Meet recipes

Panjaria Salata, the classic Greek beetroot salad: whole beets boiled with tops intact, then sliced and served with Skorthalia garlic sauce or an olive oil, vinegar, and coriander dressing.

Hearty potato and pig's foot stew with carrots, lima beans, and a curry-spiced milk gravy. A nose-to-tail comfort stew that's rich, warming, and budget-friendly.

Welsh laverbread and crab souffles with a cockle cream sauce. Individual souffles puffed golden with seaweed, fresh crab, and nutmeg. A traditional Welsh seafood dish.

Homemade vegetable juice cocktail with carrots, beets, radishes, watercress, and scallions blended and strained. A fresh, earthy alternative to store-bought V8.

Par-cooked balti meat is a Birmingham-curry-house technique: meat simmered with masala paste then frozen for fast curry assembly. A make-ahead British-Indian meal prep base.

Each person then mixes his own ingredients at the table. This may be served as a first course, as part of a smorgosbord, or as a late-supper snack with beer.

Homemade red horseradish (chrain): freshly ground horseradish root tinted ruby with beets, sharpened with lemon juice. The classic Passover condiment for brisket, gefilte fish, or matzo.

This is a wonderful detoxifying and blood cleansing juice. Beetroots are a wonder vegetable and have recently been shown in clinical trials to lower blood pressure. They are also loaded with folic acid (critical during pregnancy) and the mineral silica, which helps the body use calcium more efficiently, thus preventing osteoporosis.

Meat and potato squares layer a savory meatloaf base under fluffy mashed potatoes and melted cheddar, then cut into tidy squares. Like a sliceable shepherd's pie for an easy family dinner.

Sausage croquettes made old-fashioned style: sausage meat thickened with cracker crumbs, shaped into oblongs, rolled in cracker dust, and fried until crisp. Ready in 30 minutes for a hearty brunch.

Traditional Swedish sillsallad with chopped herring, beets, potatoes, apple, and dill in an egg yolk dressing, served with a pink beet-sour cream sauce. A Scandinavian holiday classic.

Classic pink pickled eggs with beet juice, vinegar, brown sugar, and cloves. Sweet, tangy bar snack ready overnight.

Hot borscht inspired by the Russian Tea Room with shredded beets, cabbage, parsnip, and fresh dill. A classic Eastern European beet soup simmered in vegetable stock.

Vietnamese spring rolls (cha gio): crisp rice-paper rolls stuffed with ground pork, crab, glass noodles, garlic, and shallots, fried to a deep golden crunch. The crackly fried appetizer everyone fights over.

Eastern European cabbage rolls stuffed with rice and sausage, simmered in sauerkraut with a smoked pork hock. Topped with paprika and sour cream for a true Old World feast.

Crab and cream cheese log seasoned to taste with sherry, mustard, or Worcestershire and rolled in fresh parsley. A two-ingredient appetizer that comes together in 15 minutes and looks impressive on any cocktail tray.