Hi Everyone, I’ve fallen in love, With beets.
Food can be like people sometimes – you see them often, but never pay attention. You can have a first encounter and find it to be unpleasant and vow to never go down that path again. And then circumstances can change; you can see them in a whole new light and fall in love. That’s what happened to me with beetroots.
The first time I had this rich-ruby-coloured vegetable, it was cooked very soft and mushy. It lacked personality. It just lay there on my plate, dead. I politely pushed it around my plate as I ate my meal but I could not bring myself to eat more than two bites of it. Since that first encounter several years ago, I resolutely stayed away from beetroots.
Beetroots are big here in Barbados; you see them often at the markets and supermarkets. It is safe to say that it’s a favourite vegetable here. A couple of weeks ago I went to one of my usual stalls at the market and beetroots were on sale. I had not bought any vegetables yet and I was thinking that rather than buying the usual okra, karaila etc, I could mix things up a little and buy some beets. I had read about a simple recipe of marinated beets with red onions that I could use like a pickle in sandwiches or just eat on the side with my meal. This idea appealed to me.
I personally believe that vendors are among the best sources of information when it comes to preparing the ingredients they sell and so sticking with that principle, I proceeded to find out from the vendor the best way to cook beets. He made a point of telling me that he was different; that while Bajans like beets boiled just like that, he liked his boiled and tossed with vinegar. We both laughed. He is as Bajan as any other Barbadian but he was born in England of Barbadian parents – like so many other Bajans I know.
The vendor’s preference for beets tossed with vinegar warmed me even more to the beets because the recipe I was hoping to try suggested tossing the beets in vinegar; the sharpness of the vinegar is the perfect counter for the sweet beets. So I bought my beets and headed home.
I had to do some homework first. I had to learn how to handle beets – I had read somewhere
that the vegetable stains and that the stains are difficult to get out. Not true. Soap and water will get out the stains. Of course you won’t want to use something as porous as a wooden cutting board because the juice will seep into the wood and stain it.
I then checked out the various ways in which beets can be cooked and eaten – boiled, steamed, roasted, raw, grated, juiced, pureed and mashed. And finally, I had to learn how to clean and prep the beets for cooking. In each case, the beets have to be scrubbed with a vegetable brush to remove the mud and dirt – the bulbous part grows beneath the earth hence the need to clean it.
should be able to pierce the beets but they should not be soft, you want a bit of bite to it.
The natural sweetness of the beets tamed the brashness of the vinegar and seduced it into submission, it had bite, yes, but an oh so pleasurable one. I kept going back for more. The onions were completely ignored they were not needed. You know how they say three’s company? Well the onions were the third wheel, totally interfering with the romance. The next time it’s going to be just the beets and the vinegar. I’m in love – with beets!
What do beets taste like? Ummm, raw they’re like carrots but not as crisp. They’re naturally sweet and the sweetness is concentrated when they are cooked, particularly when they are cooked using a method that allows them to maintain a lot of their character such as roasted or steamed.
Marinated Beets
INGREDIENTS
½ cup sliced red onions, optional
Salt to taste
5 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 pound beetroots, washed and scrubbed
DIRECTIONS
1. Add onions, salt and vinegar to a glass bowl, toss and set aside.
2. Insert a steam rack into a pot with water and place the beets root side down onto the rack. Cover and bring to a boil. Let steam for 15 minutes or until a knife inserts easily but with a little resistance.
3. Remove beets from steamer and let cool to handle.
4. Gently rub the skin off of the beets or use a butter knife to remove the thin skin.
5. Slice the beets into ¼-inch thick slices. Transfer to bowl with marinated onions and toss. Taste for salt and vinegar and adjust if needed. Set aside and let marinate at room temperature for 2 – 4 hours or refrigerate for 24 hours before serving.
6. Serve as a pickle for sandwiches or as a condiment with food.
