That was how we tasted it at home, and even if it was a somewhat classic way of eating it, I always found it good: beetroot has this little sweet and mild taste that almost gave the impression of cheating on the dessert.
It is today for a slightly different way of eating beets that I am writing to you, in a beetroot dip with cream cheesevery pleasant to eat both as an aperitif with small breadsticks and to garnish a well-coloured mixed bowl.
Beet spread with fromage frais
Where can I find vegetable cream cheese?
There are some products corresponding to fresh cheese, especially in organic stores, of the “spreadable” type, and you can also find them in classic supermarkets, but I must admit that these alternatives are rarely neutral in taste, and that in our case, it does not suit us particularly because we want to preserve the sweet and sweet flavor of the beet.
With this in mind, the simplest thing is to make your own homemade fresh cheese, which here consists most simply of straining natural yoghurt, to remove the liquid part, and keep only the solid part, which is creamy. We then end up with a slightly acidulous product, to which we will only have to add a little fat and salt.
If ever this technique is new to you, I’ll tell you all about making your fresh cheese spread, with a whole bunch of alternatives for texture, taste and therefore kilos of bread swallowed up.
The big advantage of this technique is its price: the alternatives to vegetable cheese are quite expensive, this alternative is very affordable. You can now find large pots of 400 g soy yogurt at the organic store for less than 2 euros. Unbeatable!
Preparation of the beet dill dip
It is ultimately a very simple preparation but you will need a small capacity blender (on the quantity) or an immersion blender.
I return for a moment to beets. You can obviously cook them yourself, but it still takes a lot of the speed out of this preparation, knowing that beets take a particularly long time to cook, especially if, like my home, your market gardeners have huge beets.
On the other hand, what is great is that in some markets, and even supermarkets, you can find cooked beets on the vegetable shelves: oven-baked, they are whole and not bathed in juice, they have a texture and taste that are absolutely incomparable. I strongly advise you to adopt them if you come across them!
Then we just mix all the ingredients and you’re done.
This preparation gives a light result in the mouth and not too rich. For a spread rather than a dip, you can add more drained yogurt (either 200 or 300 grams even!). The more “fresh cheese” you put in, the more compact you will have.
You can also add a little deodorized melted coconut oil to give it more staying power, but for my part I find that its lightness really adds something to it.
With this dip, you can absolutely consider making verrines, but also super sandwiches (for example with a little chickpea tuna !), but also integrate it into a magnificent colorful bowl: a little rice, a portion of lentils with vinaigrette and shallots, some grated carrots, and possibly, because it’s in season, some avocado who does not come from too far?
Dill Beet Spread
Ingredients
- 100 g soy yogurt nature
- 200 g beet cooked
- 1/4 vs. coffee fine salt
- 10 g lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 vs. soup dill here frozen
- 15 g olive oil
Instructions
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The day before, or a few hours before, place the 100 g of yoghurt in a clean cloth or sterile gauze, in a strainer, then in a bowl, so that the yoghurt liquid drips off.
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The next day or a few hours later, remove the cloth/gauze, and recover the yogurt.
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Put all the ingredients together after having degermed the pod, and mix until you obtain a relatively homogeneous mixture (the goal is not to have muslin either).
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You can possibly remove a little dill or all the dill if you don’t like it, but the mixture loses some of its charm.
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For a thicker texture, you can put double the soy yogurt, but also substitute olive oil for deodorized coconut oil.
