Genius Recipes's Notes:
Expand8 small beets, with greens if possible Ask a question about this ingredient
1 small bunch fresh rosemary Ask a question about this ingredient
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar Ask a question about this ingredient
Extra virgin olive oil Ask a question about this ingredient
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Ask a question about this ingredient
1 small bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped Ask a question about this ingredient
1 small bunch fresh tarragon or basil, leaves picked and roughly chopped Ask a question about this ingredient
4 heaped tablespoons cottage cheese Ask a question about this ingredient
juice and zest from 1/2 lemon, plus more to taste Ask a question about this ingredient
A few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked Ask a question about this ingredient
First, light your charcoal barbecue or fire. Wash the beets and snip off the greens, reserving them. Fold a large piece of foil -- about 12-18" (24-36" unfolded), depending on the size of your beets -- in half to form a double layer. Lay the greens, then the beets, then the rosemary on top of the foil. (Note: if you don't have greens with your beets -- or want to save them to cook separately -- that's okay, just make sure the coals are at medium heat, not flaming, when you add your packet of beets.)
Ask a question about this stepRoll up the foil, folding in the edges and twisting the ends together. Stab the foil a few times all over with a knife to allow the smoke to get inside and flavor the beets. Lift the rack of your barbecue with tongs and carefully insert your foil package among the coals, making sure you place some coals on top too.
Ask a question about this stepLeave it to cook for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the beets are tender, then remove the package and allow it to cool down. Unwrap it and remove the beets, discarding the greens and rosemary sprigs.
Ask a question about this stepOnce cooled slightly, peel the beets and discard the charred skin. The skins should slip right off, but if they don't, gently scrape them away with the back of a paring knife. Cut the beets into irregular chunks and place in a bowl. Add the vinegar, 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, plenty of salt and pepper and half the parsley and tarragon. Toss, have a taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Ask a question about this stepPut the cottage cheese into a bowl and add the juice and finely grated zest from half your lemon. Stir in 2 glugs of extra virgin olive oil, the thyme leaves and some salt and pepper and gently fold it all together, so the oil and lemon marble through the cottage cheese. Taste the dressing and squeeze in a bit more lemon juice if you like.
Ask a question about this stepTo serve, divide the dressed beets between four salad plates. Top each plate with a spoonful of cottage cheese dressing. Scatter over the remaining herbs and enjoy!
Ask a question about this stepThis, with the macaroni cheese, sound like a dream team.
You will find quite a number of comments on the Genius Recipe page that introduced it. Here's the link: http://www.food52.com/blog/2578_jamie_olivers_smoked_beets
Funny that you mention subbing the beet greens with banana leaves -- once, after a vacation in Hawaii, I tried a Hawaiian recipe that called for banana leaves, but I was at home in in Upstate NY, so I used freshly picked Swiss chard instead!
I'm shocked at not finding a host of great comments re: this beet recipe. We made this recipe just as instructed but used banana leaves because we couldn't find fresh beets with the greens left on - here on Maui. The beets were awesome. You can make ahead. It was creative to plan to put the cottage cheese drizzle on top as that way they don't turn RED. We've decided this is a must when serving guests.
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No fancy smoking equipment here -- just a charcoal chimney to get the coals going.
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Snip off the beet greens. They get bundled up with beet roots to shelter them from the direct heat of the coals.
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See? The rosemary will protect and flavor the beets too.
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Roll everything in a double-thick layer of foil and seal it up.
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Then stab it all over to create vents for the smoke to get through.
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Red hot coals, ready to roast!
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Tuck the beet package into the coals, stacking a few on top.
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About 30 minutes later, check to see if the beets are done by poking them with a paring knife -- no need to unwrap first!
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Hot beets, coming through!
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Don't they look like they were pulled out of a bog?
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Give them time to cool and the skins should slip right off.
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But any stubborn skins can be scraped away with the back of a paring knife.
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Beet hands!
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Jamie Oliver says to chop them up into irregular sizes, but obviously I'm not as uninhibited as he is. Medium dice it is.
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Call in your buddies to pluck some herbs! That's Jennifer at left, and Kristy at right.
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Again, Jamie wants a rough, ragged chop, and I fight my urges to mince.
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And sort of succeed.
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The good stuff -- full-fat, organic, squeaky.
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Lemon zest, the Merrill way. If you point your zester upward, the zest gathers neatly without scattering all over the counter (and spilling its fragrant oils).
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Angelic lemon and cottage cheese are about to get super sexy.
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Hubba hubba. Olive oil and thyme will do that.
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Fold it gently, so you keep the streaks of gold and white.
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Then spoon it over your smoky beets.
Very nice. But hey I am a miss shortcut so I replaced the smoked beets with 2 cans of sliced beets which I rinsed, patted dry and chopped into irregular pieces. So for those of you who want to continue to enjoy the nice dressing but in a quick fast food type of way, use 2 cans of beets. Also you don't need to buy all these herbs. Next time I may try to just use thyme which I love and parsley and/or cilantro. I could easily do without the tarragon! I will make this again soon. Tastes really good with grilled and/or jerk chicken.