Beets and Beet Greens, Grilled Chicken with Yogurt and Lemons

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I grew up with beets from a can (school lunches, maybe?) so the beautiful roasted multi-colored Chioggia beets that arrived as an accompaniment to the entree I'd ordered at Zuni Cafe in San Francisco 15 some years ago were a revelation.  We were paying enough for the meal that I wasn't going to let anything on the plate go untasted, at least, and I was completely surprised.

So don't reject beets until you've tried roasting them yourself. Just sayin'.

Sometime last year I learned that beet greens can be eaten. Craziness. How did I get to be a 58-year-old beet-lover and not know that?  I must admit that the greens attached to the beets haven't looked particularly edible until I started buying them at farmer's markets... maybe I can use that as the excuse.

In any case, when I discovered a few days ago that one of the beautiful greens in my Elderslie Farm farm share happened to be attached to beets, I was delighted! I decided to cook them separately for this meal and I was very happy with the result.

I first trimmed the tops and bottoms of the beet roots, then cut off the stems. I rinsed everything, spinning the beet greens in a spinner. (These were baby beets; if I had had full-size beets I would've left a bit of the stems on the top of the beets and I would not have trimmed the bottom of the beets for roasting).

I packaged the beets up in some foil, sprinkling a couple teaspoons of water in the packet before closing it up so the beets would essentially steam in the package. I roasted them for maybe 30 minutes at 375 since there weren't very many and they were small.  As soon as I removed them from the oven I drizzled extra virgin olive oil over them and salted them lightly. Again, since they were baby beets, the skin did not need to be removed. The stems were cut and sauteed with onions cut into a similar size.

I happened to have a couple of lime wedges and used
them, but this dish usually uses lemons.

We decided to serve these with one of our favorite easy but tasty chicken preparations, which we usually do on a grill but since none was available we did in the oven. The highly-recommended recipe is below.

I made a mistake in the preparation this time and cooked the chicken breasts whole. They should have been cut into about thirds. My farm share is for two people and there were three for dinner; otherwise the plate would've had a (more healthy) larger portion of beets and greens and smaller portion of meat.

Baby Beets and Greens
Serves 2

1/2 share beets and greens (about 8 small beets)
1 small onion, chopped into small pieces (1/4" or so)
2 T olive oil
1 T balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Trim beets, stems and leaves, set each aside
Preheat oven to 375
If beets are varying sizes, cut them in half or quarters (or leave whole if quite small) so they are all roughly the same size.
Place the beets in a foil packet with 2-3 teaspoons of water, then place on a cookie sheet and bake/roast for 30 minutes (or until a fork easily pierces the beets).

Cut stems into small pieces, add to saute pan with the onions.  Cook over medium low heat until starting to change color and look a bit golden brown.  Add the T of balsamic vinegar and cook it down.  Add the leaves and toss all with tongs.  The leaves will reduce considerably in size.


Grilled Chicken Breasts with Yoghurt and Lemons
Serves 4

3 chicken breasts, cut roughly into thirds and salted with about 1 t salt
1 c plain yoghurt (Stonyfield Farm is excellent for this... preferably the whole milk variety)
1 lemon cut into 8 wedges
1 medium onion cut into 8 or more wedges (use more onions if you like grilled onions!)

Put all the ingredients in a Ziploc bag and squish them around to fully coat the chicken.  Let rest in the fridge for as long as you have, up to several hours.  If you don't happen to have a bag, just put them in a baking dish or a plastic container and sort of stir things around to coat them.

Remove the chicken and lemons and onions from the bag and grill on a medium fire until done - check after 12-15 minutes.  (A grill pan with holes or slits will prevent the lemons and onions from falling through the grate).