Braised Beets

It's so easy to toss beets in the toaster oven to bake that I rarely cook them any other way.

But I recently tried pan-braising them in a little water and oil, and was so impressed I'll be doing it more often, especially in the summer when it's too hot to turn on the toaster oven.

I did peel and chop them before I cooked them, which was messy, but the red stains on my fingers wore off eventually, and the finished beets were really beautiful.

I contrasted them with an easy pistachio pesto that stayed bright green for days. I'm not sure why because it was my regular pesto recipe with pistachios instead of pine nuts. I guess the nuts helped the basil stay a bright spring green.

This dish served four and left them wanting more.

Braised Beets

2 bunches beets, roots only

2 tbsp olive oil, divided use

Scrub the roots and peel off any rough spots at the stem end. Chop into quarters (or 1/2 inch rounds if the beets are large). Place them in a heavy saucepan with 2 tbsp water and 1 tbsp oil. Place on medium-low heat and cook, covered, until tender when pierced with a knife, about 15 minutes. Add a couple of tablespoons of water if the pan is getting dry. But if they're young beets they'll release a surprising amount of water while cooking. When they are tender, toss them with the other tbsp of olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Arrange on a platter.

Pistachio Pesto

1/4 cup shelled pistachios

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup basil

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp parmesan

Toast the pistachios lightly in a heavy skillet. Pour them into the food processor and add the garlic, salt and basil. Grind coarsely. Add the oil and purée until relatively smooth. It will be a thick paste. Stir in the parmesan.

Arrange the beets on a platter and dollop the pesto on them.

Serves 4