Beets are not a vegetable I’ve prepared often, probably because my first introduction to them as a cooked vegetable — plain and cooked too soft — was anything but inspiring. I’ve always liked them pickled, but I’ve come to love them roasted or simply cooked and brightened in a tangy marinade.
While we were away, I picked up a small bunch and prepared them simply to have as a side dish with lentil cakes and a green salad. They added so much zing to the meal, in terms of both colour and flavour.
This is an easy make-ahead dish. Top 3 beets, leaving about an inch and a half of the stem on, wash them well, place in a sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and simmer until the beets are fork tender. Depending on the size of your beets, this may take from 30 to 45 minutes or so. Drain, and let cool. Once the beets are cool to the touch, remove the rest of the stems and the root ends and slip off the peels with a knife. (Mess alert! — If you have any concerns about your fingers being dyed a glorious shade of crimson, wear gloves.) Slice and dice the beets, then dress with about 1 tbsp olive oil and 1-1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, and add the leaves of a few sprigs of fresh thyme, chopped. Stir together well, cover the bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve. If they’re going to sit for a few hours, take them out of the fridge early, give them a good stir and let them come to room temperature.
The dressing enhances the rich flavour of the beets, adding a mild tanginess without the puckery zing of pickling, and enhancing the other food on the plate. Enjoy!
Yum. Thanks for sharing. I’ve grown some beets in the garden this year, but don’t have a lot of experience preparing them. This sounds like a good one to add to my experiment pile.
Beets are fun to grow. Lucky you to have a source of them in your own backyard! I also recommend roasting beets. I was going to post about them last winter, but I wasn’t happy with how the photos turned out. You can find a great recipe for “Roasted Beets With Sauteed Greens” in Laura Calder’s cookbook, “French Taste.”
good tasting and healthy as H__LL
Now there’s an unusual endorsement! Glad you enjoyed these so much!
I was one of those rare kids that actually liked beets. Mom made a beet salad that I really enjoyed and will be posting the recipe soon. Next time I buy beets, though, I’m going to give your recipe a try. It’s simple and tasty, my favorite kind of recipe!
I’m really looking forward to reading your mother’s recipe for beet salad. Funny, this simple little post has been getting quite the response – there are more beet lovers out there than I thought! One of these days, probably in the cooler weather I’m going to post about roasted beets, based on the recipe in Laura Calder’s “French Taste” – ooh la la, they’re good!
Reminds me of “Jitterbug Perfume” 😉
Well, you had me completely stumped, so I consulted my good friend, Google, which led me to a Wikipedia article about “Jitterbug Perfume.” For those equally stumped, here’s an excerpt from the article:
“Jitterbug Perfume is Tom Robbins’ fourth novel, published in 1984. The major themes of the book include the striving for immortality, the meaning behind the sense of smell, individual expression, self-reliance, sex, love, and religion.[1] Beets and the god Pan figure prominently.”
Must say, I’ve never really thought about beets in connection with such epic themes as sex, love and religion. I think I had better read the book!
That’s it – it was quite good – the premise of the book was that beets hold the key to a very long life 😉
Sounds like something for my summer reading list!
Sounds like I should eat more beets!
I love beets! This prep sounds yummy. I just posted a roasted beet summer salad.
Thank you, Sue! I visited your post, and your salad is so lovely! I’d like to make it sometime. Cheers!