How to Cook Beets
I have no idea why beets are healthy, or what nutritional value they have. But I do know what they’re good for – let’s just say, they keep the plumbing unclogged. I eat them regularly. And you should too!
I learned how to cook beets from my Italian mother in law (she also taught me how to cook Italian style carrots), back when I was married. With this simple recipe, you’ll never eat canned beets again.
How to Cook Beets
Cut off the stalk. You can cook the stalk like chard, if you like. I’ll explain how in another post. (My local vegetable grocer at the independent market says that chard was developed from beet greens.)
Cut off the pointy tip.
Rinse the beets.
Place the beets in a pot and submerge with water
Boil for 45 minutes, or until you can pierce the beets with a fork, all the way to the middle of the beet.
Remove beets from the water. Let cool until you can handle the beets. Skin them with a butter knife.
That’s how to cook beets! They are super good cooked this way. Even my kids like them. I always serve beets with steak, and often with a hearty pasta. After all, like I already said, beets keep your plumbing clear.
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Comment by MommaSunshine
| June 18th, 2009
I love cutting up beets, tossing them in a little olive oil and roasting them in the oven on crisp autumn evenings. Yum!
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Comment by Sandy
| June 18th, 2009
OMG you HAVE to cook the beet greens….they’re the best. I remember when I GREW beets one year long ago. I’ve always grown some veggies but this was when I was big into my growing AND canning phase. I loved it, lots of work though. I canned about a dozen jars of beets….my fingers were blue for a week! But oh they were so wonderful!
Editor’s note: here is a Dad’s House recipe for cooking beet greens and chard
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Comment by Just Me...
| June 18th, 2009
Beets…
Hmm…
Never had them.
Salt, pepper, anything added to the water?
:)
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Comment by MindyMom
| June 18th, 2009
I’ve only had beets in a salad…tossed in with a lot of other ingredients. Otherwise they don’t seem too appealing.
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Comment by butrflymom
| June 18th, 2009
I love beets after working in an upscale restaurant a few years back and learned how they cooked them.
I bake the beets in the oven like a baked potatoe, covered in foil. after they cool, peel them and cut up. they are great in salads.
Comment by Honey
| June 18th, 2009
I have had beets and they are DISGUSTING. I actually didn’t eat my lunch because they’d touched everything else and I didn’t want to gag in an expensive French restaurant.
Also, I wish I could find something that would clog my plumbing. Just a little bit. Something, anything? Anyone? Beuller?
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Comment by dadshouse
| June 18th, 2009
Honey – I’ve had disgusting beets. They are horrible!! I’ve also had fresh beets cooked using the beet recipe in this post, and they are wonderful. I learned this recipe from my Italian ex-mother-in-law, and everything she cooks is great. She’s Italian, and I think Italian food and cooking styles are far superior to French. There’s plenty in a French restaurant that I won’t eat.
You don’t need to add salt or pepper or any other spice to the boiling water. Also, it’s important not to cut the beets up before boiling. Part of what makes them so good with this recipe for cooking beets is boiling them in their skin.
Sandy – I agree, beet greens are amazing. I’ll post a recipe soon for cooking them.
Comment by Shayne
| June 18th, 2009
Yum, those sound delish. I have been wanting to plant beets in my vege garden but was never sure what to do with them, so thanks for this. Will def give them a bash.
Comment by jason
| June 18th, 2009
if you like beets, you can also re-use the liquid that you cooked the beets in as a stock or base for something else.
Comment by The Exception
| June 18th, 2009
I might have to give these a try -
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Comment by justrun
| June 18th, 2009
Oh too weird. I’m beginning to think you have my house bugged. I was JUST talking to someone about beets today.
Comment by Annie
| June 18th, 2009
Beets are wonderful! Boiled, baked, grated raw into a salad. Juiced. So good for you, too!
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Comment by Laura
| June 18th, 2009
I do not enjoy beets – at all!!!
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Comment by Shirley
| June 18th, 2009
I eat beets all the time. I slice them thinly into small pieces and sautee them in olive oil. At the end, I throw in the cut up greens and sautee them briefly. Cooking them this way is very fast. They are also excellent the next day cold, in a salad. My kids eat them like candy.
They are also very good for you: “Beets are loaded with vitamins A, B1, B2, B6 and C. The greens have a higher content of iron compared to spinach. They are also an excellent source of calcium, magnesium, copper, phosphorus, sodium and iron.
While the sweet beet root has some of the minerals in its greens to a lesser degree, it is also a remarkable source of chlorine, folic acid, iodine, manganese, organic sodium, potassium, fiber and carbohydrates in the form of natural digestible sugars.”
Comment by Paula
| June 19th, 2009
Beets are excellent like this as well. Eggs are optional, but they turn dark purple and taste great and look pretty when sliced. While the beets will clean your pipes, the pickled eggs cause some of the worst scented gas you will ever expell. Worth it for the consumer but not the rest of the family (gas can be uses as a great payback for bad or annoying kids, a long car drive with windows UP does the trick).
Pickled Beets and Eggs
INGREDIENTS
8 eggs
2 (15 ounce) cans whole pickled beets,or your own fresh w/ juice reserved
1 onion, chopped
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
12 whole cloves
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DIRECTIONS
Place eggs in saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boil. Cover, remove from heat, and let eggs sit in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool, and peel.
Place beets, onion, and peeled eggs in a non-reactive glass or plastic container. Set aside.
In a medium-size, non-reactive saucepan, combine sugar, 1 cup reserved beet juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and cloves. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer 5 minutes.
Pour hot liquid over beets and eggs. Cover, and refrigerate 48 hours before using.
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Comment by la dolce vita
| June 20th, 2009
Honey and Laura, I had difficulty eating beets when the naturopath suggested I eat bunches of them. Don’t know how I came up with this, but I ate them covered with Brewer’s (nutritional)yeast. They’re quite good that way.