Beets, tarragon and olive oil are a beautiful culinary combination according to the Vegetarian Bible, and it’s proven to be true in this delicious and beautiful bowl of soup!
Just like you can turn the volume up or down when you’re listening to a song on the radio, you can also do so with recipes. Yes, I’m talking about quiet and loud. Want to quiet down a recipe? Use tofu. Make it louder? Bring on the wasabi. Get it?
This is just one of the ways that the renowned Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg use to match flavors in their newest book, The Vegetarian Flavor Bible. This is not a recipe book, rather it’s a book that profiles hundreds of foods from açaí to zucchini, including vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
Each ingredient is profiled with its flavor description, season, botanical relatives, possible cooking techniques, substitutions, pairings, nutritional information, and serving suggestions. And it does all of this is a super organized fashion that easy to follow. What more could you want!?
I’ve been reading books by the James Beard Award winning Karen and Andrew since 1996 when I was given Culinary Artistry and Becoming a Chef. I was thrilled to be invited to this book signing at Melissa’s Produce to meet Karen and Andrew and listen to what was an incredibly delightful and educational presentation about their book, and what led to its creation. (You can read all about their fascinating journey to vegetarianism in the introduction in the book.)
Andrew Dornenburg, Karen Page and Robert Schueller of Melissa’s Produce
As always, Melissa’s did a superb job presenting their beautiful produce!
During the presentation, Karen and Andrew told us about the best butternut squash soup they’d ever had. Why was it so amazing? Two main reasons:
- Butternut squash stock was used instead of a typical vegetable stock — one that includes the use of a variety of vegetables, or a meat stock. (The butternut squash stock intensifies the squash flavor, while vegetable or meat stocks are not only stronger , but have additional, and potentially distracting, flavors.)
- The omission of cream, which while delicious, takes away from the flavor of the squash.
And this was not about trying to make a vegan soup — as Karen put it, it was “veganism in the name of gastronomy!”
So what do I do? I think about one of my favorite vegetables, and certainly one of the most gorgeous — beets. I wanted to make a soup that Karen and Andrew might think is the best beet soup they’d ever had.
So I used the butternut squash soup they talked about as a guideline, using beet stock and no cream. Then I looked under beets in The Vegetarian Flavor Bible for additional tips. One of the many “flavor affinities” they listed was beets + garlic + olive oil + tarragon. And off I went. (The result: amazing!)
If you love to cook (or even just eat!), vegetarian or not, you’ll adore The Vegetarian Flavor Bible. (I should know — I love to cook and eat, and I’m not a vegetarian.)
Enjoy!
This is not a sponsored posts and as always, all opinions are my own.
- 2- pounds fresh beets with their greens intact about 4 large beets
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
- 1 cup roughly chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
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Remove the greens from 3 of the beets, wash them thoroughly and tear them in half. Add them to a large stock pot and pour enough water over them to cover, about 3 quarts.
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Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Simmer the stock for 45 minutes. Strain into a couple of large pitchers or bowls and set aside. (It will be a yellow/green/brown color -- not pink like the beets.)
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Slice off the root and tip ends of the beets, peel them, and roughly chop them into into bite-sized pieces. Set aside. (The pink stain will go away within an hour or so, but if f you don't want your hands to stain, wear kitchen gloves.)
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In the same stock pot, over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the onions and garlic. Let this cook, stirring a bit, until the onions are soft, 5 to 10 minutes.
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Add the tarragon and stir. Once it's very aromatic, after about 30 seconds, add the chopped beets and cook, stirring a bit, for about 5 minutes.
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Pour in 6 cups of the beet stock. (Save the rest for another soup!) Bring it to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the beets are very tender, about 45 minutes.
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In two batches, pour the mixture into a very powerful blender and purée until it's as smooth as possible.
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Pour the puréed soup back into the pot and season generously to taste with salt and pepper, and gently stir in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. (Here's How to Season to Taste.)
THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED – Congratulations Stephanie!
I LOVE the Flavor Bible and am so excited to see that there’s now a Vegetarian Flavor Bible as I seem to be eating less and less meat. Love the flavor combo you came up with using the beets. I also love black beans with fresh cilantro and chipotle. Yum!
Kelly, I think you’d love this book. Especially if you already love the Flavor Bible. Love the beans + cilantro & chipotle. Yum is right!
Would love to win this cookbook and share it with my sister, who would also love it. Thanks for the invite.
Thank YOU, Diana for joining in the giveaway. 🙂
Inspired, Valentina! And oh, so gorgeous!
Thank you, Dorothy!
I love the beet flavor combo with the tarragon, but I also think I would love the beet, fennel, dill, risotto combo!
Wow — I love that idea, Alison. Adding risotto to those flavors would be dreamy.
beets, dill, fennel and risotto is very appealing!
agreed!
What a fantastic combo and that picture just makes me want to dive in. Love and use the Flavor Bible all the time. This book would be a wonderful addition to my cookbook collection.
Judy, I’ve been loving looking through the book. So much fun.
Cannot wait to make this soup. Of course, I will be using cracked black Kampot pepper! We’ve been eating a lot of root veggies lately and need more recipes! Color…yay!
That’s exactly the pepper I used! I still am loving it!
My favorite flavor combination is new to me. After making a recipe from the AOC cookbook I have taken to adding a a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg to all things with tomato sauce. I never knew savory could be made better with these spices! I have had the Vegetarian Flavor Bible on my cookbook wish list and would love to enhance my use of spices!
Deb, I LOVE adding cinnamon to tomato sauce — it adds such a great warm flavor.
Chocolate + ginger or chocolate + hazelnut! I’ve been vegetarian for 10+ years, would LOVE to add this to my collection 🙂
I couldn’t agree more. Chocolate and hazelnut is one of the best flavor combinations in existence.
I’m not very good with flavor combinations, which is why I need this book. But I do enjoy ginger with orange – I could add that to so many dishes.
Oh, ginger and orange — that’s a good one!
My fiancé likes to mix balsamic and peaches.
Love this combination, Stephanie! (Congratulations — I hope you love the book as much as I do!) 😀
I’m excited to see this new book! Missed the event at Melissa’s. I have some of their other books…so helpful for creative cooks!
Agreed, Mimi. I really love it!
Favorite flavor combinations? How about garlic and ginger and sesame? That’s a good one!
One of my favorites, Mimi!
I like simply tomato soup, onion powder and white rice. It makes a good, easy spanish rice.
Okay, now I’m craving Spanish rice. Yum.
The beets+ginger+mint+orange sounds super good! Will have to try it out.
What a cool book! Thanks for bringing it to everyone’s attention! xo
David, this book is awesome! A great reference book to have at the ready in the kitchen.
I am forever googling flavor combos. This book would be a time saver. GREG
Me too, Greg. I’m loving this book — it’s introduced me to some many combinations I’ve never thought of.
apple cinnamon is one of my fav combos
Oh yes! I love that combo.
My favorite flavor combination is garlic and lemon. Thanks for the giveaway!
Lovely!
Love a ginger and garlic combination.
I really like the layout of the book! We’re trying to incorporate more veggies into the diet. I will def seek this out.
I adore ginger and garlic — it’s the beginning of a perfect stir-fry!
I love garlic and turmeric
On the way to some delicious curry. I can taste it!
Tomato and basil, not unusual but so summery and delicious
Sometimes the most common blends of flavors are the best. 🙂
Dill and thyme is my favorite combination
Lovely herbs!
Valentina! Just entered! This book looks amazing! I just bought another vegetarian cookbook and this would be a fantastic compliment! I hope I win!! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thank you, Jayme! xo
I am actually not very good at flavor combos…. yet. I am a work in progress. I love garlic and put it with almost any other flavors that I am cooking with. I am hoping to just keep cooking and get better with more combos.
Garlic is always a great starting point.
Basil and tomato for savory and peanut butter and chocolate for sweet.
Perfect and perfect, Donna.
I love your process of developing this recipe. This book seems like an amazing tool for playing around with new recipes. And your photos are gorgeous! And to answer the question: right now I’m into peas and mint.
Dana, peas and mint is so refreshing. I love it.
I like the combination of spicy and salty.
Add a little sweet and I’m in!
I like spicy and salty…like wasabi and soy sauce!
Brittany, I LOVE those two together. 🙂