INGREDIENTS

  • 4 small beets, or 2 medium, trimmed and well-scrubbed
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1 cup sea salt
  • ½ cup labneh or sour cream
  • parsley leaves, cracked pepper, and olive oil for serving

Serves 1-2

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350. In a stand mixer, or by hand, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Fold in the salt. Like packing snowballs in your hands, cover each beet with a thin layer of the salt mixture. Stand them up on their flat sides in a cake tin, and salt-roast until very, very tender (test with a metal skewer or chopstick), about 1 hour. Let cool slightly, while you prepare the plates.
  2. Cover the bottom of your serving plates with generous smears of labneh or sour cream. Tap tap tap the salt crusts to open. Rub the beet skins off, then gently halve and place on the prepared plates. Top with parsley, pepper, and a glug of olive oil.
  3. To make labneh: line a strainer with 2-3 layers of cheesecloth. Pour in 2 cups yogurt and allow whey to drain over the course of a few hours. The drained yogurt should be verrrrrry thick. When ready, transfer to a small bowl and stir in 1 clove grated garlic, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a small pinch of salt.