Beet Leaves Stuffed with Root Vegetables

Serves 20 as part of a buffet.

This is a concept that is usually more successful with larger leaves like Chard. But the leaves on the Beets were so Beautiful, they demanded attention. You could use almost any proportion and variety of vegetables and herbs for the stuffing. This receipe is inspired by one of the Greats of Vegetarian cooking, Deborah Madison.

Dice or finely chop:
1/2 white onion
6 of the beet stems
3 peeled carrots
1 yam (or is it a sweet potato?)
3 peeled parsnips
1 center of a celery root
1 clove garlic

In a wide skillet, heat some olive oil.
Add about a tbl. of brown mustard seed, allow to get fragrant
Add the onions and saute for about 2 minutes and then add the rest of the vegetables.
Stir and saute uncovered for a bit and then cover and let saute/steam until soft, about 20+ minutes, checking and adding water to pan if it gets too dry.

Meanwhile, prepare the leaves.
Bring a pot of water to boil.
Wash well.
In batches, boil leaves in water for 4 minutes and remove carefully to some paper towels with tongs.

To assemble, spread a leaf out with rough side up. Scoop about a tbl. of the veggies on the low wide part of the leaf. Tuck and roll it up into a little package. If leaf breaks, you can use a piece of another leaf to patch it, or sometimes we wrapped with two.

Because we made these hours before the party, we put them in an oven proof dish, dotted the beet leaf packages with butter and covered them with tinfoil. When it was time to serve, we put them in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes.

Alana and Uschi made a tahini sauce with tahini, miso paste, tamari, orange juice, water and salt. Delicious. We will have to get them to give up the proportions.