11 foods I AM eating

Vibrant colors, vibrant taste, fuzzy photo

A few weeks ago, the New York Times published a list of "The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating."

1. Beets
2. Cabbage
3. Swiss chard
4. Cinnamon
5. Pomegranate juice
6. Dried plums
7. Pumpkin seeds
8. Sardines
9. Turmeric
10. Frozen blueberries
11. Canned pumpkin

I wonder why most people aren't eating these foods. Lack of availability? Expense? (That can't be it. The only "pricy" item on the list is pomegranate juice.) Taste? A bad childhood experience? A traumatic adult experience involving sardines and canned pumpkin? Or could it be that most people just don't know what to do with these items beyond the obvious cole slaw, cinnamon rolls and pumpkin pie.

Over the next few months I'm going to be experimenting with recipes where these 11 foods are the key ingredients.

I love Indian food, and my friend Madhuri recently introduced me to a few Indian cooking techniques and taught me to make three simple dishes. One of these was this easy Indian beet salad that uses two of the 11 foods.

Indian Beet Salad

6 beets
1 T. vegetable oil
1/2 minced serrano chili
1/4 tsp. fennel seeds
1/4 tsp. turmeric
3/4 cup plain yogurt (I use Greek)
chopped peanuts for garnish (to taste)
chopped fresh cilantro for garnish (to taste)

- Boil or roast the beets until tender.
- Wipe off the skins with a paper towel.
- Julienne beets into matchstick-size pieces
- Heat the vegetable oil in the smallest cooking utensil you have. I used a stainless steel measuring cup. I need to purchase a long handled mini pot from an Indian sundries store.
- Toss the minced chili, fennel seeds and coriander into the hot oil and stir for about 30 seconds.
- Let the oil mixture cool, then combine with the yogurt.
- Stir the yogurt into the beets.
- Top with crushed roasted peanuts and chopped cilantro.

I served this as a side salad with spicy lentils and paratha, an Indian bread that I purchased in the frozen foods section at India Sweet and Spicy in Duarte. But, truth be told, it's so good that I could easily eat the entire six-beet salad as a main course.

Can you beet this salad? Do you have a favorite recipe involving beets? Any ideas for beets and bacon?

This recipe is being submitted to Blazing Hot Wok's Regional Recipes Indian food roundup for February. The roundup will appear on February 20.