Marinated Beets

Before we tackle spring things, a love note to one of my favorite root vegetables.

I like a small, quiet farmers market. Here in Philadelphia, we have big, bustling markets—Headhouse, Clark Park—and I never regret visiting these. I appreciate the huge selection that comes with tons of vendors. But my neighborhood one-farm farmers market, Dickinson Square Market, is really my happy place. There’s not a line, and I probably won’t run into anyone. Introvert heaven! 

In winters past, Dickinson Square operated on an every-other-Sunday schedule. Ten markets got us through the winter months. This winter, the market was open every Sunday, and I really appreciated it. We pick up our Lost Bread seedy grains, and we shop at Potato Homestead. 

Potato Homestead had greens week after week all winter long. The salad greens were so fresh and beautiful, my winter salads outshone my summer salads. The other item I bought pretty much every week was a pound of baby beets—usually golden beets. I became a beet superfan in winter 2024. 

With the exception of a few batches of beet hummus, I made tons of these versatile marinated beets. 

I realize that we’re moving into spring now, and everyone wants to talk about ramps. Soon, there will be asparagus mania. Then, of course, strawberries. I get excited about these seasonal foods, too. Through a lot of the past four years, the foods at the farmers market were just about the only thing orienting me in time. But before we push off into spring things, I wanted to pay tribute to the humble baby beet. 

Beets are there for us all through the year. They are the richest food source of heart-healthy nitrate. They’re considered an aphrodisiac. Their strong earthiness connects them to my favorite suit of the tarot, pentacles. They don’t have the glamor of tomatoes, but I lived on them this winter, and they deserve their due.

About that secret ingredient …

An ingredient note: I am calling for ume vinegar here. Ume vinegar, aka ume plum vinegar, is a salty red condiment made from the liquid brine left over from fermenting ume plums, an Asian fruit similar to apricots. It’s not really a vinegar, but it’s rich in organic acids that give it a savory, cheesy-like flavor. 

Michelle Albanes-Davis calls for it frequently in her most recent cookbook, Hungry as Hell. It was a featured player in the pumpkin lasagna rolls I made for my family’s Christmas dinner, so I sought it out. (Philadelphia friends: Essene has it!) It did make the lasagna rolls, especially the “cheese” filling, noticeably more delicious, and I quickly found myself adding ume vinegar to everything. 

Michelle has a lot of great plant-based cooking ideas—subscribe to her substack, Stir the Pot. 

We were eating one of my many beet salads when Dan suggested I use some ume vinegar to marinate the beets. He recalled in our pre-plant-based lives, beets and blue cheese were frequent salad partners, and thought the ume vinegar could strike a similar chord. He was right, and now I always use it in the beet marinade. 

Marinated Beets

Makes 1 quart

1 pound baby beets (13 beets), trimmed and scrubbed

1 small shallot, chopped (about ¼ cup)

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon ume vinegar (optional)

Add about a cup of water to a pot with a tight lid and place a steamer basket inside. Put the beets in the steamer basket and steam until the beets are tender, about an hour. (If you have an instant pot, you can add the water/steamer basket/beets and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes—quick pressure release.)

When the beets are cool enough to handle, peel them (or not—I don’t always). Cut the beets into quarters or sixths (depending on their size) and place them in a mixing bowl. Add the shallot, white wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, sugar, and ume vinegar. Let them marinate for an hour at room temperature or overnight in the fridge. 

These taste delicious with nothing else, but I have used them primarily in salads. My favorite is greens, cabbage, or kale, topped with the beets, chopped toasted walnuts, and kalamata olives.