Recipe: Golden Beets & Greens
June 18, 2007 in recipe, vegetable
Talk about an exciting post – I’m doing a beet double shot! Not only the golden beets, but their greens. I think golden beets may be my favorite in the beet family. The flavor is so gentle and soft – all the right stuff I think. But the primary reason for my post today is the greens. I’ve constantly meant to use the greens, but just gotten distracted and haven’t. So this time, I did!
First off, the beets. Cut the greens leaving about 1 inch of stem. Clean the beets well then put in a dish with about 1 inch of water. Cover tightly with foil. Put into a hot oven at about 375 and cook for 30-60 minutes. Beets should be easily penetrated with a knife, but not mushy. Remove from oven and leave covered about 30 minutes. Rub each beet with paper towels to easily remove the skin. Slice, and there are your lovely beets!
After removing from the beet root, wash the greens well. If you buy the beets but do not intend to use them immediately, then remove and use the greens within a few days. Discard the excess stem and wash the greens well. Simply place in a hot pan with some oil in it, add about 1/4c. water then cover. Steam and cook for several minutes then stir well and cover again. They will only take a few minutes. Add salt and pepper and enjoy!
And now you can enjoy the entire beet plant! Try cooking the beet greens the same as your favorite spinach or swiss chard recipe also. They have a nice light sweetness to them that makes them particularly fun.
I love beets! I found some lovely peppermint striped ones last summer at the farmer’s market and roasted them up and then sliced them super thin and ate them with goat cheese. So good. I’ve never tried the golden beets, nor do I think I’ve seen them. I’ll have to keep an eye out for some.
And I didn’t know you could even eat the greens! What do they taste like? I’m thinking like swiss chard?
The peppermint striped ones are Chioggia beets!
They are gorgeous and I really like the flavor. Here is some info.
You are exactly right that beet greens are similar to chard – chard is actually a member of the beet family. They were bred/developed for their leaves vs. the roots as beets were. The beet greens can be prepared just like spinach or chard. I thought the flavor was softer – absolutely delicious – I know you would like them.
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