Harmony of New Beets and Basil 🇫🇷 Home Cooking in France

Bettrave = Beetroot = Beets.
It is a root vegetable that stains both your hands and cutting board bright red.

The other day, I saw something delicious in Yusukin-san's article and thought I would make it when winter came.

▼ They all look delicious, but I was especially captivated by the bright red rice balls.

Then, at the market, I had a fateful encounter with some Bettrave that still had their leaves attached!

Because they keep well, I had the image of them being a winter vegetable, but now is the season for Bettrave nouvelle, or new beets.

I am surprised at myself for not noticing them before, even though I must have seen them.

Now, for the fresh beets.
They are not shriveled, but juicy and firm beets.

After worrying about what to make, I ended up arriving at something different from Yusukin-san's.

Because Yusukin-san's recipe looks like it would be delicious even if made with winter beets.

Since they are so fresh, I decided it had to be a salad.

While I was wondering what to do, a recipe I had seen somewhere popped into my head.

Salade de betteraves aux baies roses et shiso rouge
Beet salad with red berries and red shiso

Baies rouges means red berries.
While things like raspberries and cassis fall into this category, the fact that it specifically says baies rouges suggests it refers to smaller, more astringent ones.

I don't remember what was in it, but the astringency seems like it would be a nice accent to the sweetness of the beets.

The inclusion of red shiso also feels like a recent trendy recipe.
I feel like I see red shiso more often in France than green shiso.

Based on that memory, I arranged it with what I had at home and ended up with...

Salade de betteraves au pamplemousse, basilic et baies roses
Beet salad with grapefruit, basil, and pink peppercorns

There is no way I would conveniently have red berries at home.
In the first place, the only red berries I ever buy are strawberries.

Instead, I used the one grapefruit I had bought and added Baies roses, or pink peppercorns, instead of Baies rouges.

Since both ingredients have bitterness and astringency, they should end up tasting somewhat similar... right?

And while I don't have red shiso in my garden, I do have green shiso.
Yet, for some reason, I decided to use basil instead of green shiso.

Then just add salt, pepper, olive oil, and a little bit of calamansi vinegar.
Since the grapefruit also acts as a dressing, you only need a tiny amount.

▼ This one contains sugar, so the acidity is mild. If you substitute it with other citrus fruits, you might want to add a little sugar or honey.

It turned out completely different from what I planned, but Akari-chan's arrangement is also very delicious.

My husband, who hates grapefruit, even asked me to make it again.

I've made combinations of beets and citrus fruits before, but I really like the combination with grapefruit.

It feels like the vague sweetness of the beets is tightened up.

And by adding basil and pink pepper, the flavor becomes more complex and the level of sophistication goes up too✨️

I was quite surprised that the earthy smell of the beets and the basil went so well together.

I wouldn't think to add basil unless it was summer, so this is a very good discovery.

The new beets themselves are crunchier than the aged winter beets.
The earthiness and sweetness were also a bit more subdued, making them less pungent and easier to eat.

Thank you for staying with me until the end today as well🍊

▼ This is a magazine about ordinary home cooking sent from France.

▼ This is a magazine about the honest truth of a Japanese-French international marriage, lurking behind homemade meals.

※ This article contains affiliate links.