And The Beet Goes On...

LOVE beets, and their tops. crisped in the oven...

In our little Sunday village market, there is a couple who grows organic vegetables with flavors and tastes that outshine any other vendors’. The line at their small stand is long on Sundays but worth the wait and enhanced with neighborly chats about food and weather and family visits and, lately, as in a few short weeks ago, the pathetic shape of the world.

It was not always thus, the part about the world.

But since Trump has begun to crush and possibly eliminate our democracy, in the formerly United States of America, attempt to acquire an independent democratic country who USED to be our neighbor, and turn Gaze into St. Tropez, his tyranny and bullying seem to dominate discussions that used to be about more benign. pleasantly engaging subjects.

Which is why choosing and cooking lovely fresh ingredients at least help to lift the spirits and give sustinence to the soul. The body needs food, non? Bad thoughts can go right into the virtual poubelle (garbage can) that I keep in my brain, for sanity.

Today I will keep it simple. I love beets as I love all underground vegetables, and they so often take a back seat to carrots and turnips that I like to give them a shout out during their growing season. The red beets from Amandine and Loïc, the brilliant vegetable farmers whose produce everyone wants, have short, deep green and red tops, which, brushed with olive oil and roasted for a few minutes in a medium oven can be eaten like potato chips.

And if you wish to branch out, the beets from Chioggia, which occasionally appear in markets, have a lovely inside, but as they simmer, they often turn quite ordinary, if delicious.

Chioggia beets

Sweet, meaty red beets make a rich borcht or add to any vegetable soup if you don’t mind the color change! When I added my tasty beet juice to a pot of vegetables, I found myself with a bright suspiciously pink concoction, but no matter. There are yellow beets, too, which might make a soup color less shocking, but I have yet to see them here in our humble little market.

The cooking juice is actually incredible, chilled and drunk like a healthy cocktail with a squeeze of lemon. I suppose you could add a shot of vodka but….haven’t done that. Yet.

I simmer my sliced beets until tender and spiff them up with only a little lemon juice and salt. My mama used to serve them hot, buttered and lemoned like artichoke hearts, but I love having them cold for lunches alongside the marinated garbanzos we love for their protein.

Easy Beets

3 lovely large beets about the size of a baseball (sliced thin) and tops, tops cut away for the oven or to sauté with olive oil, garlic, a pinch of hot pepper and a crushed biscotti if you have one lying around. I used one of my ginger snaps, crushed, last night and it worked wonders.

Juice of a large lemon

Salt

Olive oil (optional)

Remove the beet tops where they join the beets and set aside to crisp in the oven.

Simmer the sliced beets in salted water until tender, reserving the cooking water. Transfer to a container for the fridge, squeeze the lemon over all and taste for salt. That’s it.

You may also sauté the beet tops, chopped, with Swiss chard or any greens you like and they will all get along together. Unlike countries…

You simply cannot beet the simplicity of this recipe, haha.