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Beets with Yogurt and Chervil

At my restaurant, we make our own yogurt, carefully culturing milk at 93°F for hours. At home, I pop open a container of good whole-milk yogurt from the store. Just be sure to stir that creamy top layer into the rest of the yogurt before using it. The richness and tanginess pair perfectly with sweet beets. While I prefer boiled beets in this dish, roasted beets work well, too.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Serves 4

Ingredients

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound beets, preferably a mix of red, candy-striped, and gold, trimmed and scrubbed
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh chervil, coarsely chopped
Baby beet greens, optional
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Generously salt the water and add the beets. When the water returns to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer until a knife easily pierces through the beets, about 1 hour.

    Step 2

    Drain. When cool enough to handle, peel and cut into wedges or cubes. Spoon the yogurt into a serving dish. Scatter the beets on top and drizzle the vinegar over them. Season with salt and pepper and top with the chervil and greens, if using. Drizzle the oil all over.

Reprinted with permission from Home Cooking with Jean-Georges: My Favorite Simple Recipes by Jean-Georges Vongerichten with Genevieve Ko. Copyright © 2011 by Jean-Georges Vongerichten; photographs copyright © 2011 by John Kernick. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. Jean-Georges Vongerichten is one of the most influential chefs in the world, having single-handedly redefined haute French cuisine, lightening and refining it by adding select Asian accents. He is the chef-owner of dozens of restaurants in fourteen cities around the world. His flagship restaurant, Jean Georges, at New York's Columbus Circle, is one of six restaurants in the United States to have been awarded three coveted Michelin stars; it received four stars from the New York Times. The winner of multiple James Beard Foundation awards, he lives in New York City and Waccabuc, New York, with his family. Genevieve Ko is a cookbook author and the senior food editor at Good Housekeeping magazine. She has written for Martha Stewart Living, Gourmet, and Fine Cooking and lives in New York City with her family.
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