Beets – or beetroots as they call them here – does very well
in most temperate climates, growing large over the summer and often remaining
intact and quite edible even through the winter. Every part of it is edible -- leaves,
stalks and roots -- and it comes in many varieties beyond the familiar red:
yellow, pink, even striped. It makes
good animal feed, sugar, wine, and a variety of dishes, including:
Savoury beetroot
salad: In a large salad bowl, mix 20 ml of sesame oil and 20 ml of lemon juice,
and add dashes of powdered ginger, cayenne pepper and light soy sauce. Chop up
a fistful of chives, although scallions would also do – about 50g. Clean and
grate a few medium-sized beetroots (500g) and add 100g of diced feta cheese.
Mix the beetroot and cheese well and toss them with the sauce.
Beetroot leaves: Drizzle
a bit of oil into a pan over medium heat, throw in a pat of butter and let it
melt. Dice a large onion and stir it in. While the onion is sautéing, wash the
leaves and chop them.
When the onion pieces have turned golden brown, put the
chopped leaves in the pan, pour in a cup of vegetable stock, and place a lid
over the pan. Let it sautee for about five minutes or so and then check to see
if it’s done. Add a sprinkling of lemon juice and a dash of paprika, or
experiment with the spices you like. You could serve the leaves like spinach,
as a side dish, or use it to fill a crepe or an omelette, or mix it with
scrambled eggs.
Borscht: In this
vegetarian version, first heat the oven to 250 degrees Centigrade. First peel
about 500g of beetroots, slice them into cubes, drizzle a little olive oil over
the cubes and toss them around until they are lightly coated in oil. Stretch
aluminium foil over an oven tray, spread the cubed beetroot over the tray and
put it in the oven for an hour.
While that is roasting, take a large pot and drizzle the
bottom with oil and butter. Dice two large onions, put them in the pan and stir
them around, and then do the same with about 100g of cabbage, three stalks of celery,
two large carrots, and – just before the end – some garlic. Let them sautee
until they are soft and lightly golden. Then pour in a litre of vegetable stock and add 10 ml of
lemon juice, 10 ml of dark soy sauce and stir in. Finally, take the beetroots
out of the oven and add them to the pot.
I blitzed the soup with a mixer, but if you don’t have one
you can just mash up the chunky bits. Then pour the borscht into bowls and put
a dollop of sour cream in the middle, and sprinkle a bit of dill and chervil
over the top.
There are all kinds of other possibilities. Try making beetroot chips instead of potato chips.
Slice them thinly with a mandolin, cover them in oil, and set them on an oven
pan until they become crisp, and then sprinkle them with seasoning and salt to
make beetroot crisps.
You can make pink
mashers by mixing beetroot mash with potatoes. You can cut your beetroots
into cubes, put them around a chicken in a pan, and roast them in the oven. You
can dry them in a dehydrator or
solar oven, and keep in jars on the shelf until you need to make soup. Come up
with your own possibilities and share them; beetroot makes a great crop for
winter nights, and we should start using it to make things most people actually
like.
Photo courtesy of Wikicommons,
