Traditionally we boil the beets in water until tender, cooking the greens and stems separately, before assembling them in a salad, which is often complemented with Skordalia (garlic sauce).

Serves 6-8

6 beets of any color, cooked in boiling salted water until tender, peeled and sliced or cut into chunks

1 1/2 pounds beet greens cooked in boiling salted water until tender, and drained

Dressing

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

3-4 tablespoons cider or red wine vinegar, or more to taste

5-6 tablespoons fruity olive oil, or more, to taste

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1/2 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped 

Leaves of 3-4 fresh mint sprigs, torn into pieces 

Assemble the salad: Arrange the cooked beets, stems and greens in a bowl or platter.

Make the dressing combining the mustard, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper in a jar with well-fitting lid, and shake for a few seconds to fully combine.

Taste and adjust the flavor, then pour over the beets. Sprinkle with the walnuts and mint.

Serve warm,  or at room temperature. 

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The sweet beet greens are especially delicious flavored with the tart, avgolemono sauce.

Serves 6

6  whole chicken legs, separated, or a whole cut-up chicken –preferably free range

Salt and coarsely ground black pepper

1 teaspoon fennel seeds, preferably freshly ground or crushed in a mortar

2  tablespoons ground coriander seeds

1  large onion, coarsely chopped

About 2 cups Chicken Stock or more, as needed

2 1/2  pounds beet greens with stems; separate the stems and cut into 2-3 inch pieces (see NOTE)

1-2  fresh oregano or thyme sprigs (optional) 

AVGOLEMONO SAUCE

About 1 1/2 cups cooking broth from the chicken and beet greens 

2/3 cup white wine

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more, to taste

1  tablespoon cornstarch

Freshly ground black pepper and Aleppo pepper, to taste 

Chopped fennel fronds or dill 

Prepare the chicken: Season the meat on both sides generously with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with fennel seeds and coriander all over the chicken pieces.

In the deep skillet heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and sauté the chicken pieces on both sides until nicely browned. With a slotted spoon remove the chicken pieces to a platter and keep warm.

Add the onion to the skillet and briefly fry, then pour over the wine and broth and scrape up any caramelized bits at the bottom of the pan.

Arrange the chicken pieces in the pan  and bring to a boil. Half-cover the skillet, turn the heat to medium and cook for about 35 minutes, until the chicken is almost cooked, adding more broth or water, as needed. It should be quite brothy. 

Add the beet stems to the chicken and cook for about 8 minutes, or until tender, then add the beet leaves, toss, and cook for another 4-5 minutes until done to your taste. 

Make the Avgolemono Sauce: In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, 3 tablespoons of the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of the wine. In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch with the remaining wine, then whisk into the egg mixture.

Whisking constantly, slowly pour about 1  1/2 cups of the hot cooking broth, 1/2 cup at a time, into the egg mixture. 

Pour the egg mixture into the saucepan and simmer, stirring very gently, until the sauce thickens.

Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding pepper and more lemon juice if you like.

Serve hot, sprinkling with dill.

NOTE: 

Instead of beet greens and stems you can use chard, large, not baby, spinach, or a combination of various greens, as in Yahnera.

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In Israel you will most often find the vivid pink ‘borani’, made with beets and beet greens instead of spinach (see variation). 

As an alternative to the traditional pita bread, I prefer to spread it on toasted whole wheat or multi-grain bread, rubbed with a clove of garlic.

It can also be a side dish, accompanying poached or grilled fish or chicken.

Makes about 3 cups.

1 1/2 pounds spinach leaves, washed and coarsely chopped

1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

½ cup cilantro chopped

3 cups thick yogurt

2-3 garlic cloves, minced, to taste

1-3 jalapeňos, finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (optional)

Borage flowers, and mint (optional) 

Place the spinach in a saucepan over high heat, cover, and let it wilt without adding more water than what clings on the leaves. It needs only 2 to 3 minutes. Toss once or twice while cooking, and be careful not to let it burn. Remove the spinach from the heat, place in a colander, and let cool and drain. Press with your hands to remove as much liquid as possible. Chop finely.

In a bowl, combine the spinach with the parsley, cilantro, yogurt, garlic, and chilies, stirring well. Add a little salt and taste. Adjust seasoning with more salt and a little black pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Spread on toasts, sprinkle with walnuts and serve as an appetizer, or transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with walnuts, or decorate with borage flowers and mint.

VARIATION:

Pink Borani with Beets

Dice 4-5 large cooked and peeled beets (together with their cooked stems and greens, if you like) and mix with the garlic, yogurt and jalapenos (as above).

Omit the parsley and cilantro, and flavor with ½ cup chopped dill, some chopped fresh mint, and the zest of ½ lemon. Sprinkle with sumac, if you like. 

I add 2-3 tablespoon lemon juice, as beets are quite sweet for my taste, but you may not agree with me…

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The radish seeds we planted once grew tall, with lush leaves but no radishes. ‘There was some problem with the seeds,” said our friend at the nursery when I asked him if the reason was my planting too many in a small space.

 “Take them out and throw them to the neighbor’s sheep,” he said, offering to give me new, guaranteed radish seeds. But the greens looked wonderful, tender, crunchy and somewhat spicy, so I braised them with garlic, adding slices of the delicious, smoked local sausage I got from Yiannis, the butcher at the port. I complemented the dish with some of the half-cooked wheat berries or farro (see the Note HERE) that I keep in the freezer. We loved this dish of greens and grains, flavored with pepper flakes and turmeric, and drizzled with lemon juice.

I probably will never be able to make the exact same one again, though, as I doubt that I will be able to grow this kind of mock-radish greens anytime soon. See the easy recipe for Risotto with Greens though, which you can make with spinach, chard, or with red beet stems and leaves that make an impressive deep red risotto.

This is an example of how I choose what to cook every day, looking first at the garden, then opening the cupboards, my fridge and the freezer to decide what I could use to supplement the fresh produce and create an interesting and wholesome meal.

I chop and freeze the beet stems and use them to make the bright red Beet Risotto, a Variation of my basic Risotto with Greens.

I have almost forgotten the last time I thought of a dish first, and then went to buy the necessary ingredients. I vaguely recall composing menus from scratch and writing shopping lists, many years ago, when I was in Athens and often gave formal dinner parties for fellow journalists, friends, and artists. My tiny city kitchen had almost no storage space, my fridge was small, and the freezer could hardly hold more than ice cubes.

The other day I discovered in my sizeable freezer a bag with chopped olives, leeks and fennel, leftover stuffing from eliopita (olive pie) that I had totally forgotten. It was fragrant and delicious, so I decided to make a different kind of meze: I rolled the stuffing in leftover bread dough from the spicy yellow crackers. The result was tiny bites bursting with flavor, and some larger, empanada-like pies, that were equally wonderful.

I so much enjoy my early morning walks around the garden with Neva, as I look for the best vegetables and herbs, and also the ones that we have to uproot to make room for the zucchini, the peppers and the tomatoes that are now sprouting in small covered boxes. Last week I had to take out the rest of the flowering broccoli rabe, something I should have done earlier.

It took some work to separate the very tough stems, but I ended up with enough succulent greens to make a really wholesome, creamy risotto. I used the rice grits from the Ansom Mills’ bag I brought from Washington. My dear friend, chef Michael Costa of Zaytinya told me I had to try them, and he was absolutely right!

Not that our local medium grain rice is bad, but these grits were truly exceptional. I have also brought organic rice from Istanbul, the kind my friends use to make their famous pilafs, and I will try it next.

I feel that my cooking is not far from the frugal ways of years passed. Probably my grandmother when she spent summers in this same island with my mother and her six older and younger siblings in the 1930ies, went through a very similar process as she planned each day’s meal…

RECIPES:  

Risotto with Greens and the Variation for red risotto with Beets

  also the Red Rice Risotto with Leeks, Mushrooms, Fresh Fava, and Cilantro

and the Grain Pilaf with Kale or Cabbage

Additionally check: 

Eliopita (olive pie)

 Spicy Yellow Crackers

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I slightly adapted Tanis’ recipe, basically omitting the celery, because Costas is not fond of it. Kale is not available here, but the beets come with their greens which I used; you can alternatively add chard, kale, or any other green you like.

I simply top the wonderful soup with thick strained yogurt instead of the cream and freshly grated horseradish, which would be fantastic, if only we could get it on Kea!

In his introduction to the recipe, David Tanis talks about “…the long-gone resorts of the Catskills, in the so-called Jewish Alps. During their heyday, in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, these summer resorts hosted generations of Jewish Americans, at a time when virulent anti-Semitism prevented their admittance to non-Jewish resorts. Families would spend the whole summer in these mountains enclaves to escape the sweltering city. There were daily activities and nightly entertainment. Comedians who worked the circuit called it the Borscht Belt. And quite a lot of cold borscht was served in that era before air-conditioning.”

Serves 6

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 large leek, diced (about 1 cup)

Salt and pepper

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon caraway seeds

1 bay leaf

1 thyme sprig

½ pound starchy potatoes (about 6 potatoes), peeled and cut in 1-inch chunks

2 pounds medium beets, peeled and cut in 1-inch chunks

½ pound medium carrots (about 4 carrots), peeled and cut in 1-inch chunks

3 cups coarsely chopped beet greens, chard leaves or kale

1 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaved parsley

1 tablespoon apple-cider vinegar, or to taste

1/2 -1 teaspoons freshly ground pepper, to taste

Thick, full-fat yogurt (Greek) for serving

 A handful of cilantro leaved, coarsely chopped (optional)

Put olive oil in a heavy-bottomed soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat and add the onion, and leek, stir to coat, and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 8-10 minutes, stirring often, until the onion has softened. Add the garlic, tomato paste, paprika, caraway, bay leaf and thyme, and cook for 1 minute, stirring.

Add the potatoes, the beets and the carrots, 6 cups water and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a brisk simmer. Simmer with lid ajar for about 20 minutes, or until potatoes, beets, and carrots are fork tender.

Add the greens, most of the parsley –keeping some for topping the soup– and vinegar and stir to distribute. Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning, adding freshly ground pepper. Simmer briefly until the greens are done.

To serve, ladle into soup bowls, and garnish with parsley, and cilantro, if you like. Pass the thick yogurt at the table.

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See also the unusual Pelion skordalia with unripe grapes or verjuice.

Serve the salad as a first course or as a side dish with grilled or fried fish.

Adapted from The Foods of the Greek Islands (Houghton Mifflin)

Makes 4-6 servings

THE GARLIC SAUCE (Skordalia)

2-3 medium potatoes, halved –depending on how mild you want the skordalia

Two 1/2-inch-thick slices sturdy white bread, crusts removed, soaked in water until softened, and squeezed dry

1/2 cup blanched whole almonds, soaked in water for at least 2–3 hours, or preferably overnight, and drained

3–5 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice –or more, to taste

3-6 garlic cloves (to taste)

Salt

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2-1 cup thick, Greek yogurt, preferably full fat (optional) 

THE SALAD:

6 beets of any color, cooked in boiling salted water until tender, peeled and sliced

1 1/2 pound beet greens, chard, amaranth shoots, or tender green beans, cooked in boiling salted water until just tender, and drained

2–3 tablespoons red wine vinegar 

Extra-virgin olive oil

3 scallions (green parts only), thinly sliced

For the garlic sauce: In a large saucepan of boiling water, cook the potatoes until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain and mash the potatoes. Set aside. (you can cook the potatoes up to 1-2 days before making skordalia. Mash and refrigerate, covered until needed. 

Place the bread, almonds, 1 to 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice, the garlic (use 3 or more cloves according to how strong you like the sauce) and salt to taste in a food processor and process into a smooth paste. In a medium bowl, combine the almond mixture, potatoes, oil, the remaining 1 to 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice and a few pepper grindings. Taste and adjust the seasonings. If the sauce is too thick, stir in a few tablespoons of water and if you like, just before serving, fold in some thick yogurt.

To assemble, serve the chopped beets and greens on a platter, passing the garlic sauce around in a bowl.

Alternatively, mound the garlic sauce in the middle of a serving platter and arrange the beet slices around one side of it and the greens or beans on the other. Sprinkle the vegetables with the vinegar and drizzle oil over the garlic sauce. Sprinkle with the scallions and serve.

VARIATION: Instead of greens or beans, you can use steamed cauliflower or broccoli.

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