Beet, Blueberry and Basil Sauce over Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese
This sauce is so versatile you will find yourself torn between a fun appetizer or drizzled over roasted chicken…and probably do both! A fantastic mix of hearty beets and sweet blueberries makes this your go-to summer sauce that comes together in minutes!
Be Bold and Brave! Ok, I will stop with the jokes on ‘B’. I had a little too much fun with this creation and the urge to name this something clever (but I would welcome suggestions in the comments 🙂 ). This sauce came together without any thought-out end goal of a dish, but instead as I was cooking down beets and thinking of their flavor. They bring an almost earthy heartiness that begs for a vinegar of sorts, but it feels that most of their treatment stops there. Thinking about opposing but complementary flavors that would bring out a new flavor, I was thinking sweet, ironically as I was snacking on the blueberries from the same market. I threw some in for kicks, and low and behold, it worked perfectly! Then actual thought started with acidity, and the lemon and balsamic seemed a natural fit. I will say, while the balsamic is necessary to counter the beet, in my opinion, the lemon was the hidden star here, giving just enough tang to meld these flavors. The basil, while usually the prominent flavor, plays a support here and contributes a fresh taste without being overpowering.
Match Making. A good challenge to have with a recipe so versatile is how to use this! For this particular evening, I was making small bites for an outdoors gathering, so went the appetizer route. I’m a huge fan of goat cheese when using a hearty sauce, and while this has a light flavor, the beet still gives a strong flavor that dances quite well with goat cheese. Feta would also be a great choice here. The smoked salmon provided a nice salty flavor to the bites, which was a great companion to the creaminess of the goat cheese and fresh nature of this sauce. My critique here would be the strength of the salmon was a bit overpowering to the sauce, so the next time I make this, I would use half the amount of salmon and a bit more cheese, but the flavors were definitely a great combination!
This recipe was created as a part of the Tour of the Markets series, where I’m trying to use seasonal produce in a new and creative way. If you haven’t been following allow, catch up on previous blogs here!
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Beet, Blueberry and Basil Sauce over Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese
Equipment
- Food Processor
- Kitchen knife
Ingredients
- 1/2 Fresh Lemon
- 1 cup Blueberries
- 1 prepared Beet Boiled/roasted and peeled
- 2 tsp Balsamic VInegar
- 1-2 bunches Fresh Basil save some leaves for garnish
Instructions
- In food processor, placed sliced beet, blueberries, squeezed lemon juice and balsamic and puree until smooth.
- For a sweeter sauce, alter proportions of blueberries and vinegar. Suggestions for serving: pictured above is smoked salmon with goat cheese over slices of cucumber. This would also be great on a spinach salad with beets, feta, and walnuts, or drizzled over roasted meats. Because of the contrast with beets and blueberries, the sauce itself is very versatile and would be great made in a large batch to use in many ways!
