canola oil. There was about 250 grams of regular firm tofu and two tablespoons of mustard.

For such a short marinating time, it is wise to blot the tofu as well as possible. Heikki sliced the tofu cake in about 2 cm thick slices, then wrapped paper towels around them, and pressed the pile with his hands against the table so that as much moisture came out as possible, making it easier for the spices to absorb.

Yogurt sauce is something we have often, this time it was plain soy yogurt with garlic, dried dill, a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar, and some black pepper.

I think there were about 8 medium-sized potatoes and 4 smallish beets in the mash. The trick is to cook potatoes and beets separately, since beets are denser in texture and do not mash very easily. We sliced the beets quite finely, cooked until tender in just enough water to cover, and then pureed them and the cooking liquid with a hand held mixer. We combined the cooked, cubed potatoes and the beet puree with a few tablespoons of vegetable margarine and some salt, and mashed this with a potato masher. The taste is sweet and salty at the same time, and surprisingly the taste of beets didn’t overpower the potatoes.

What we put in the soup:

• about 10 smallish potatoes

• about 8 smallish beets

• 1 onion

• 4 cloves garlic

• 1-2 teaspoons horseradish paste (or freshly grated horseradish, maybe a little bit less)

• 1 vegetable stock cube

• 1 dl (or about half a cup) oat cream (or some other vegetarian option)

• about 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

First, we peeled our beets, and cut them in cubes. Smaller the cubes, shorter the cooking time. Then we brushed the potatoes, since we were lucky enough to have newly picked ones – there is no need to peel their thin skin off. If your potatoes are a little bit older and have thicker skins, you will need to peel them too.

Then we cut the potatoes into slightly bigger cubes than the beets. (You can also slice the beets and potatoes, beets a little bit thinner. The shape doesn’t really matter, since they will be mashed eventually anyway.) Potatoes cook quicker than beets, and this way you can add them in the soup at the same time.

After cubing the root veggies, we cut the onion and the garlic in small cubes. First, we sautéed the onion in olive oil in our cooking pan. After a few minutes, when the onion was translucent, we added garlic, and sautéed it slightly. Then we added the cubed potatoes and beets, and sautéed them for a short while, maybe a couple of minutes, to add flavor.

After all the sautéeing, we poured in enough water to cover the veggies, and added the cubed stock, sugar, black pepper, and salt. To save energy, we boiled the water in electric kettle first. And because we were hungry cooks, we were happy to reduce the cooking time by some ten minutes this way.

Then we just had to wait until the beets were tender. Depending on the size in which you cut them, cooking time should be more or less half an hour.

When the beets were tender, we removed the soup from heat. Now we added vegetarian cream and horseradish. If cooked, the cream might separate in nasty crumbs, and we didn’t want to risk that. Cooking horseradish will also reduce its nice spiciness.

Now we just puréed our soup with a hand held mixer. When the soup was velvety and completely smooth, we admired it for a while, and then adjusted the taste. We added some more salt, black pepper, and horseradish, until the balance was perfect.

Accompanying our soup, we had organic sour rye-bread. If you don’t happen to live in Finland, this can be hard to come by, in which case you can serve your soup with or without any other type of dark bread just as well.

The key to this soup is a perfect balance between the three roots; beets are nice and sweet, horseradish is hot and spicy, and potatoes add a smooth texture. If you’d like to fancy up your soup, you could mix some horseradish, salt and sugar in thick natural soy yoghurt, add a spoonful of this on top of each bowl of soup, and sprinkle with fresh parsley. We were too hungry to do that!