The heart of the beet

I like the deep red color of red beet and its natural sweetness. Thiny sliced steamed red beet marinated in olive oil and vinegar with some pressed garlic cloves is good enough as a healthy addition to the autumn menu in my home. But cut into interesting shapes with a cookie cutter and with some tasty additions like pistacchios (salty), dried cranberries (sweet) and sour cream (sour and milky), it is a tasty and beautiful salad or sidedish.

Hearts of red beet with sour cream and pistachios
Ingredients:

• 2 medium-sized red beets 
• 20 g vinegar
• 50 g olive oil
• 50 g dried cranberries
• 3 large garlic cloves
• 50 g roasted pistachios
• 1 tsp salt
• 250 g sour cream

Preparation:

Wash beets. Do not peel and cut them. Put them in a pot, add cold water until the halves of the beets, add the salt and steam covered for an hour. Take them of the water. Rub the peels of the beets with a paper towel. Cut in the most possible thinnest slices. Cut into heart-shapes with a cookie cutter. Press the garlic cloves and mix with the olive oil  and the vinegar.  Toss the slices with the mixture while they are still hot. The marinade should cover even the upperest layers. Let them absorb the marinade for some hours. The so prepared red beet could be kept in refrigerator for 3-4 days. 

15minutes before serving:
Take some hearts out of the marinade and put them on a paper towel to dry. Put them on a plate and put some sour cream above. Sprinkle with the crushed pistachios and three cranberries for a piece.