When an abundance of beets came my way, I tried new ways to enjoy them. Here are pickled and cooked beets.

Hi Beet Lovers,

A couple of weeks ago my friend at @OrganicExpert gave me her organic CSA weekly allotment along with the some organic beets that were in her fridge.  She was travelling and knew she could not use the beets before they went bad. I had just gone to the farmer’s market and of course had picked up some beautiful organic beets as well. Sure enough, when I picked up the weekly CSA allotment what do you think it included – more organic Beets!

So now I had several kinds and sizes of beets. It is a good thing I like beets.

I decided to experiment and try them in new ways for me. Here is what I did:

RAW

I had tried raw beets at RawAura in Port Credit and loved them so thought why not try them at home. I peeled and them chopped some into sticks and some into slices and ate them raw. Add a little cashew butter with lime and it is awesome.

JUICED

After I enjoyed a few of my raw beets sticks and slices, decided to peel a few more beets and try them raw in the juicer. My beautiful Mom had told me that she had tried a recipe with raw beets and her hands got all red during the process (she is an amazing cook). She was correct – your hands do get red but a quick wash and scrub will get them clean again. Just don’t wear white or any light clothes. Check out my Beet Around The Bush juice recipe that I made that day.

COOKED

I boiled all of them in one large pot and when they were ready, I removed the smaller ones (45 minutes or when a fork goes through them) then followed the same approach until they were all fully cooked. I peeled them all. Then I sliced them and realised that the different size beets were actually different varieties and different colours. So I decided to not mix up the varieties so we could taste each one.

PICKLED

I love pickled beets however I can’t have white vinegar or sugar due to some digestive issues that are causing my allergies. I can however have organic apple cider vinegar. I decided to try splashing the beets with some apple cider vinegar to see how it tasted. Oh my, just like pickled beets. I left the beets to absorb some of the vinegar and everyone loved them.

In the picture I made the light pink and red beets into pickled beets. The dark purple beets I left just plain cooked so we could enjoy the rich flavour they had. The light pink beets were super sweet and the small splash of vinegar made them taste like candy. The red beets tasted like regular pickled beets.

I was “tickled pink” (as my Mom likes to say) that my pickled pink beets worked out so well.

I was also pleased that my abundance of beets allowed me to experiment in the kitchen and create new way to use them.

Are you ready to experiment with the abundance in your life and turn it into something sweet?  With a long weekend in front of us and a harvest we can be thankful for; this is a great time to try new things.

To drumming to your inner beet,

Jo-Ann Blondin, your 9CupChallenge partner.