Beet Carpaccio

Springy, fresh, and stunning: thinly sliced chioggia beets over a fresh lemon vinaigrette with snap peas, herbs, and avocado

Chioggia carpaccio! It just feels right. I went to one of my town’s local grocers yesterday, The Veggie Bin, and they had beautiful chioggia beets that were calling my name. Not only are they beautiful inside, but they have a much more delicate + sweeter taste than red beets, which I find really lovely.

For the dish, the cooked beets are first sliced thinly using a mandolin. There is a thin layer of a fresh lemon-shallot vinaigrette underneath, which the beets end up soaking up all of that delicious flavor. Once you lay down your beets, it’s time to get artsy: thoughtfully arrange snap peas, fresh basil, avocado, scallions, breakfast radishes, lemon zest, and flaky sea salt over top. I think Castelvetrano olives would make a wonderful addition here too, but I couldn’t find any in my pantry!!

The lemon vinaigrette on the bottom is incredibly versatile and I’ve made it multiple times recently for different salads - it’s really wonderful and can be adjusted to your liking. The recipe is as follows:

Lemon Vinaigrette with Shallots

• 1/4 cup lemon juice

• 1/4 cup olive oil (plus a little more if you find it too acidic, adjust to taste)

• 1/2 tsp salt + more to taste

• 1/2 tsp honey

• 1 tsp dijon mustard

• 1 clove garlic, grated

• 1 shallot, minced

• freshly cracked black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a mason jar. Screw the lid on and shake to emulsify! Taste, and adjust ingredients until it’s juuust right. You can up the honey for a sweeter vinaigrette.

This vinaigrette gets even better over time. It was a couple of days old by the time I used it for the carpaccio.. the flavors just come together beautifully the longer it sits. I recommend prepping it a day ahead of time to allow the flavors to meld.

Once you’re ready to plate, just pour a thin layer of the vinaigrette onto a platter, arrange thinly sliced cooked beets on top, then add your toppings as desired:

• thinly sliced cooked beets

• snap peas

• avocado

• basil

• scallions

• radishes

• smashed/chopped green olives, if you’d like

• finish with lemon zest, flaky sea salt, and an extra drizzle of olive oil

I highly recommend chilling this dish before serving! It makes it even better IMO.

I hope you love this recipe! My family and I really enjoyed this elegant and simple spring dish. We agreed it would be perfect for a dinner party or any gathering!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday <3

With love,

Abigail