Roasted and Smashed Beets with Spiced Green Sauce

A warm beet is a wonderful thing, which is one reason I love this dish. The other reason is the smashing. The texture produced allows the addictive herb-laden sauce to integrate right into the beet flesh. If you don’t have early-season beets, older storage beets are fine, too, but peel them before roasting This delicious sauce is similar to a classic Middle Eastern skhug, with its sweet spices and chile pepper. My friend chef Samuel Smith developed this recipe at Ava Gene’s, where we use it on vegetables, grilled meats, and snacks of all kinds. It is a workhorse recipe, and you will find countless ways to use it in your own kitchen. To lower the chile heat, use milder chiles such as poblano or Anaheim

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Step 1

Put the coriander, cumin, and cardamom seeds into a dry s?illet. ?oast the s?ices lightly over medium heat, sha?ing the ?an ?requently, ?ust until they become ?ragrant, about ? minutes. Dum? them out o? the s?illet onto a ?late to cool, then grind ?inely in a s?ice grinder or with a mortar and ?estle.

Step 2

Put the chiles and garlic in a ?ood ?rocessor and ?ulse a ?ew times until they are ?airly ?ine. Add the cilantro, ?arsley, toasted seeds, ground cloves, lemon ?est, lemon ?uice, 1 teas?oon ?osher salt, and a ?ew twists o? blac? ?e??er.

Step 3

Pulse until all is ?inely cho??ed into a rough ?uree. With the motor running, dri??le in the olive oil. Sto? the ?rocessor be?ore the sauce is com?letely blended and smooth—you want a slightly “bitty” texture.

Step 4

?aste the sauce (be care?ul o? the blade?) and ad?ust the seasoning with more salt, blac? ?e??er, lemon ?uice, or any o? the s?ices—though show restraint with the s?ices because they can get overwhelming. Store in the re?rigerator ?or u? to 1 wee?.

Step 5

MORE WAYS:

Step 6

→ Season a ?oc?et sandwich with ?ita bread and sliced leg o? lamb.

Step 7

→ S?read on grilled ?latbreads as they come o?? the grill.

Step 8

→ Dri??le over roasted red ?e??ers, to? with crumbled ?eta.

Step 9

At the market For good chile flavor but not so much of the heat, choose an Anaheim or poblano chile rather than the quite spicy serrano or jalapeño.

Step 10

Heat the oven to 3?5°F.

Step 11

?rim and scrub the beets (or ?eel them i? the s?ins are tough). I? necessary, cut large ones in hal? or quarters to ma?e them all about the same si?e. ?oss them in a bowl with a small glug o? olive oil, and season generously with salt and ?e??er.

Step 12

Arrange the beets in a ba?ing dish or a cast-iron s?illet, cover the ?an with ?oil, and roast until the beets are almost ?ully tender, 35 to 55 minutes, de?ending on the si?e and ?reshness o? the beets.

Step 13

?a?e o?? the ?oil and ?ee? roasting until the beets are com?letely tender and have ta?en on a nice roasty texture, another 10 to 12 minutes.

Step 14

When the beets are coo?ed and com?letely tender, smash them by ?ressing ?irmly but gently on each one with the bottom o? a ?uice glass, measuring cu?, or other ?lat ob?ect. You want to crush the beets to the ?oint where they are still holding a roughly s?herical sha?e but the to?s are crac?ed and craggy, so that the sauce will ?enetrate in a most delicious way.

Step 15

Arrange the beets on a serving ?latter—or serve right ?rom the s?illet i? that loo?s good—and s?oon the s?iced green sauce over the to?s. Serve warm or at room tem?erature.