Recipe: Edward Espe Brown's beets and greens

I usually find the idea of washing and cutting up the greens for this dish to be somewhat daunting, but the dish speaks for itself: the beets gentled by the greens, the greens made more sturdy by the beets.

Ingredients

• Beets
• Beet greens
• Salt
• Pepper, black or red
• Green onions or chives (optional)

Directions

1. Boil or steam the beets and cut them (in rounds, wedges, etc., but not cubes).

2. Cut the greens and stems into 1-inch sections crosswise (and wash).

3. When reheating the cooked beets, add the greens, and a little salt along with some pepper, cover and steam for a couple of minutes. Then stir the beets and greens together, adjust the seasoning, and continue cooking until done — another 2 or 3 minutes.

4. Garnish with sliced green onions or chives.

Variations:

• For some spiciness, consider adding ginger, garlic, or horseradish.
• For a classic sweet-and-sour effect, add equal amounts of balsamic vinegar and honey.
• For a not-so-classic sweet-and-sour effect, add pomegranate vinegar and pomegranate molasses. Awesome flavors!

— Edward Espe Brown, “The Complete Tassajara Cookbook: Recipes, Techniques, and Reflections from the Famed Zen Kitchen”

This story was originally published February 16, 2010 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Recipe: Edward Espe Brown's beets and greens."