Monday, November 4, 2013

beets and beet greens


For some reason, I tend to completely forget that beets exist in this world, and then I'm endlessly delighted once more when I rediscover them. It's a pretty great cycle, though, to be honest.



When I do get around to eating them, I usually just roast the beets and sauté the greens, and then add them to whatever I'm eating throughout the week. For example: salad (beet, barley, goat cheese, balsamic vinegar), breakfast lunch burrito (tortilla, egg, avocado, tomato, beet greens, salsa), or risotto (stir in some cubed beets, beet greens, and goat cheese at the end). So here's the most basic of recipes for roasted beets and sautéed beet greens - so basic, perhaps, that you can probably wing it on your own and things will turn out just fine.

ROASTED BEETS

Preheat the oven (or toaster oven) to 375F. Pull the tops off the beets, and give them a good scrub under cold water. I like to trim the stems and roots off the beets, but you can leave them on if you'd like. Wrap the beets in foil - small beets can be grouped together, but large beets should be wrapped individually. If you have excessively large beets, you can also halve or quarter them to make them cook faster.

Put the wrapped beets in a baking dish, and roast until easily pierced with a fork , anywhere from 40-60+ minutes. If your beets are different sizes, check them individually, as smaller beets will finish faster than larger ones.

Once the beets are cool enough to handle, unwrap and peel. The skins should slip right off. If not, the beets might need to cook a little bit longer.

SAUTÉED BEET GREENS

1 bunch of beet greens (or whatever you salvaged from the tops of your beets)
a glug of olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt, to taste

Wash the greens thoroughly in cold water. Roughly chop into bite-sized pieces, keeping the stems separate from the leaves. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, and let sizzle for a minute. Add the stems first, and sauté for a few minutes. Then add the leaves. Sauté just until the leaves are wilted, 5-10 minutes. Sometimes I also like adding a splash of balsamic vinegar right at the very end. Salt to taste.

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