I truly love daisy greens (Bellis perennis), and this recipe shows off their fine, deep green taste with a little tongue-tingling daisyness (literally) to the dish. Daisy greens are everywhere, and you can eat both their flowers and leaves.
In bygone days, daisy was added to soups, salads and added to sandwiches.
Ingredients
- 12 medium-sized daisy leaf rosettes
- 8 baby beetroots
- 4 large garlic cloves (keep whole & remove their skins)
- 1 small handful of fresh thyme (chopped)
- 1 small handful of fresh sage (chopped)
- light olive oil
- rosehip syrup or balsamic vinegar
- chicken stock
- butter
- pepper
Suggested Instructions
- Wash the daisy greens, drain and spin dry using a tea-towel or salad spinner.
- Scrub the beetroots clean, top and tail them but keep them whole.
- Lightly crush the garlic cloves with the back of a knife.
- Get a large piece of thick kitchen foil, and put your beetroots in a row with a garlic clove between each bit of beetroot.
- Next drizzle over enough olive oil until the beetroots are lightly glazed, next drizzle over the syrup or vinegar as you would if dressing a salad. Now sprinkle over the chopped thyme and sage.
- Gently fold up the foil to seal in the beetroots. Bake in an oven gas 6 / 200C for an hour or until the beetroots are tender.
- Now remove everything from the foil except the juice. Pour this into a saucepan with a good knob of butter, melt then add the washed whole daisy greens stirring continually, then add a splash of chicken stock, and reduce quickly before serving with the beetroots.
Serves: 2 as a starter or side dish