Food

How to Make Maydan’s Mouth-Watering Beet Dip

Grab some pita and dig in.

Photograph by Scott Scuhman.

Walk into Maydan (1346 Florida Ave., NW; 202-370-3696), Rose Previte’s hidden-away restaurant off 14th Street, and the first thing you see is a giant hearth. But you don’t need leaping flames to recreate one of the menu’s best offerings at home: beet borani, a vibrant dip terrific with pita or raw vegetables.

INGREDIENTS:

Makes 4 to 6 cups

  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
  • 2½ large red beets
  • 1 cup labneh or full-fat Greek yogurt
  • Salt to taste
  • 1½ teaspoons lemon juice (only if using Greek yogurt)
  • Fresh dill and black sesame for garnish (white sesame may be substituted)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cook the beets until very tender, about 1½ hours. After they’ve cooled, peel the beets, then roughly chop them. In a blender, add the garlic and a quarter of the cooked beets. Purée until mostly smooth. Add 1/8 cup labneh or yogurt and purée until smooth. Pour into a medium bowl and repeat the process until the beets are gone. Whisk in any remaining labneh or yogurt by hand. Season to taste with salt. Whisk in the lemon juice if using. Garnish with the dill and sesame seeds. The borani will keep two weeks in the refrigerator.

This article appeared in the March 2018 issue of Washingtonian.

Ann Limpert
Executive Food Editor/Critic

Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.

Food Editor

Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.