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Monday, June 27, 2011

Rooting For Beets-The Greens Are the Tops

   The lowly beet, at least that's how I see it.  If you mention beets you get a lot of groans or scrunchy faces.  I've always liked beets, but was never thrilled with them, since I don't remember eating them any other way except from a can.    (Have you ever noticed that things we did growing up sometimes just kind of carries over into our grown up lives?)  I'd see them in some kind of salad shredded up to be disguised and I never had the tops of beets, otherwise known as beet greens. 
  
     In the last few years I'd been wanting them fresh, so we bought a few at the farmers market.  I wasn't quite sure what to do with the greens and I didn't take the time to find out.  Later, when I was buying seeds, I saw some packages for organic beets so I thought I'd try those in the garden.  The beets grew quite well and as they got bigger I realized I'd have to pick them and do something with them.  I put off picking them at first, but then the little guy kind of helped that one along.  He saw a nice plant to pull out and once a 2 year old gets a plant pulling bug it's hard to stop him.  I rinsed the beets and the top green parts real well and I was pleasantly surprised to find not one bug.  I then cut the top of the beet off and the bottom of the greens and then chopped them together.  I then threw them in my little cast iron frying pan with a dab of coconut oil, some real salt, and some pepper and it not only smelled great, but tasted sensational.  I wanted to eat the whole pans worth, it was that good. 

     Every day I'd pick a beet and do it all over again but eventually I was getting tired of eating beets every single night and sometimes for lunch and thought maybe I'd better do a bit of research to find out how to preserve them.  I found out I can freeze them so I picked a batch of beets and rinsed them well.  In my research I discovered that you don't have to wait to pull the beets to eat the green tops so I cut a few leaves without pulling the beets.  The beets will continue to grow more leaves.  I cut the beets just above the top so it had a bit of a stem so it wouldn't bleed into my water.  I then boiled two pots of water.  While the beets were boiling until tender, I then "blanched" the tops.  Blanching is simply dipping the greens in the boiling water for about one to two minutes and then plunging them into a bowl of cold ice water.  I chopped the greens up a little and put them in freezer bags, that I remembered to label.  When the beets were soft I plunged them into cold water, and the skins slipped right off under the running water.  I then cut the tops off and then cut the beets in half and put them into a freezer bag. 

      I've not only grown some of my produce, I've managed to save a little bit.  I do have more beets in the garden and will continue to grown more and freeze it.    There are other ways to preserve beets but this one seemed to be a good start.  I will look into pickling or fermenting beets also.  Beets can be incorporated into a lot of the foods you probably already cook.  They most likely wouldn't even be noticed in things like casseroles or stir fries.  I can't wait to roast them and grill them.   

   A few facts I learned about beets is just how very good they are for us. While being very high in sugar which could account for their sweet taste, the calories are low.  The greens are healthier than the beets, but eating either one would be a good start.  They are good at cleaning toxins out of our bodies, have a great amount of iron, and a good source of vitamin C.  For more information on beets check out the links I've posted.  You'll probably learn more than you ever really wanted to know about beets.  It's easier to just say, they taste good and they are good for you, so eat them. 

This gives you info on the nutrition facts on beets  Nutrition Data

This give you info on fruits and veggies that may be health related Juicing for Health