I looooove beets! They are rich in iron, a great source for vitamins and their texture is very unique. Preferably, I roast them in the oven while I happen to be baking something else. After allowing them to cool, I would cut them into little rectangles and eat them as a salad. But that was only, because I hadn’t ever thought of making red beet carpaccio. I now consider this the best option ever to eat beets. I love the firm texture and the lush beet flavor when it comes in a paper thin slice delicately slathered in a tasty dressing.

I came by the idea through my friend Julia, who on the day before Valentine’s day responded to my post on Facebook asking around for light appetizer ideas for a romantic dinner. She suggested red beet carpaccio. Now, my husband is no fan of beets, so I said “thanks, but no thanks”, but vowed to make it for myself soon. Only later did I realize that it’s an appetizer destined to be made on Valentine ’s Day. Just look at the color, so bright, so red!

Ingredients (for two Carpaccio plates)
two medium beets
butter (or oil, for a vegan version)

For the dressing:
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey (or agave syrup, when making it vegan)
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar (or white vinegar)
2 tbsp olive oil
chopped herbs (e.g. parsley, oregano, basil)
fleur de sel
pepper

Heat you oven to 220 °C. Wash the beets, and cut off both ends. Place a piece of butter onto each beet and wrap in aluminum foil. For a vegan version, rub the beets generously with oil and then wrap in aluminum foil. Place into an oven dish and transfer into the oven. Let roast for about 45 minutes to an hour until cooked well. Turn off oven, take beets out of the oven and let cool. The beets can be roasted up to three days ahead and kept in the fridge in a Tupperware.

In a bowl, mix up all the ingredients for the dressing until they have blended well.

Using a vegetable slicer, first peel the beets, proceed to produce thin slices, cutting them into the bowl with the dressing. Using clean hands distribute the dressing evenly between the beet slices.
Then, on a large plate, going from the inside out in a snail-shell-pattern, place one slice unevenly next to the other until reaching the outer end of the plate. Repeat this with a second place. If you are lazy, you can also just serve the thinly sliced beets as in a small salad bowl.

I find this dish is best served cold, so either store the decorated plates in the fridge until ten minutes prior to serving or prepare the carpaccio with beets fresh out of the fridge and then serve immediately.