Beet and Cashew Croquettes With Tahini Sauce
By: Casey Angelova
Published: Sunday, February 21, 2010 - 10:08pm

Ingredients




4 Lg Beets (about the size of a baseball), peeled and cut into 1inch (2.5cm) cubes
3/4 cup (200gm) Raw Unsalted Cashew Nuts
4 tablespoons (45 - 60ml) Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Tahini Sauce:

4 tablespoons (60ml) Tahini (well-stirred)
2 smalls or 1 large clove of garlic
2 pinches Coarse Sea Salt
3/4 cup (200ml) Plain Soy Milk
1 tablespoon (15ml) Corn Starch

Preparation

1 Pre-heat the oven to 375F (185C) 2 Toss Beets with Olive Oil and season with salt and pepper 3 Spread mixture evenly on a baking sheet and place into oven for 45mins - 1hour, the beets should be fork tender 4 While beets are in the oven dry fry the cashews till they have some golden color and become fragrant, about 2 minutes, then coarsely chop and set aside. 5 Place the roasted beets in a large bowl and smash till have a coarse consistency, you don't want them to be pureed, just not chunky.  I used a hand mixer. 6 Mix the cashews with the beets.  The mixture should be dry enough that you can form it into a ball easily.  If the beets are too moist, put them back in the oven for 5 - 10 minutes. You should get 4 balls 7 Put balls back in the oven for another 10 minutes till heated through, remove from oven and serve with Tahini Sauce. Garnish with greens and sprouts if desired! 8 Tahini Sauce: 9 In a mortar and pestal smash garlic with a pinch or two of sea salt, till it forms a paste. 10 Add paste to a small sauce pan with the soy milk, whisk over medium-low heat till combined 11 Whisk in the cornstarch till you reach the desired consistency and the raw garlic taste is gone. 12 Season with salt and pepper, if too thick, add a bit more soy milk.

About


Last week, I went to dinner at Cru in Sofia and I had the most awesome dish, Beet and Cashew Croquettes with Tahini Sauce.  Currently, I am on the Liver Cleanse Diet, which encourages the eating of red and orange vegetables, such as beets, carrots and sweet potatoes.  When I saw the beet dish on the menu, I didn't have my expectations set too high, because I am only recently coming around to the idea of beets.  10 years ago, I made a beet salad, which was my first beet experience and I wasn't too crazy about it, but this year, in Australia, Vanessa took a bunch of beets right out of her garden and they were fantastic! 
I didn't know what to expect from the beets at Cru, but I was shocked at how delicious and simple the dish was.  I knew this was something I wanted to have again, so I took to the internet and googled the dish and found nothing!  I was shocked how could something so yummy not have a recipe on the web?  After studying, various sites with similar dished, I decided to create my own recipe.
I had two beets in the fridge, so I decided to cut, cube and roast the first beet with some olive oil, sea salt and fresh black pepper.  The other beet I boiled whole with the skin on till tender than mashed and seasoned with sea salt, fresh black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.