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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Celebrate the coming summer with … beets?

Dan Webster

This hasn't been much of a Northwest winter, not as we've endured them in the past. I've never been able to play golf around here in February, much less January — but I did this year. All that means, though, is that we'll probably see cold and rain lasting through June.

Clearly, I'm a half-glass-empty kind of guy.

Still, I want to prepare for the coming months of presumed warmth. And one way to to do that is to think summerish, as in what kind of summer food I'll want to eat. So it's a good thing that I know Delaney Mes, a food blogger from New Zealand. Since it's still summer down in her part of the world, she's a good source of summer-type recipes.

Her latest blog post offers up a quick salad, one that I ordinarily wouldn't try: lentil and beet salad. I'm no big fan of beets in any form. I did my best to down a bowl of borscht in Poland once and barely succeeded — but only because two of my wife's law students kept telling me how good it was and how excited they were to share it with me. How could I disappoint them?

Delaney's recipe might make for a different experience, though. Maybe my tastes have changed. Maybe the lentils will cut that beetly bitterness. Maybe the walnuts and tarragon will.

Whatever, thinking about the coming summer is a good thing. Thinking positively about the coming summer is even better.

Even one featuring beets. You can access Delaney's recipe by clicking here.