Cardamom Candied Beets with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, Black Pepper & Yogurt
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Here is an easy side dish that captures a ton of flavor, texture and brings lots of brightness and color to any lunch or dinner spread.
These beets are so simple and easy to make but have a really unique and delicious complexity to them. I love how this dish captures so many flavors and textures. It’s floral and sweet from the cardamom and sugar, earthy and meaty from the roasted beets, creamy/tangy from the yogurt, nutty and crunchy from the pumpkin seeds and has a nice spiciness from the black pepper.
The fuchsia color you get when the beets bleed on the yogurt is just incredible, it really brings so much life to any meal. I like to serve this dish with an assortment of salads and spreads (mezes) eggs or any grilled meat.
Ingredients
- 3 beets
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 3 cardamom pods- crushed
- big pinch of kosher salt
- cracked black pepper for caramel and to finish
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds- toasted
- 1/3 cup Greek Yogurt
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Wrap each beet in tin foil and place in the oven for 30 minutes.
Remove when a knife slides in easily and place to the side to cool. When they are cool, peel the skin off and slice into 1/4 inch thick slices.
In a pan heat up the sugar with the cardamom, water a nice pinch of salt and around 1/2 tsp black pepper. Let simmer on low for 10 minutes until caramelized. Add in the sliced beets and let coat. Remove from the heat and place on parchment paper or a silk pad until cool.
Spread the greek yogurt all over a large plate. Scatter the beets on top, drizzle the remaining juice all over and sprinkle over the caramelized sugar bits. Sprinkle over the toasted pumpkin seeds and some more salt and black pepper. Serve.