Pink Pancakes

From the Abel and Cole recipe site, recommended by Rebecca Catterall.

Beetroot for breakfast may feel like sunbathing in the rain but on a really warm day! Makes about 6 medium-sized pancakes (a perfect breakfast for 2)

• 1 egg
• 1 mug of plain white or wholewheat flour
• 2 heaped tsp of baking powder
• ¾ mug of apple juice
• ½ mug of finely grated raw (or cooked) beetroot
• ½ tsp of mix spice
• Olive oil
• Butter and honey, to serve

Whisk the egg until frothy. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Pour in the apple juice. Give it all a good whisk. Fold in the beetroot and spice. Warm a frying pan over high heat. Brush on a bit of olive oil. Drop in dessert spoonfuls of the pancake batter into the centre of the pan. Grab a spatula. As soon as the pancake starts to bubble up in the centre, flip it over and cook for 2 minutes or so, until cooked through. Don't be tempted to press the pancake down in the pan as it cooks as this will press out all the lovely air bubbles that make it nice and fluffy. When all your pancakes are cooked, add a dot of butter on the top of each, and then serve with a drizzle of honey and a nice cuppa.

Orange, red onion and beetroot salad

A Hugh F-W recipe from the Guardian. A quick and perky starter for a winter lunch or supper. Serves four.

3 beetroot, roasted, peeled and thinly sliced
2 oranges, peeled with a knife to get rid of all traces of skin and pith, then thinly sliced (hold the fruit over a bowl, to catch any juice, and squeeze any juice you can extract from the skin and add this to the dressing)
1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced

For the vinaigrette
1 tsp white-wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

Arrange the beetroot, orange and onion on four plates (or on one large platter). Whisk together the reserved orange juice, vinegar and mustard, then whisk in the oil. Season to taste, and trickle the dressing all over the salad.

Dark Chocolate Ginger Beetroot Cake

From Abel and Cole. 7 Weight Watchers points per serving if there are 12 servings per cake.

A Shropshire-based beetroot grower once invited me for tea and offered me a slice of chocolate beetroot cake, alongside beetroot sorbet and other beet treats. This is my take on the cake. It's a fabulous way to use up your roots, and the beetroot is not there as a gimmicky ingredient. It lends a lovely moistness, an earthy sweetness and a rich, ruby tinge. Serves 8.

• 200g beetroot
• 125g plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of sea salt, crushed finely
• 150g caster sugar
• 200g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 3 whole eggs
• 150g dark chocolate, finely grated
• Crème fraiche to serve

First, cook your beetroot. Put in a pot, cover with water and boil for 1 hour, or until tender enough to pierce right through with a fork. Peel, brushing the skin off with your fingers while holding the beets under a lightly running tap. Roughly chop and puree in a food processor until smooth.

Preheat the oven to 190C. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Separate the eggs. Whisk the yolks with the butter and the sugar until pale and creamy. Whisk the whites until stiff and meringue-like. Gently fold the yolk mix to the flour. Then, fold the whites in 1/3 at a time. Gently stir in the beet puree, chocolate and ginger.

Grease an 18.5cm (7in) cake tin with butter, dust with enough flour to coat - or line with parchment paper. Add the cake mix. Bake for 50 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. It will be fairly moist, almost fudgy in the middle. Allow to sit for 10 minutes, then turn our and cool on a rack. Serve with crème fraiche.

Chilled Beetroot Consommé

From Abel and Cole. 0 Weight Watchers points per serving.

This summer soup requires no fat for cooking and is ideal if you're slimming for summer. Be sure to use raw beetroot.

• 700 g (1 & 1/2 lb) raw beetroot peeled and chopped
• 10 large spring onions, chopped
• A sprig of thyme
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• A few parsley stalks
• A bay leaf
• A 2 inch strip orange zest
• 2 & 1/2 pints of water
• 1 cucumber
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Salt and freshly milled black pepper

• To garnish:
• 5 fl oz natural or low fat yoghurt
• 2 tablespoons snipped chives

Put the prepared beetroot in a large saucepan with the chopped spring onions, the thyme, garlic, parsley, bay leaf and orange zest then pour in the water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently, uncovered, for about 1 hour. At the end of this time the beetroot will have lost its redness and have a pale look. Now peel and dice the cucumber, add it to the soup and simmer for about 10 minutes.Pour the soup through a sieve and leave to drain through (the soup becomes quite clear). Season to taste and add the vinegar and lemon juice to sharpen the flavour. Chill well and serve with yoghurt and a garnish of snipped chives.

Baked Goat's Cheese with Beetroot, Honey and Thyme

This recipe was delicious!

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/7553/baked-goats-cheese-with-beetroot-honey-and-thyme

Ingredients

2 eggs, beaten

100g breadcrumbs, use Japanese panko crumbs if you can find them

2 x 100g soft rindless mild goat's cheese

2 homecooked beetroots

1 tbsp olive oil

2 small thyme sprigs

For the dressing

Small bunch of thyme

2 tsp Red wine vinegar

2 tsp Honey

2 tbsp Olive Oil

Method

1. Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Make the dressing: mash the thyme leaves with a pinch of salt using a mortar and pestle, stir in the other dressing ingredients, then set aside.
2. Tip the egg and breadcrumbs into separate shallow dishes. Dip the cheeses into the egg, then roll in the breadcrumbs. repeat so they are completely coated. Put the cheeses on an oiled baking tray, then drizzle a little oil over. Bake for 10 mins until they are golden.
3. While the cheese cooks, finely slice the beetroot, then arrange on plates. When the cheese is cooked, place on top of the beetroot and top with thyme sprigs. Drizzle the dressing over the beetroot and serve.