Beata and Bita have fun talking about beets in this week’s podcast episode. They uncover their favorite beet recipes, cooking techniques, and nostalgia with beet street food in Iran.
The “Ask the Beats” dives into the question: “When did you first start cooking Persian Food?”
Episodes referenced:
Episode 32: Maz Jobrani on Persian Food
All Modern Persian Food podcast episodes can be found at: Episodes
Co-host Beata Nazem Kelley blog: BeatsEats – Persian Girl Desperately Addicted to Food!
Co-host Bita Arabian blog: Oven Hug – Healthy Persian Recipes | Modern Persian Recipes
Subscribe+ to the Modern Persian Food podcast on your favorite podcast player, and tell a friend.
Podcast production by Alvarez Audio
Transcript:
Episode #101: Beets
This is Modern Persian Food. A culinary podcast for today’s food enthusiasts. We talk about classic
Persian flavors, modern recipes, and embracing culture and identity through food.
I’m Bita. And I’m also Beata. Welcome to our show.
Hi friends, before we get started, would you mind taking a moment to give us a rating or a review on
the podcast player that you’re listening to us on? It would help us greatly in the big picture and as we
get more and more listeners for the podcast. Thank you so much. And without further ado, here we
go.
Friends, welcome to episode #101. One hundred and one of the Modern Persian Food odcast. I am here
with the lovely Bita, and I am Beata as you know, and today we are talking about beets.
Yay
Beets. Also known as Laboo or Choghondar in Farsi, in the Persian language. And we are here to kick
off the next 100 episodes with one of my favorite ingredients and namesake to us both. And we are
going to talk about that today. Hi, Bita Joon, how’s it going?
Hi! Isn’t this fun? We’re in triple digits now. We had our 100th and it’s like renewal. Here we go.
Yeah, absolutely.
The Beats talking about beets. I love it. And I’m drinking beet juice and I’m eating something with
beets.
Woohoo. I love it, how every time we have a topic you fully embrace it by getting all those flavors
surrounding you before we start.
I do, yeah. I’m really excited. Today we’re gonna find out how to prepare them in some shortcuts, and
I can’t wait to learn. I have made them but I feel like you’re a little bit more of a beet expert.
BeatsEats.
Yeah, and that’s my handle, BeatsEats. I do love beets. The golden beets or bright red, dark jewel
colored beets. They’re like so delicious. They have such a earthy flavor to them. And they can actually
be pretty versatile. You mean you get the like the bulb of the fruit, it’s a root vegetable, and then
typically the most common is like the dark red color, but you can also get them golden beets. And they
also have this long group of stems, the beet greens, which I actually love using in recipes, as well. So
I’m super excited to talk about beets today and how to cook them and how to eat them and enjoy
them. You know, typically they’re like in salads and things like that. But if you wanted to like, think
back a lot of people who maybe grew up in Iran may have a visual of beets sold on the street, cooked
beets. So I think if we think back, I believe it was in the Persian Nuts episode that I talked about how
you can get the Chaghaleh Badoom in these big fat trays on the street as like a street food when
they’re in season and they mount up these big trays full of Chaghaleh Badoom, which is like the green
almond, basically, before the almond, like ripens and actually turns into the almond, the whole like
cover of the actual of the whole like outer shell of the almond and its raw green state You can eat the
whole thing. So they sell it on the street as like a street food and they sell you a little bit and they
weigh it out for you and then they can sprinkle some salt on it and you just walk around kind of like
munching on these Chaghaleh Badoom. Well, beets have like a very similar street food quality to
them. What they have is like these big round trays, I’m talking about, like 3 or 4 foot wide trays that
they have all set up and stocked up high with these golden beets.
Really?
Yeah!
I knew I was talking to the right person about beets.
Ah yeah.
I did not know that beets were Persian street food.
Yeah, totally. So they’re cooked, and sometimes they’re sweet. Sometimes they have, like a little syrup
type of flavor on them. But what they do, they’re stacked up and they’re stacked up, and they actually
sometimes have, like, a skewer or something just holding them in place. Like if you think about
sometimes you may have seen like the rock art of like the pieces of rock on top stacked on top of each
other. It’s similar to that, but with like a skewer, so you have a big tray with a ton of cooked beets.
Mhm.
And they’re bright and red. And I think some people who have eaten those will have a really special
memory. I think some people are, like, grew up eating that street food may have, like, really nostalgic
memories. I’ve never actually never eaten it as a street food, but I’ve seen it. And I’ve heard the
nostalgia of people who used to eat that all the time. So that’s one way that you may have seen it or
that you can see it prepared. So it’s definitely part of like kind of that Persiantstreet food culture. I
love having beets, so I usually have some sort of beet in my house. The easiest way is I actually buy
them all the time already cooked. They’re steamed and they’re kind of like shrink-wrapped in the
produce section of a lot of different grocery stores, if you just want like a really easy shortcut way and
I’ll talk a little bit more about that later and some recipes I use that in. But if not cooked beets, I love
going to the farmers market and when they have, like the fresh beets with the long beet greens, I love
getting them. I cook the beet root separately. What I do is I like to just chop it up. And put it in a sheet
pan, toss it with a little bit of olive oil. You could put a little bit of salt and pepper if you’d like, but
really the beet flavor itself is like so beautiful that you don’t even need the additional and you just put
it out on your sheet pan and put it in the oven and roast it. I do it like at 400 for like 20 minutes and
then toss it around in for like another 15 to 20 minutes. It’s like my favorite way to do that. It’s lovely
like on a bed of greens. You can add a little balsamic if you want, like a little bit of dressing to add to
that, but it’s just like so simple and such a rustic way to eat beets. I love it and that’s like my go to way
if I’m going to prepare it myself.
My favorite way to eat beets is roasted. I love the flavor of a home-roasted beet on anything. I like
itIust plain, this isn’t necessarily Persian, but with a little goat cheese and walnuts in a salad, so
delicious.
Yeah, so that’s like a go to recipe, basically my shortcut like getting it already pre cooked, you know
because you could just keep it in the fridge and if you buy like more than one package then it’s just
always there. If you want to like throw together a special salad or to make this beautiful appetizer dip
that I love doing, and I love the episode that we actually had with Maz Jobrani when he was on the
show and for the Ask the Beats he asked us for like a quick recipe. And this is what I featured there.
And what it is is basically Mast-o-Laboo. Some people will call it Borani-e Laboo, but it’s basically I’ll
get the cooked beets and grate it and then mix it with yogurt. I’ll put a splash of acid so it can be like
white wine vinegar, or lemon juice, and a little bit of salt and pepper, and you mix it up and it’s like
beautiful! Like I love having that as like a side dish to like Persian food or as a first course as like a dip
with some crudité or crackers. Yeah, totally. Mast-o-Laboo. I would say that’s probably like one of,
like, the most popular beet recipes in, in Persian food.
I have heard of that, and in fact, I think the technique that I missed was grading. I didn’t realize that
you’re supposed to grate. So you grate the cooked beet before you mix it into the yogurt.
Yeah.
I think I would normally would just put the chunks in, like small chunks.
Yeah, you could do that. It’s kind of like also like very similar to like the idea and concept of Mast o
Khiar, the yogurt with the cucumber. So you could grate cucumber, you could chop it. You could kind
of like take your own way of doing it.
Yeah, the flavor is a bit like earthy, if you’ve never tasted a beet, join us. If you can’t beet them, join
them. I was one, personally, an adult beat lover. As a younger person, I did not care for them and I
think I showed that in a previous episode, but you know? It’s part of my self-discovery, self love. You
gotta embrace your inner beats!
Yes, yes.
They also have such a vibrant color.
Yes/
You know, I noticed that as I’m drinking beet juice, along with many health benefits.
Mhm.
Yeah, they have folate and that is something that is good for your heart health. Some believe good for
lowering blood pressure. They’re high in fiber and low in calories, you know, so that’s good for
digestive health and you know, like keeping you full, keeping you regular. And just loads of vitamins
and minerals. And that’s just the beet. TBe beet root is really nutritious, too. Now, do you ever use the
Greens? I feel like I’ve done something with the Greens even before.
Yes. So I’d love to talk about beet greens. Some families actually, when they make Ash Reshteh, they
will use beets themselves, the beet root itself, in the Ash Reshteh that they’ll chop it up and they’ll
cook it with the other greens and vegetables and spinach and stuff like that. We had a family friend
who used to do that when we were little. You can do the same thing with the beet greens, you could
chop them up, saute them a little bit and throw it into your Ash Reshteh so as like an additional greens
to be in part of that. I love doing that. The other thing I love doing with the beet greens as well is
actually making like a Borani type of yogurt dip with the beet greens. So what I’ll do is the same thing.
I’ll wash them up, chop them up, sauté them, maybe throw a little bit of onion in there and sauté it,
and then mix it with the yogurt. So this is like the cooked beet greens.
Oh, interesting.
Yeah, for like that Borani.
Kind of similar to like Collard Greens, cooking Collared Greens.
Mhm, yeah.
I think I might be confusing it with Collard Greens in terms of like, does it have like a little bitter after
taste?
Yeah, maybe just a tiny bit, a little bit more I would say like more earthy really. You know, beets
themselves are actually super sweet. They actually make sugar out of them and stuff like that, so the
beet greens are not like the very tough, when I think of collard greens, I do think of like a little bit
tougher, a little bit more bitter where I don’t necessarily feel the beet greens has that bitterness that
the Collard Greens has.
Okay, yeah, super nutritious.
Super nutritious in the bright color. You got to be careful you don’t stain everything. Like definitely
wear an apron and wash your hands or wear gloves so that your hands don’t get all dyed. But it’s
delicious and I love it because one, it’s like my nickname, Beats, and it’s just like, I love the flavor. And
then if you’re lucky enough to get like golden beets, they’re just so beautiful and delicate and tender
and again you can cook them the same way, or you can steam them. You were talking about how you
will sometimes wrap them in foil, right?
Yeah, the technique that I use to roast them is kind of clean them u a little bit, you know, cut the tail
off, and wrap them in foil. Yeah, it kind of keeps them juicy. And yeah, I make like beet hummus. I’ve
baked with beets.
Oh really?
Yeah, yeah, I’ve made beet brownies.
Yeah, with like the chocolate, huh?
Yeah, it tastes kind of nice with chocolate.
I’ve used beets to kind of like color up some muffins. I had some muffin molds of Spiderman and Iron
Man for my kids.
Cute!
So I tried to mix some beets into the batter and use them in these really fun molds. I have to work on
that one a little bit more.
I read somewhere that they’re also good for athletic performance and giving you energy.
Oh okay.
And I’m feeling pretty good. I just drank a nice tall glass of it. I don’t have a juicer, but I did go to an
organic kitchen and juice shop pre-recording to get in the mood.
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Today’s Ask the Beats comes from our friend in Michigan, Ben. Ben wants to know, “when did you
start cooking Persian food and what inspired you beats?”
Alright, beats you wanna go first?
Sure
Go for it.
If my memory serves me, the first thing I made was pretty early adulthood. Somewhere in my 20s, I
started making Adas polo and now I made Adas Polo, Adas is Persian for lentils, the way that my mom
makes it, with raisins and dates and nuts and cinnamon, it’s warm and cozy and delicious. Now at that
time, I think I was just dating Bob, Bobby, Bobak and, you know, he’s also Iranian. Born in Canada
from an Iranian family, and he went home and told his mom, oh my gosh, I just had Adas Polo, I didn’t
think I liked Adas Polo. So, It was kind of nice to hear because his mom is an amazing chef.
Yeah, MJ.
I think MJ just makes it just plain with Adas. HA hadn’t ha.it with all the like lentils and raisins and
nuts and stuff.
Ohh, the way to Bobak-Joon’s heart is the way Bita Joon makes her Adas Polo, good to know, so cute.
The way to his heart is 100% from his stomach. Yes. Ohh my gosh.
That’s so cute. Cool.
But yeah, I think it was somewhere along the lines of like learning to survive on my own and just in
cooking. Yeah, as a young adult, I came to California before my folks moved here after college, and
that’s when that’s when I started. How about you?
You know what? I’m not 100% sure exactly when I did it because I can imagine that when I was
growing up, I, I’m sure incorporated some sort of Persian cooking or tried to like cook it on my own or
some things like that. But in spite of that, I think of noteworthy start was I had moved to New York
after being born and raised in San Francisco and in the Bay Area, and starting my career in
advertising here in San Francisco, I moved to New York. Single, and that was like a new chapter of my
life that, when I moved to New York and in my little kitchen in New York, I made Seville Orange Jam
for the first time, with the skin of Seville Oranges. And it was actually a very pivotal point, I think, in
my life. My life in San Francisco was pretty action-packed and when I moved to New York, I wanted to
actually find a place that had, like, a decent kitchen. And it’s like you’re going to move to New York
and you’re going to cook? Like you’re barely even going to find an apartment big enough that you’re
going to be able to fit in, let alone you want to have like a big kitchen and like cooking and stuff like
that. But that’s what I wanted. And I got one, thankfully, in Chelsea and I lived there for a handful of
years before I ended up getting married out in New York and then moving eventually back to San
Francisco, where I’m from and where I am now. But basically I made orange marmalade in my little
kitchen and the thing when you make orange marmalade, first of all, you have to like peel the skin in
kind of like little sheets and then you scrape the pith, the white part all out of it, and then you just cut
the orange peel into skinny little strips. And then once you do that, you have to actually boil the
orange skin like 3 different times. You have to boil it, let it boil, and then drain it, and then do that
again and do that one more time before you can actually do it, so it gets all the bitterness out of it. And
I made it and I put it into these little jars. I think I made like 4 jars, 3 or 4 jars at that very first time
and it was just kind of a little bit life changing because I remember I had like my new La Creuset pot,
like this turquoise pot, and it was just like, so lovely. And I had just like a really special time and
shortly thereafter, I ended up starting my food blog. And the rest is kind of history! But I would say a
pivotal part in a noteworthy start to my cooking and Persian food life is that Seville Orange
Marmalade in New York City.
I love that it’s kind of feeling like a future episode. I’ve cooked orange peel that way, exactly that you
describe, but for other purposes to use as a mix in or topping on my rices. But yeah, we should
definitely do an orange episode.
Oh, good idea.
Delicious and your story’s perfect because you don’t need a big kitchen or a lot of stuff.
Right. I had one pot.
It sounds like a really cute pot.
Yeah, and just like, you know, just the love and passion to incorporating Persian flavors and not only
in my own life but sharing it with others and putting in little jars and giving it to my friends.
I love that and that’s me. Oven hug. I definitely cook and share love through food.
Yeah, absolutely. Well, this was a lot of fun. I’m glad we were able to have an episode just on beats like
our nicknames.
Me too.
Never skip a beat with us on Modern Persian Food.
Can’t beat-a join-a.
Yeah, absolutely. Send us more Ask the beats that we can feature on our show. Don’t forget to sign up
for the e-mail and please give us a rating or review and let us know what you think. Any topics? Any
guess? Anything that you guys want to hear? Let us know. It’s us. We’re doing the show. So we can be
flexible, and we can definitely factor in all of your recommendations and desires. OK, until next time,
everybody. Thank you.
Bye.
Bye.
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