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Monday, June 1, 2009

Beets Me??

Get it? BEETS me! (ha ha! Snort, snort, sigh... moving on....) So, my CSA starts on Wednesday and since the farmer is, well, my neighbor she already told me what I'm getting. One of the listed items is beets. I don't know about you but I have NO idea what to do with beets. I did find a recipe for dark chocolate muffins made with beets (how good does that sound!) but John has requested that I not make those. Can you believe it? He says that kind of defeats the point of eating your beets. SO...no dark chocolate muffins. Does anyone out there know what to do with these little beauties? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Running the race,
~A

15 comments:

Keri said...

Hmmm, my grandma always pickled them and they were yummy. Other than that....not really sure....

Marie said...

Tell John that if he is going to wear his wooden flip flops to Wal-Mart, you are going to make dark chocolate muffins! Ok, maybe don't do that...

Sorry dear. I have never made anything with a beet. I suppose you could make beet juice and use it to sweeten different things. Isn't that what they put in bread? Oh wait..that's raisin juice. Nevermind! I'm out of ideas...

Our neck of the woods said...

Hi I'm a newbie!
My step mom boils the beets and once cooled she slices them and adds balsamic vinegar with thinly sliced red onion. Makes a lovely cold salad.

Heather said...

My sweet tooth is wanting me to share with you that Dark chocolate is healthy - antioxidants and lovely rich flavor - what's not to love?
also the muffin ingredients are like pancake ingreds - plus there are eggs in it right?
See - protein, grains, antioxidants, beets (whatever they are good for)

I have no idea what to do with beets
can't wait to hear what you make!

Heather said...

Ok..here's a real answer to your question - here's a link to a recipe for a salad that has beets, peaches, walnuts & gorgonzola cheese - this picture is to die for!
http://helengraves.co.uk/?p=493

Go to foodgawker.com and type "beets" in the search. All the recipes have a picture. Click the pic to go to the recipe.
Anyway, that's how I found the above. I don't even like beets and I want to eat THAT! YUM!

annaO said...

Amanda--

Although, I've not tried beets yet, much to my mom's chagrin, she loves them! I will send her your way and let her post a comment with all the wonderful things she makes with her beets.

Erica said...

Growing up we always had pickled beets. I have no idea how to make them but it was always fun to eat purple food. We've had a lot of borscht while overseas. I really love it, Marvin's not a fan unless it has meat (but that's my little carnivore).

Oh I've been meaning to reply to your comment. Some friends of our are going to let us borrow Voddie's book Family Driven Faith. I'm excited to read it. I'm glad you've enjoyed it. I'm not sure if you decided on homeschool stuff or not but I've been loving Five in a Row. I love how play based that it is and they have a character development that you can purchase too, and I've been told it has lots of verses. It's been highly recommended too. I think this is what I'm going to use during preschool.

Happy Belated Anniversary.

Erica said...

Oh and I think you should make the muffins

Julie said...

Um.. I don't know. LOL
I googled beet recipes and found this site. The recipes look yummy.
http://southernfood.about.com/od/beets/Beets_Recipes_Using_Beets.htm

and this one

http://basic-recipes.com/veget/beets/index.htm

maybe you can find something there.

niKnox said...

I love beets but Kevin really isn't a fan so I have to be really clever about how to use them. The best thing I've made is a beet and barely salad. It was really good. I will have to look for the recipe at home. I've also heard they are really good with goat cheese (I intend to find out soon). Good luck!

Carmen said...

I think any chilled beet salad would be great. We, at the Classen home, grow and pickle quarts and quarts of beets each year. We love them (Hannah especially)! I did a quick search and this recipe is pretty much like what we use...I add cinnamon as well...http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pickled-Beets/Detail.aspx. Whatever you make, be sure to blanch the beets until the skin can be peeled easily. Good luck...keep us posted on what you create!

Erika said...

My grandma also pickled beets, but I didn't care for them. Maybe I should give them another try...

Mrs. Doll said...

Hi, Amanda -
I'm Anna's mom. Sorry it has taken me sooo long to comment. I have in the last few months recently added beets to my diet. If you want the most nutrition out of them, use them raw. I juice them with carrots and celery. Don't know if you have a juicer. It really makes a nice sweet juice. One beet to about 7 carrots and 2 celery stalks. I also have the following recipe that I really like. 2 carrots grated, 1 beet grated, 1 apple cut in little bite size pieces, about 1/2 cup of grated raw walnuts, and 1/4 cup raisins. Mix all together and add the following - 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, 1 or 2 tablespoons of honey, and about a 1/4 cup of mayo. I use a healthier substitute called vegenaise. You can get that at a health food store. I got this recipe from the Hallelujah Acres website. You should look at it. It has scads of good ideas for fresh, raw fruits and veggies. www.hacres.com
Have fun!
Kerry Doll

JeannaMO said...

I found a couple of beet recipes for you:

one is at:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Honey-Beet-Bread

Another:


Christmas Red Bread

3 eggs

1 cup oil

2 1/4 cups sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups flour

3 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soda

1 cup nuts

2 cups cooked or canned beets, drained, mashed

Red food coloring



Mix oil and sugar and add eggs one at a time. Add the other ingredients. Use food color if needed. Place in two 9x5 loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes

This is the recipe I use for the beet jelly (raspberry is my favorite). I use it to fill donuts. Tastes yummy!



6 cups beet juice (if you don't have 6 cups, add just enough water to equal 6 cups)

1/2 cup lemon juice (bottled is fine)

2 packages Surejell (not for sugar free)

8 cups sugar

1 (6 oz) box raspberry jello (or 2 -3oz boxes) (also strawberry or cherry jello works well.)



Boil approximately 1/2 gallon of raw washed beets. Do not cut off root. Trim leaves and stems to about 1 inch and scrub good. Cover with water in pot and boil 30 minutes or until skins slip off. (May swell up (double) at this point so allow room for expansion in the pot).

Remove beets from water using tongs. Yu can peel and slice the beet (you only use the juice for the jelly). Let sit til cool. (overnight in fridge is fine, too). I lay a cheese cloth or tea towel in my collander over a big bowl. Pour juice into collander/cheese cloth to drain silt from juice.



Directions for the jelly:



Bring beet juice and lemon juice to a hard boil with the pectin. Stir well. Add sugar and jello at one time. Bring to a boil. Boil and stir for 6 minutes (will swell up). Put in hot jars. Process in boiling water bath 5 minutes. Makes 5 half-pints of jelly.

Other than these recipes, I like to slice boiled, peeled beets, and just add a little butter. Yum!

One more before I go - I can't wait to try this one! I love this blog, too!

http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2007/04/give-beets-chance-caramelized-beets.html

Enjoy.

Amanda said...

Wowzers! Who knew you could do SO many things with beets! Thanks everyone!