Beetroot in season: Flavors, tips and recipes

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Right now, Swedish-grown beetroot is in its absolute best form. It's cheap, packed with nutrients and bursting with flavour. It's simply time to give the tuber the starring role it deserves in the kitchen.

Why should you eat beetroot in season?

Freshly harvested Swedish beets are a no-brainer. When fresh, the skin is thin and the flesh is juicy. They have a unique balance between earthy complexity and a natural sweetness that bursts when it hits acid or salt. Plus, they're local food at its best – climate-smart, tough-skinned and packed with nitrates, fiber and antioxidants.

Flavor combinations that always deliver

Cooking with beets is all about contrasts. Because beets are sweet and earthy, they crave three things: sour, salty, and crunchy.

• The fresh: Horseradish! Grated fresh horseradish and beetroot are a classic combination that gives a wonderful kick to the nose.
• The salty & creamy: Goat cheese (chèvre), feta cheese, browned butter or a really salty pecorino. Melting cheese against roasted beetroot is a food match made in heaven.
• The sour: Lemon juice, good vinegar (preferably apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar) and capers cut through the heavy sweetness and lift the flavor.

3 ways to cook beetroot

Forget about just boiling beets until they're mushy. Here are three ways to bring out the absolute best in your beets:

• Roast hard in the oven (Best sweetness) Peel and cut the beets into wedges. Mix with olive oil, flaked salt, a little thyme and a drizzle of honey. Roast over high heat (about 200–225°C) until they have dark, caramelized edges and are soft in the middle. Serve as is, or toss with arugula and crumbled feta cheese.
• Grated beetroot in salad (Maxat krisp) Fresh beetroot is great to eat raw! Peel and grate it coarsely or slice it thinly on a mandolin. Mix with grated Swedish apples, a sharp mustard vinaigrette and lots of parsley. A perfect, crunchy accompaniment to this weekend's roast or a vegetarian lentil stew.
• Salt-baked whole (The Restaurant Trick) Bake the beets completely untouched – peel and all – on a bed of coarse salt in the oven at 200°C for just over an hour until they are completely soft all the way through. Then rub the peel off under cold water (use gloves if you want to avoid pink fingers!). Cut into coarse pieces and toss in browned butter and lemon juice. Meaty, buttery and incredibly tasty.