Beet Recipes
From LoveToKnow Recipes
Beets are a wonderful, colorful vegetable that can be boiled, baked, pureed, pickled, and served hot or cold. The brightly colored root is the usual choice for food, but the leafy tops, or beet greens, are edible as well. Beet greens can be used in salads, or cooked as spinach or dandelion greens.
Boil beet roots whole and unpeeled, with the leaves just trimmed and the top intact. This prevents loss of the nutrients. When the roots are cooked, hold them under cold running water and you can easily slip them out of their skins, which should be discarded. (Tip: Do not boil them when preparing for a fancy dinner party; they do not smell very pleasant when they are boiling. Be prepared to open windows and leave the fan on.)
When boiled, they can be served as is, with butter, or pickled in vinegar with spices or herbs such as dill. "Harvard" beet recipes make a sweet-sour dish; they are made with sugar and vinegar and then thickened with cornstarch.
Select young small beets for pickling and use whole and larger ones for cubing or quartering. This root vegetable partners well with cabbage, green beans, cold beans in bean salad, and on lettuce salads with chickpeas.
Whenever working with beets, use caution when splashing the water about. Beet juice stains and is almost impossible to get out of some items. If you have children who like playing Olden Tymes, boil the beet water down to a dark color and it will make an excellent ink to use with their goose quill pens. Make sure they're wearing their grubbies because they will get ink all over themselves.
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