I. Had. To. Have. Them.
I grinned like a crazy person bringing my treasure out of the store. Then they sat on my self. And sat some more. They were still sitting a month and a half later.
Every time I looked at those chips I felt guilty. I felt like I was being a horrible partner to Trader Joe's. Every time I went in that store I could swear all the happy people in Hawaiian shirts would suddenly stop smiling and glare at me knowing that I wasted one of their marvelous creations without even trying it. They knew. Just like grandmas always know when you don't wear the sweater they knit for you, Trader Joe's knew.
It was time to remedy my guilt. So for a girl's scrapbooking night I came up with this salsa recipe to complement the chips. The two were delicious together. But here's a little secret: the salsa is delicious without the chips, too. The salsa was delicious on top of tilapia. It was delicious with lamb. Heck, it was delicious off a spoon when I waited too long to cook dinner and was ravenous before the timer went off.
It has the perfect amount of kick to it from the horseradish, but the beets lend plenty of earthy sweetness. So here's a recipe to "kick it up a notch." (I hate myself for saying that.)
Kicky Beet Salsa Instructions
yield: about 4 cups
1) Roast your beets
Ingredients:
4 small to medium beets
Directions:
a) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
b) Slice off beet greens and wash beets.
c) Place beets together in an aluminum foil packet. Place packet on a baking sheet.
d) Bake packet for 50-60 min until the beets give slightly.
e) Let beets cool enough that you can comfortably touch them.
f) Rub off skin with your fingers.
g) Roughly dice.
2) Mix your salsa
Ingredients:
3 tbsp. grated fresh horseradish or 2 tbsp. prepared horseradish
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
salt to taste
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp. minced shallots
1/2 green apple (roughly diced)
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
a) Place diced beets and all other ingredients in a food processor.
b) Pulse in 1-second intervals about 20 times, stopping every 5 pulses to scrape down the sides.
c) Alternatively, you can do all this without a food processor by chopping very finely.
d) Empty into a container, cover, and chill at least 2 hours before serving.
3) Serve with chips, on fish, on chicken, on steak, on celery, on a spoon...
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| For a less messy (but perhaps not as pretty) salsa, you can use golden beets instead of red beets. It will taste the same. |
