Buvette's Beets with Almonds and Horseradish Crème Fraîche

All week long Jody Williams, the chef at New York's beloved Buvette restaurant, will be sharing recipes from her new book, Buvette: The Pleasure of Good Food. Follow along to win one of five copies we're giving away -- and to add a little more Paris into your life.

Today: A bright, spring recipe to give your beets some bite.

In this combination, almonds enhance beets’ earthiness, and a bracing, creamy horseradish dressing offers not just richness but also a bit of a bite. Be sure not to discard the leafy greens from the beets; they are a wonderful vegetable in and of themselves. Chop beet greens and add to a soup, or slice and sauté them with garlic and chili as you would spinach or any leafy green. Waste not, want not, as they say! 

Beets with Almonds and Horseradish Crème Fraîche

Serves 4

1 bunch beets, leafy greens removed, but with 1 or 2 inches of the stems left on, scrubbed and rinsed
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vinaigrette
3 tablespoons raw almonds, roughly chopped
1/2 cup crème fraîche
1 1/2 tablespoons prepared horseradish or 1 tablespoon freshly grated horseradish
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
Coarse salt
2 tablespoons high quality, extra-virgin olive oil

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

We're giving away a new copy of Buvette each day this week! To enter, tell us in the comments: What's your favorite way to prepare beets? We'll pick five winners at random this Friday, April 25th!

Photo by Gentl & Hyers. Excerpted from the book BUVETTE by Jody Williams. © 2014 by Jody Williams. Reprinted by permission of Grand Central Publishing. All rights reserved.