# How do you cook beets?



## Lucretia (Oct 5, 2013)

With beets showing up on the most hated list, I was wondering--how do you get them to taste good?

I had them once in a restaurant and they were wonderful (with carrots & leeks in a cream sauce) but any time I've tried to cook them at home they taste like dirt.


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## Mrmnms (Oct 5, 2013)

Make sure their fresh, roast them whole , unpeeled about an hour at 350, either wrapped in foil or rubbed with some olive oil. Peel'm when they've cooled little. The skin comes right off.


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## boomchakabowwow (Oct 5, 2013)

i wash them. put them in this cheap ceramic hot-pot thing my mom gave me. drizzle them with a tiny bit of olive oil to coat, sprinkle on some kosher salt, pot the lid on..and into the oven until a paring knife stabs in easy.

then the world is your oyster. the skins rub off at this point. you can pickle them, slice them over a salad, just eat them as a veggie. whatever. pretty versatile. i have some pickled. now that the beets are eaten, i have stashed some hardboiled eggs into the vinegar for pickled eggs. the color of the eggs at this point are amazing. 

amazing how red beet water can make a kitchen look like a CSI crime scene.


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## daveb (Oct 5, 2013)

Glove up when your handling the cooked ones or the kitchen won't be the only thing red.

This recipe always works for me, serve as app or salad. I even get requests for it.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/...e-your-beet-smells-terrific-recipe/index.html


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## NO ChoP! (Oct 5, 2013)

I like them with an orange and white balsamic vinaigrette, also a little ricotta never hurt, maybe some pistachios....


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## tripleq (Oct 5, 2013)

Mrmnms said:


> Make sure their fresh, roast them whole , unpeeled about an hour at 350, either wrapped in foil or rubbed with some olive oil. Peel'm when they've cooled little. The skin comes right off.



+ 1. The roasting causes them to caramelize a bit. Nice and sweet.


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## bear1889 (Oct 5, 2013)

Refrigerator pickled with hard boiled eggs


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## ecchef (Oct 5, 2013)

Can't understand an aversion to beets except that they're messy to work with. Go with the roasting method as a base and work out from there. Beets & goat cheese is a classis combo...from the hackneyed beet & goat cheese salad to a beet sorbet with chevre mousse. Beet puree makes a cool plate accent as does a broken beet vinaigrette.


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## Asteger (Oct 5, 2013)

Nothing beats beets. Love 'em and was continually offended by the anti-beet bias demonstrated in The Office US. Just not on.

The colour is one of the good things about them.

I roast them with the skin off, olive oil, salt, pepper, maybe a bit of chilli flakes too. Or, of course, add them to salads. Or I'll make a curry with cashews and coconut inspired by the beetroot curry in Sri Lanka, where by the way I remember half the kids would shout out that it was their fav vegetable!


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## stereo.pete (Oct 5, 2013)

The only time I've really cooked with them was simply dice into 1/2" cubes and saute with carrots, butter and thyme.


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## Sambal (Oct 5, 2013)

Not actually "cooked" but beets are fantastic when juiced as well. Combine with carrots, apple or pear, celery and you have a juice that tastes like sunshine!


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## boomchakabowwow (Oct 5, 2013)

here is what i have going on in my fridge, right now. beets with onions, in an anise vinegar.

had some old beets we ate, and decided to toss a few hardboiled eggs in for good measure.


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## panda (Oct 6, 2013)

wash, wrap in foil, roast, then let it cool. peel and dice, saute w/ shallots garlic butter fresh tarragon.


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## JohnnyChance (Oct 6, 2013)

Salt roasted.


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## Vic Cardenas (Oct 6, 2013)

I like to make a beet salad. 
Boil beets skin off until tender cut into 1/2" cubes
Boil potatoes 1/2 cubes, and carrots, corn, peas
Mix veggies and let chill. 
Mix with mayonnaise and lime juice. s and p to taste


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## Lucretia (Oct 7, 2013)

OK, beets are in the oven roasting. I got some nice fresh ones with the greens still on them--the greens look really good---thinking about adding them to the final dish. Whatever it turns out to be. Thanks, everyone!


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## Justin0505 (Oct 7, 2013)

Sambal said:


> Not actually "cooked" but beets are fantastic when juiced as well. Combine with carrots, apple or pear, celery and you have a juice that tastes like sunshine!



If you steam them or use the pressure cooker, you also end up with some awesome sweet beetness in the water. 
Mixed with acid of your choosing (balsamic, wine, w/e) it makes a great reduction to be used either as a dressing or glaze.

Also, think of them like carrots: most people waaaay over-cook them. They can have a really great slightly crunchy texture, so don't just cook them till they turn to mush.


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## DevinT (Oct 7, 2013)

Really, you can make them taste like something other than dirt?

Hoss


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## cookinstuff (Oct 7, 2013)

I always lay down a bed of sea salt and roast them in the oven, helps to not get flat dark spots as well as tasting great. Just a bit of olive oil and good salt. Maybe some white balsamic and pistachios.


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## Lucretia (Oct 7, 2013)

OK, I tried. I'm with Devin. They taste like dirt.


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## boomchakabowwow (Oct 8, 2013)

Lucretia said:


> OK, I tried. I'm with Devin. They taste like dirt.


LOL! kudos for taking a crack at them.


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## Dardeau (Oct 8, 2013)

They do taste like dirt... In a good way. I really like the earthy taste by itself but most people like them better as a minor component. Try serving them with other strong flavors like kale and lemon. A dish that was on at the restaurant that we all thought would be a have to give it away situation was beets with a vadouvan curry vinaigrette and we couldn't roast beets fast enough. Being cold/room temp also cuts the dirt and boosts the sweet. Also salt em like potatoes, it's really hard to over salt beets.

Also I am intensely jealous that you have beets already. Probably as jealous as you are that we still have tomatoes and eggplant.


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## Gravy Power (Oct 8, 2013)

We should have a KKF beet cooking competition. Call it The Beet Off.


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## Namaxy (Oct 8, 2013)

Might be late to the party, but here's my method. You need coarse kosher salt, olive oil, regular sea salt and pepper, aluminum foil and a half sheet tray. Scrub them gently, cut off all but 1/2" of the greens, and any long tips, hairs etc. Leave the skin on! Toss them in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper. Wrap each beet loosely in a piece of aluminum foil. Pour 1 - 2 boxes of coarse kosher salt on the sheet tray to make a bed of salt at least a quarter inch thick, if not thinker. Lay the wrapped beets on the salt bed, and roast in an oven for 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size of the beets. You want them fully cooked, but to still have body. Remove and let cool. When you unwrap them from the foil, the skin virtually falls off. The great thing about this method is that the beets are fully cooked, but retain some body and all of their color (IE goldens stay gold, chioggas keep thier stripes etc.) At this point I slice them if I want to show off local produce. Another option is to grate them. Grate golden beets into a bowl with white balsamic, grate red beets into a bowl with regular balsamic. Add oil, S&P to each. Use a ring mold to layer one color on bottom, the other color on top. Spread softened goat cheese on top of that. Garnish how you wish....oil drizzle, herbs, crispy shallots, aged balsamic etc., and serve with something crunchy.....vegetable slices, toasted baguette slices etc.


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## panda (Oct 9, 2013)

just beet it!


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## chinacats (Oct 9, 2013)

Namaxy said:


> Might be late to the party, but here's my method. You need coarse kosher salt, olive oil, regular sea salt and pepper, aluminum foil and a half sheet tray. Scrub them gently, cut off all but 1/2" of the greens, and any long tips, hairs etc. Leave the skin on! Toss them in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper. Wrap each beet loosely in a piece of aluminum foil. Pour 1 - 2 boxes of coarse kosher salt on the sheet tray to make a bed of salt at least a quarter inch thick, if not thinker. Lay the wrapped beets on the salt bed, and roast in an oven for 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size of the beets. You want them fully cooked, but to still have body. Remove and let cool. When you unwrap them from the foil, the skin virtually falls off. The great thing about this method is that the beets are fully cooked, but retain some body and all of their color (IE goldens stay gold, chioggas keep thier stripes etc.) At this point I slice them if I want to show off local produce. Another option is to grate them. Grate golden beets into a bowl with white balsamic, grate red beets into a bowl with regular balsamic. Add oil, S&P to each. Use a ring mold to layer one color on bottom, the other color on top. Spread softened goat cheese on top of that. Garnish how you wish....oil drizzle, herbs, crispy shallots, aged balsamic etc., and serve with something crunchy.....vegetable slices, toasted baguette slices etc.




Welcome back Neal, nice to see you posting! Oh and +1 to the beets with goat cheese.

Cheers


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## Vangelis (Oct 9, 2013)

Interesting that no one commented on the type of beets - here in Denmark we have the red, the striped and the white ones  and I prepare every type on a different way. (We buy half of our vegies from a collective so we go really local and seasonal. It forces us to be more creative and we discover soemthing different)

But my fav are the red ones. 
- Wash them
- Boiled them, until soft
- Peel them
- let them cool
- Slice them
- Serve with olive oil, and garlic dip

Another alternative for the striped ones as well is to prepare veg. burgers.


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## boomchakabowwow (Oct 12, 2013)

homemade pickled beets ----> extra beet vinegar----------> pickled eggs. fun!


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## bear1889 (Oct 12, 2013)

boomchakabowwow said:


> homemade pickled beets ----> extra beet vinegar----------> pickled eggs. fun!


Those look awesome.....


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## Dardeau (Oct 12, 2013)

I love pickling eggs with beet vinegar!


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## Salty dog (Oct 25, 2013)

[video=youtube_share;1KA2AJ7WxyE]http://youtu.be/1KA2AJ7WxyE[/video]


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## skiajl6297 (Oct 25, 2013)

Always wanted to try this. The beets at the Inn at Little Washington have always been transformative, although I haven't had this specific take yet. 

http://www.gwdocs.com/epicure/s1e1-inn-at-little-washington


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## erikz (Oct 25, 2013)

cookinstuff said:


> I always lay down a bed of sea salt and roast them in the oven, helps to not get flat dark spots as well as tasting great. Just a bit of olive oil and good salt. Maybe some white balsamic and pistachios.



I roast them on a bed of sea salt as well. I love them with caramelised onions or roasted garlic. Great side dish to compliment pork belly.


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## shaneg (Oct 26, 2013)

Beetroot, orange and walnut.. A bit of rocket and feta mixed in too.

Beetroot and white chocolate ganache

Bitter chocolate and beetroot cake


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## erikz (Oct 27, 2013)

shaneg said:


> Beetroot, orange and walnut.. A bit of rocket and feta mixed in too.
> 
> Beetroot and white chocolate ganache
> 
> Bitter chocolate and beetroot cake



Sounds really jummy, especially the cake with bitter chocolate, must go great with the earthy beet flavours!


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