Beets

I am a fan of the beet. Always have been, but occasionally I forget about them—for weeks or months on end. Then, a fresh bunch of beets will catch my eye and I get to rediscover this vivid vegetable all over again.

With the relatively recent wave of re-appreciating heirloom and unusual varieties of vegetables, one can now find not only red, but also orange, yellow, white, and two-toned Chioggia beets.

Beets are a member of the goosefoot family. Among their vegetable relatives are chard, spinach, quinoa, and lamb's-quarters.

Historians trace beets back to ancient Italy. The Romans ate the leafy greens, but left the root alone. When Charlemagne ordered beets to be planted throughout his domain, both the root and greenery were eaten. Charlemagne's beets were white or orange. Red beets were not introduced until the 16^th or 17^th century.

If you are preparing beets in a mixed vegetable dish, either use the orange-yellow variety of beet, or be prepared to eat pinkish/fuchsia-colored food. Red beets bleed, though one can control the bleeding somewhat. If you leave the beet whole and unskinned, with about an inch of the stem and the root intact, the color will leech less. Beets can be boiled, steamed, oven-roasted, or cooked in the microwave. When I was recently lamenting the time it would take to cook two beets, with my stomach already growling mightily, my mother told me to grate the beets and sauté them with olive oil and garlic. It worked great! But again, beware - if grated red beets are combined with other vegetables, the dish will be uniformly dyed. Beets have great tinting power.

The pigment in the red beet root is betacyanin. The food-coloring industry is studying the possibilities of using this crimson color to produce a natural dye. The ability to digest betacyanin comes from a single gene. If, with the cast of the genetic dice, you have two parents who each have a recessive gene, you will not be able to digest betacyanin. The telltale pigment will pass right through your digestive tract, leaving (How do I write this discreetly?) stained remains.

The pigment in red beets is also a sort of litmus indicator. Combined with acid, beets turn vividly crimson. But with an alkali, they turn blue.

All varieties of beets (yellow, red, variegated, and white) are naturally high in sugar. Perhaps this is why this root vegetable is so often prepared with vinegar. Beets are also a good source of vitamins A and C, riboflavin, iron, dietary fiber, and potassium. Beet greens supply a goodly amount of calcium, but they also contain oxalic acid, which will leach calcium from your system. Whenever I cook greens with an oxalic acid content (beets, spinach, chard), I top the steaming hot dish with cheese, which will preferentially bind with the oxalic acid, so I can retain the healthful calcium.

Beets also contain a peculiar "vitamin imposter". An anti-thiamine substance in beets tricks our cells into believing it is thiamin (B1). It lodges in our system and keeps the real B1 out. I recall reading (somewhere, years ago) that the way around this is to cook your beet.

To prepare whole beets, scrub them well and leave an inch of stem intact. If the root is still attached, leave it as well. Once the beet is cooked, let it cool enough to handle and with just a slight nudge from your fingers, it will very easily shed its skin. It is difficult to give precise times for how long to cook beets—they vary in size and tenderness. Older beets will take longer to cook than those fresh from the garden. Beets can take a long, long time to cook… I wonder if this is why beets are such an undervalued vegetable?

To steam whole beets, place them in the steamer basket of a large pan with plenty of boiling water underneath. (Note: If you put marbles in the water, if all the water steams away, you will hear that the marbles have quit rattling and know that you have to add more water.) Steam at a rolling boil until the beets are tender and can be easily pierced with a knife. It'll take about 45 minutes to steam two pounds of fresh beets.

To roast beets, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Rub the whole (cleaned) beets with olive oil, place them in a roasting pan with a few tablespoons of water; cover with foil and roast until they flesh can easily be pierced with a thin knife blade. This will take about an hour for two pounds of fresh, small- to medium-sized beets. Cool slightly and slip the skins right off.

To microwave four medium-sized fresh beets, arrange them unpeeled in a dish with a lid (or damp heavyweight paper towels). Microwave on high for about 8 minutes, let rest without removing the lid for 5 minutes. Turn the beets over and cover again; microwave another 3 minutes. Let sit with the lid still on for 10 more minutes. Pierce them with a thin knife to test for tenderness. If they need it, cover and cook for 3-4 minutes more. Let cool and peel.

This recipe is best made a day or two before eating. Use a tall, narrow container so the marinade surrounds the vegetables. Use this mixture to top some fresh tossed salad greens. Add croutons, cottage cheese or crumbled goat cheese.

German Beet Salad

3 cups beets, cooked
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 cup beet liquid (from cooking)
1 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. caraway seeds (or dill seeds)

Cut the beets into 1/4-inch slices. Arrange a layer of beets in a mixing bowl, top with a layer of sliced onions. Season each layer with a bit of salt and sugar. Place beet liquid and vinegar in a saucepan and heat to boiling. Sprinkle caraway seeds on top of salad and poor on hot beet juice/water mixture. Place in refrigerator and chill at least 24 hours before serving. Stir occasionally to distribute marinade.

Beet and Carrot Pancakes

1 1/3-cups packed, coarsely shredded peeled beets (about 2 medium)
1 cup coarsely shredded peeled carrots (about 2 medium)
1 cup thinly sliced onion
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup flour
3 tbsp. olive oil
Sour cream

Preheat oven to 300-degrees. Place baking sheet in oven. Combine beets, carrots and onion in a large bowl. Mix in egg, salt and pepper. Add flour; stir to blend well.

Heat 1 1/2 tbsp. oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Using 1/3-cup beet mixture for each pancake, drop 4 pancakes into skillet. Flatten each into 3-inch round. Cook until brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer pancakes to baking sheet in oven; keep warm. Repeat with remaining beet mixture, making 4 more pancakes.

Serve pancakes with sour cream.

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