Newlywed Recipes: Grilled beet cakes with a basil goat cheese sauce

Happy June to you all! With summer in full force, Kyle and I find ourselves trying to create creative meals that we can make on the grill to avoid heating up the house. There are only so many times you can grill burgers or various other meats, so making a unique veggie option was what we were after. With a pile of beets in the refrigerator, I decided to build our meal around those. Beets may seem like one of those odd foods that you just know you won’t like and you have no idea how to use them, but they are packed with nutrients and have very little flavor on their own so they blend well into almost any dish. Plus you can’t beat that vibrant pink color! Just be careful, they are messy and they will stain anything and everything they touch! They have a consistency similar to a carrot and a light, earthy flavor. These are basically a different take on a zucchini cake so feel free to mix in some of that too if you have some! This is a great meal to use up leftover veggies or random things in the fridge.

We ate these as is but if you make larger versions, they’d make a great veggie burger option.

Grilled Beet Cakes:

Ingredients:

• 2 medium-sized beets, cleaned
• 2 eggs (These help hold the cakes together, if you want a vegan version, leave them out)
• 1 cup oatmeal or bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup ground flax seed (for an extra boost of fiber and nutrients!)
• 2 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• salt and pepper to taste
• Panko bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Clean the beets and chop into large chunks so they fit in a food processor. Using the shredding attachment, shred the beets.
2. Add them to a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine. Mixture should stick together but not be too moist. If it’s too moist, add more oatmeal or  bread crumbs.
3. Form small patties for cakes or larger patties if you want to use them as burgers.
4. Sprinkle both sides with panko bread crumbs.
5. Grill on a hot grill, on medium heat for a few minutes. They can be REALLY sticky so try spraying your grill with cooking spray before it is turned on or spray the cakes themselves. You could also bake them or cook them on the stove top.
6. Serve immediately with basil goat cheese sauce

Creamy basil goat cheese sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 heaping tablespoons sour cream
• 2 teaspoons creamy goat cheese
• Handful of fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon honey

Directions:

1. Put all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until combined. You could also use a hand mixer or if you are really ambitious, stir it yourself!
2. Serve a dollop on each cake.

*This sauce tastes amazing on several things from chicken to fish so keep it handy if you want a tasty sauce to spice up a dish.

Healthy, easy, and tasty! What more could you want?

What are your favorite grilling recipes?