Beets, mint and lemon unite in a simple — and crowd-pleasing — spring salad

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, April 26, 2016

The modern beet descends from the ancient sea beet, news that thrilled my inner biologist. Imagine the sea beet swimming the Indian Ocean.

It must have slithered the depths, dodging eels, sharks and other toothy creatures attracted to its plump, red tastiness. Frantic, it fluttered its green leafy fins toward the shallows, and in an act of evolutionary heroism, sprouted legs, skittered across the sand and planted itself safely on earth — where we farmers tended and, much like the sharks, downed the plump, red land beet.

All of this flashed across my brain screen before I read, in sentence two of beet history, that sea beets grew near the water, not in it.

Accuracy aside, I’m still fond of the sea-dwelling beet and its land-dwelling descendant, especially when roasted, grated and tossed with mint, chive and lemon. The combo makes for a bright spring salad, one that’s just as good in fact as in fantasy.