"beets" news and stories

• With the arrival of three new steakhouses, the River North neighborhood of Chicago has really steaked out its territory. (Ahem.)
• Speaking of stakeouts, if you're hoping to spot one of Chicago's many celebrity chefs, read on.
• You've had the deep-dish pizza. What else does Chicago have to offer? Try these dishes.
• It's the "beet generation." (Sorry.) Why is it they're suddenly every chef's favorite?

In the bubbling debate between genetically modified foods and organic ones, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack reportedly called for a truce in an open letter released just before the clocks struck 2011. Agricultural resolution? Not so easy, Tom.

"Complexity surrounds American agriculture today," he begins. True. By the end of 2010, federal courts had barred use of Monsanto's Roundup Ready alfalfa, even though planting continued while the USDA kept working on its Environmental Impact Statement [EIS] on the genetically engineered (GE) crop, which it completed two weeks prior to Vilsack's letter. A federal court in San Francisco ordered removal of a test plot of GE sugar beets. And the Food and Drug Administration remained indecisive over approval of GE salmon, the would-be first genetically engineered animal, which may or may not be labeled.

Vilsack doesn't appear to be pro or con for either but believes the two can cohabit. "As a regulatory agency, sound science and decisions based on this science are our priority, and science strongly supports the safety of GE alfalfa," he writes.

All you pro-organics who just felt a scrunch in your brow, follow this next line: "But agricultural issues are always complex and rarely lend themselves to simple solutions. Therefore, we have an obligation to carefully consider USDA's 2,300-page EIS, which acknowledges the potential of cross-fertilization to non-GE alfalfa."

A non-GE farmer can hope.

This week I'm featuring four days of salads, this being the summer solstice, and the height of salad madness. This combo of beets and oranges, from blogger gregturner, looks like a field of scarlet poppies, and tastes earthy-tropical. Beets and oranges work together like the old Cagney and Lacey team-level-headed with a high-strung edge. OK, that's a stretch; I just wanted to work in Cagney and Lacey somehow, just having seen a rerun of the show and feeling all 1980s, but you get the picture. In this recipe, a little red onion is added, and it's dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette. (See another beet-orange-and-walnut salad recipe at Kitchen Daily.)

And if beets are your thing, and you want more Cagney than Lacey, check out this post on beet hummus, or this recipe for summer borscht.

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How can something called Beta vulgaris be so beautiful? As with most things Italian, the tender, full-flavored Chiogga beet has true style. According to Seed Savers Exchange (a terrific source for gardeners), the Chiogga was introduced to the U.S. in the late 1840s, its candy stripes turning a few heads away from just plain red.

They make pop art of a salad. Try using the Chiogga in a recipe for a beet salad with oranges and walnuts, or one for grilled beet salad with balsamic and goat cheese.

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Beige hummus, be gone. And borscht, there's a new player in Beetville. Using beets instead of chickpeas makes this Middle Eastern dish intensely purple-red, and the best eye candy of an appetizer we've seen in a long time. Plus, it's earthy and delicious, according to beet lover and blogger elanaspantry, who photographed this hummus, and simplyrecipes, whose recipe calls for the usual suspects -- tahini, lemon juice and zest, garlic and cumin.

One word of advice when it comes to peeling roasted beets: Wear rubber gloves unless you want your fingers to look as if you've dipped them in a vat of red dye. However (fun fact alert), you can use the beet juice to dye Easter eggs (let them sit in the juice overnight).

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