We’ve been getting beautiful beets from our local farmer every week for the past month, now. And while I have come to appreciate how tasty roasted beets can actually be, I still find the vegetable to be rather cumbersome, overall, to prepare, especially since the dark pink color so easily stains your hands.
But since we have already joined the community supported agriculture program for the season, and since we know that a lot of hard work and love went into growing these beautiful organic veggies, I want to get my full use out of them. So I decided to do some internet research to see if the beautiful red stems and green leaves on the beets were edible.
Oh heck yes they are! Don’t you dare throw them out! Let me show you a great way to prepare them.
First give everything a good wash in some running water. Then chop up the stems into bite-sized pieces, like this:
Next, chop up your beet green leaves.
Next, I got out my Reynolds Grilling Foil (disclosure, I’m a Reynolds Real Mom, but am not writing this post as such…just sharing what I really used!). My intention was to grill the greens since we were using our grill that day, already. I simply made a foil packet for the greens, and generously sprinkled them with oil, salt and pepper. I also added a little bit of vegetable stock (2 Tbsp, maybe) to ensure that the greens had plenty of liquid to help them soften up a bit.
I then brought up two of the sides to meet each other, and folded them down twice. And I repeated this step on the two sides to create a packet. I let these cook on the grill, right next to some delicious burger patties, for about 20 minutes.
The final product was lacking in beauty, but it tasted absolutely delicious. I was happy to have found a use for beet greens, and frankly, I think I prefer them to the beets, themselves! If you aren’t grilling out any time soon but still want to try this recipe, just follow all the instructions above and put them in the oven at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes and you’ll get more or less the same result. Easy, delicious and decidedly frugal! 🙂
You might also like:
5 Reasons to Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Crop ShareÂ
I like to peel a small beet, red or gold, and grate it onto my salad. Excellent with a vinegrette dressing!
I rough chop all of the stems and slowly sauté in 1 teaspoon coconut oil for about five minutes. I then add the chopped green tops and cook another three or four minutes.
There is no salt needed, as they are naturally salty. Excellent source of beta-carotene.
I sometimes crack a couple eggs on top and create a scrambled egg breakfast out of my beet tops.
That sounds great..thanks !
Didja know that beets naturally lower blood pressure (I am NOT suggesting anyone toss their meds and eat beets, but they do and can help lower bp). I am not a juicer, because I don’t have a juicer. However, I do “blend” juices and veggies. We have a bumper crop of beets I am going to pickle, but I have been grabbing a beet a day, blending it with things like strawberries and pineapples to help the flavor since beets can be very earthy tasting. I wash and throw in all the leaves and the stalks as well. Now, this adds a lot of fiber which is good for the body, but I do have to strain some of it out for the kids to eat it like that. However, for me, I just drink away! Also, you can add beet greens to your mixed salad, cook them up like collards (not as healthy), and many other ways. We <3 beets here!
I absolutely love this idea! Do you cook the beets before using them in smoothies, or just add them in raw? I’m totally going to try it, but want to make sure I do it the right way!
You can put them in your smoothy raw or cooked. Roasting them whole lessens some of the dirt flavors. Also, the skin just slips off. That is where most of the earthy/dirt taste comes from in my opinion. Im sure you lose some nutrients removing the skin. I like beets and eat them like a baked potato at times. Good stuff!
I mix the greens into my salad all the time. Delicious! I can’t wait to it on the grill and in a drink …learn something new every day 🙂
Interesting. I didn’t ever do this and they really do sound like they’d be good.