Dancing to a Turkish Beet: Beet and Carrot Tzatziki

It's almost March. Well, okay, it's almost late February. In Portsmouth, the chickadees, cardinals, and bluebirds are singing their spring songs. But both there and in Boston, there's still lots of snow on the ground. And it's not that pretty fluffy, white stuff. No, this snow is hard as cement and grey as the sky is all too frequently these days. All this leaves me yearning for colorful, wild, tasty ways to use some of the vegetables from our Heron Pond Winter CSA.

I'd roasted some beets over the weekend to use in a salad with winter greens, walnuts, and Maytag blue cheese. There were leftover beets, but alas, no walnuts, greens, or Maytag blue. And as dinner itself was leftovers -- Paula Wolfert's Lazy Lady Bulgar Pilaf, with lamb, pistachios, and walnuts, (the last of the walnuts, mind you) -- I wanted something that would add both some color and a fresh taste to the meal.

The night before, I'd served the pilaf with a cucumber tzatziki, so I guess I was thinking in that vein when I remembered that Ana Sortun, owner and chief chef of Oleana, one of my favorite restaurants in the greater Boston area, has a recipe for a tzatziki made from beets in her cookbook, Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean. After a quick perusal of the fridge, I determined I not only had everything I needed to make that recipe, but some CSA carrots as well.

Is there such a thing as a beet and carrot tzatziki?
The quick answer is yes, indeed. I used it as a dressing of sorts for a salad of the remaining roasted beets. It was quite delicious, if decidedly neon. Kind of like a gorgeous late February sunset over Sagamore Creek!

Beet Salad with Beet and Carrot Tzatziki
Adapted from Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean, by Ana Sortun

Ingredients
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups hole milk yogurt or sheep's milk yogurt (I used NH's own Brookford Farm non-fat yogurt, which I drained for 10 minutes.)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
2 to 3 smallish raw carrots, peeled and grated
1 to 1 1/2 cups cooked shredded beets -- about two large or 4-5 golf ball size beets
1 large beet, sliced (See Note)
Feta cheese, crumbled

NOTE: For those who want a more subtle color, Sortun recommends chioggia (pink) or golden beets.
Beets can be boiled or roasted, but I'm partial to the latter. I cut off tops and tips, wrap in tin foil, and season with salt, thyme, -- if I have it on hand -- and olive oil. Put the beets in a 350-400 oven and roast until fork tender. They're relatively easy to peel once cooked, thought the red ones will stain your hands.

Instructions
1. Combine the lemon juice, garlic and salt in a bowl and let stand 10 minutes. (Sortun says this takes some of the heat out of the garlic.) Stir in the yogurt, olive oil, and pepper. Fold in the beets, carrots, and dill and re-season with salt and pepper if desired. Serve cold or at room temperature.