Hasselback Beets with Dill Yogurt Sauce

Beets are a powerhouse vegetable—so many benefits. Such as supporting healthy brain function, heart, and digestive system. It is also thought that beets can alleviate inflammation and hinder the growth of cancer cells. (**I am not a medical professional. These statements are not meant to cure or treat any existing or future maladies.)

That being said, some people truly do not like beets no matter how many ways and times they give beets a try.

One family member continues to give beets a chance. And every single time, to him, a sugary beet tastes just like dirt.

If you are one of those people who like beets, here is one of our favorite ways to enjoy these rich roots.

But if you would rather treat your sweet tooth, you really should try beet brownies. They are more like a fudgy cake and amazingly delicious!!

Find the recipe here.

PREP YOUR BEETS

Depending on the size, I usually get one beet per person. I have always wanted to try this recipe with baby beets one day, because I think that would be an adorable addition to any meal.

The rounder and plumper the beet, the better.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

I prefer using a glass dish, such as these, for this recipe, but using metal is just fine.  Do not use a baking sheet! This recipe calls for the addition of liquid. As long as the sides of your dish are taller than the beets, you’re good to go.

Begin by washing the beets, cut the roots and greens. Don’t throw away the greens! They are edible, stems and leaves. Add them to a salad, sauté, or pickle.

And now peel the beets.

Some advice: wear gloves. If you are using red beets, they stain everything! Skin, clothes, grout, wooden cutting boards, and anything else you may value.  On your hands, it doesn’t last long. By the next day, the staining will have disappeared. If you don’t mind pink hands then don’t worry. However, getting beets out of cloth is quite the challenge. Especially since beets are used as a natural dye.

The other varieties will also stain, the colors just aren’t as jarring.

Now, the crucial bit. The tell-tale hasselback slices. Do not slice the beets all the way through. The point of hasselback styles is that the vegetable is sliced but remains a whole.

The best way to achieve this is raid the take-out drawer. All this wooden chopsticks you’ve been hoarding now have a greater purpose. Ours happen to end up in the craft drawer, but we have plastic chopsticks, just like these.

No chopsticks? Wooden or metal skewers work just as well. So do pencil and pens. Just make sure to give them a wash before they touch your food. The point is to have two equally sized things to prevent you from chopping all the way through the beets, but equally.  Total sense, right?

When slicing the beets, try to make them the same width as well. For me, that is my Achilles Heel. It won’t ruin the dish by any means if the width doesn’t boast total uniformity.

ROASTING THE BEETS

Once your beets are all sliced, place them in the baking dish and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Add ¾ c water to the dish before covering tightly with foil. This allows the beets to steam and roast at the same time. Remember, beets are incredibly dense and take some time.

Bake for 40 minutes.

While the beets are in the oven, make the yogurt dill sauce.

YOGURT DILL SAUCE

Confession, I don’t use yogurt for the yogurt dill sauce. For starters, we don’t always plain yogurt on hand.  I substitute yogurt with sour cream—something we always have in plenty.

I have included the actual measurements for the sauce in the recipe proper, but around here, unless we are baking, we cook in the land of no measurements. I have been cooking, and baking, long enough, that I’m pretty accurate when it comes to eye-balling it.

If you do the same and notice that my measurements might not ‘look’ right, they might not be. I also make the sauce to taste under the philosophy of ‘you can always add more but can’t take away.’

Add ½ c  yogurt, sour cream, or a combination of both (mayonnaise is not a good substitute). Add 2 T dill and 2 T lemon juice. As well as not always having yogurt we don’t always have fresh dill to chop. Using dried dill is just fine. Dill weed, not dill seed.

Around here, we value our condiments. Roughly ½ c of sauce is not enough for three beets. Okay, it is. You will have enough. But we like to eat these beets alongside steak or fish. The sauce goes great with either protein.

Allowing the sauce to sit while the beets are roasting helps the flavors meld together to make one cohesively delicious topping.

FINISHING THE BEETS

Back to the beets. After 40 minutes, uncover and continue to roast 30-40 minutes.

Carefully spread the slices a part slightly and baste with pan juices halfway through.  Watch the liquid level. There have been times the liquid was not substantial, evaporated, and burned. Beets have a lot of sugar and can burn easily.  Then again, my oven does not heat consistently or evenly.

Test the tenderness of your beets by gently poking the inner slices with a fork or the tip of a knife.  Whatever you use should glide in easily without the beet being mushy.

Remove from oven.

To serve, drizzle beets with yogurt sauce.  If using sour cream, dill sauce may be too thick to drizzle, just plop it on there.  Top with pink peppercorns and more dill.

Along with fresh dill and plain yogurt, we don’t routinely have pink peppercorns. In full disclosure, I have, sadly, never had them for this recipe. But would love to have them in my pantry anyway.  

We typically serve this alongside a nice steak or white fish. The dill sauce compliments both proteins beautifully. Not into meat? Roasted beets, wild rice, and a side salad.

There is no law that says these roasted beets need to be served next to anything. Have a few beets on your plate and top with sauce.

No matter how you decide to serve these lovely roots, I hope you enjoy them. If you do, or even if you don’t, let me know! I would love to hear about it either way.