Shake Up Your Cooking Routine with a New Side Dish or Salad

Photo by Ingrid Beckman

Every once in a while, I need to shake up my weekly cooking routine with a new side dish or salad like today’s Sweet and Savory Beets with Sweet Potatoes. Like most home cooks who are still working, I tend to cook the same sides over and over again, just to keep menu planning and cooking time to a minimum.

Although dinners at our house are always delicious, even I get bored with my own cooking on occasion! That’s when it’s time to create a new dish. This one is a delicious side dish or salad made with cooked root vegetables.

Versatile Cooking and Serving Options

If you’re making this during your work week, you may want to roast the beets the night before you make the dish, since it takes about an hour to roast beets (and occasionally more if they’re on the large side.) After you take them out of the oven to cool, be sure to rub the skins off the beets while they are still a little warm. (I find it’s harder to rub off the skin once the beets have been refrigerated.)

If you have an Instant Pot and a steam basket, you may prefer to pop the beets into the pot and set them to steam with low pressure for 10 minutes to be ready for you when you arrive home to cook. The diced sweet potatoes will roast in 20 minutes, so these won’t be an issue when you’re ready to cook.

This dish is delicious when served warm from the oven. With summer just around the corner, it also doubles as a lovely summer salad at room temperature.

Subtle Spices Make the Difference

This recipe was inspired by a yummy dish I tasted at my friend Elizabeth’s home. I added some Ayurvedic touches by adding spices—cinnamon and cardamom—to balance the kapha nature of both the beets and sweet potatoes. Although the sweet potatoes and beets are plenty sweet, I added some coconut milk to further balance the particularly sour taste of balsamic vinegar.

According to Ayurveda, we should eat all six tastes during a meal to support digestion. I added a bit of cumin and coriander so that the dish would include all six tastes identified by Ayurveda:

Sweet (cardamom, cinnamon)
Sour (balsamic vinegar)
Salty (salt)
Pungent (cardamon, cinnamon,)
Bitter (cumin)
Astringent (cumin, coriander)

Enjoy this dish of Sweet and Savory Beets with Sweet Potatoes and take the boring out of everyday dinners!

Lisa J. Mitchell

SWEET AND SAVORY BEETS WITH SWEET POTATOES
Vegan, Gluten Free

Preparation Time: About 45 to 90 minutes, depending on cooking style (30 minutes active)
Serves 4 to 6

This dish is delicious when served warm or you can cool it to room temperature, when it is more like a summer salad.

2 to 3 medium red beets (1/2 to 3/4 pound)
1 extra large or 2 medium sweet potatoes (1/2 to ¾ pound)
1 to 1½ tablespoons avocado oil
¼ to ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ to ½ teaspoons ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
1½ to 2 teaspoons mineral salt, divided
1 large shallot or a small, sweet onion
1½ to 2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
½ to ¾ cup coconut milk

Time Saver: See text about cooking options if you want to steam the beets instead of roasting them.

1. Prepare the beets: Preheat oven to 450˚F. Wrap each beet in parchment paper followed by aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the beets can be easily pierced with a fork. Once the beets are tender, remove them from the oven. Remove the foil and parchment and place them on a plate to cool for 10 minutes. Once the beets are cool enough to touch, rub the skin off each beet with your thumb. Slice the beets into ¼-inch cubes.

2. Prepare the sweet potatoes: Peel the potatoes and cut into ¼-inch cubes, about 2 to 3 cups total. Place the avocado oil in a mixing bowl with all of the spices and ½ teaspoon salt. Add the cubed sweet potatoes and stir well to coat the potatoes with oil and spices. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and bake at 450˚F for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.

3. Prepare the shallot or onion: While the beets and sweet potatoes are cooking, thinly slice the shallot or onion. Heat a pot or pan that is large enough to hold all the ingredients on medium-low heat. Add enough coconut oil to cover the bottom of the pot or pan. Add the shallot or onion and cook it slowly until it caramelizes—a shallot will cook much faster. Once it’s soft and consistently golden brown, reduce the heat to low, add the balsamic vinegar, and let the shallot or onion simmer in the vinegar until the vinegar is absorbed. Set aside until the roasted vegetables are ready.

4. Assemble the ingredients: Once the beets and sweet potatoes are tender, add them to the onions along with the coconut milk and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook uncovered over a medium-low heat for a few minutes until the coconut milk cooks down and is absorbed into the vegetables. Add salt to taste. Serve immediately or let cool to serve as a side salad.

Ayurvedic Note: Sweet potatoes and beets are fine for all doshas. I rarely cook with vinegar because it is pitta aggravating and can cause acidity, but a little balsamic vinegar is fine on occasion. On a positive note, vinegar increases agni, which supports digestion of the protein you may have with your meal.

Avoid or reduce balsamic vinegar.

FOOD | HEALTH | SPIRITUALITY

Sign Up For Your BONUS GIFT!

The Sacred & Delicious Food List

Sign up now for our Sacred & Delicious Blog