This post is not about the napa cabbage. But seriously. Look at that napa cabbage! Two days ago it looked like this (bottom cabbage) in the flower garden.
But this post is not about cabbage. It’s about beets, yogurt, and a special secret ingredient…
I was looking for something different to do with beets the other day, and stumbled on a wonderful sauce. It’s actually a combination of two recipes, one from Deborah Madison’s Local Flavors, and the other in Liana Krissoff’s Whole Grains for a New Generation.
Madison’s recipe was for beets with a dressing made of anise hyssop and champagne vinegar. Krissoff’s was for a wheat berry and beet salad with anise-flavored yogurt cheese. See the common denominator? Anise.
I had a jar of dried hyssop from last fall’s prairie. It was still fragrant and had beautiful lavender bits from the flowers. In fact, it looks a lot like dried lavender, but it smells strongly of anise.
I made a bed of wheat berries and freekeh (you can use any grains, but I liked the mix of a hearty grain and lighter one). I roasted the beets, red and golden, and sliced them onto the bed. Then I topped it with the dressing: yogurt, lemon juice, champagne vinegar (don’t really need both) and a good helping of the hyssop. Salt and pepper to taste. I think I even put a spoonful of sour cream in the sauce because I tend to do that kind of thing…
The salad I made for dinner was very flavorful and a nice break from the butter and feta I’ve been using on beets. Plus, there was extra sauce.
Last night I needed something for chicken breast and made a chicken salad. Chunks of grilled chicken, lightly sautéed green beans, snow peas, carrots and zucchini, all tossed with the leftover grains and the yogurt sauce. This was a real star. I am going to make a larger batch of it today. I was so uncertain about it, I didn’t take a photo, but it looks like a chunky chicken and vegetable salad. You could switch out the vegetables with anything you like: broccoli shoots, red onion or shallots, celery, kohlrabi, etc.
Hyssop Yogurt Sauce and Two Salads
1 cup Greek yogurt or combination of yogurt and sour cream
juice from one lemon
2 Tbs champagne or white wine vinegar
2 Tbs dried hyssop or 1 Tbs crushed anise seed
salt and pepper to taste
For the beet salad: Roast beets at 350 degrees for 50 minutes until tender. Cook 2 cups of wheat berries, freekeh or another grain until chewy tender. A nice presentation would be to mix the grains with the yogurt sauce and then put the sliced beets on top with a lemon slice or sprinkling of hyssop for a garnish.
For the chicken salad: grill or sautee diced chicken breasts in a little olive oil until cooked through and set aside. Sautee or steam seasonal vegetables: green beans, snow peas, shell peas, carrots, shallots, onion, garlic scapes, broccoli shoots, kohlrabi, etc. The chicken should be cooked through and the vegetables crisp tender. Add the chicken to the pan to warm through. Mix with the sauce and serve! (This salad is good cold, too!)