Beet Green Soufflé

This is the first recipe I ever made cooking with beets. I found beets a bit intimidating and never bought them...until I received a bunch in a box from Urban Organics (a delivery service for organic foods that we subscribed to when the kids were both in diapers and lugging a lot of produce, a stroller and two toddlers was a bit much. It ensured that we always had some fresh stuff on hand and opened up my mind about beets. Luckily, the box of fruits and veggies always was accompanied by a newsletter with recipes for the more exotic things....

This recipe is from theFebruary 15, 1999 edition of the Urban Organics Today newsletter:

Ingredients:

• 2 tb Parmesan cheese grated
• 2 md beets, cooked and peeled
• 2 tb butter
• 2 tb flour
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup beet greens, chopped and sautéed
• 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, grated
• 3 egg yolks (I use 4)
• 4 egg whites

Butter a 1qt soufflé dish (granny's corning ware works fine). Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Slice the cooked beets and line the bottom of the soufflé dish with them. In a saucepan, melt the butter, stir in the flour, add the hot broth and continue to cook until slightly thickened. Add beet greens along with the Cheddar cheese.

In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks; blend with beet green mixture. Beat egg whites until they form peaks. Fold into bowl with other ingredients, blend well. Transfer all to buttered soufflé dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 175C (Convection) for 30 minutes or until soufflé is puffed and golden.

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