An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace

by Tamar Adler

Or make risotto according to the instructions. While the rice is cooking, chop three or four roasted beets into small cubes—small, not perfect. Drizzle them with a little red wine vinegar and olive oil and taste them for salt. Put the bowl close to the cooking rice to warm. When the risotto is nearly done, add a big handful of chopped thyme and parsley, if you have it, and a lot of grated Parmesan. Put a big ladleful of risotto into wide shallow bowls, making a little hollow in the center of each bowl of risotto. Fill each hollow with a heaping spoonful of beets. Drizzle with olive oil, add a few cracks of black pepper, and top it all with more Parmesan. I make this sort of risotto with other vegetables, too, the same way, after they’ve taken turns as purées. Or chop cooked vegetables up, add a little good fat, and bake it all. If you were worried, this keeps the future from seeming too fibrous.