Well I just got a note that our CSA will be starting a week early! I’m very excited at the thought of fresh strawberries, arugula and spinach which will be a part of this first installment. However, I have no idea what to do with the coming beets. The only thing I’ve ever used beets for is making horseradish for Easter.
So this is a call-out for any of you lovely folks who cook with such “bizarre” ingredients as fresh beets to lay it on me: what’s the best way to eat them?
Feel free to pipe up if you’ve tried them and hate them but really I’m hoping for at least a few tried and loved recipes to be able to test since I’ll have these guys. Here’s to branching out my culinary horizons!
I AM in shape. ROUND is a shape. 
The James McNair soup cookbook has a recipe for a tasty pureed borscht. If you’ve got a half price bookstore nearby there are always used copies for two or four bucks!
Thanks OC! I found a copy in our library system even so I should be able to try that out. 🙂
roasted: wash them –do NOT peel them!– cut the greens off with a little stalk left, coat with oil, wrap in tinfoil, and roast them! then you cut them in half and eat them, mmmm. (Butter, salt, and pepper optional)
I posted about that way last year (http://wedigfood.blogspot.com/2009/08/beet-season-and-other-forays-into.html); I got instructions from a post at Shakesville: http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2009/08/beet-season-caramelized-scallops-with.html
Beets are absolutely delicious cut into pieces, tossed with olive oil and a pinch of salt, and then roasted @ 425° until tender. You can eat the greens, too, don’t forget! Prepare them however you’d prepare any kind of braising green (like Kale or Collards). Good luck and post pictures!
What timing! I just posted this on my blog.
http://buttercupia.blogspot.com/2010/06/beets-with-wilted-greens.html
My favorite way to prepare fresh beets.
Yay! A good set of ideas here; thanks folks! 😀 I’ll need to get those beets roasting and soup-ing and all that 😉
Well, my grandmother adores pickled beets on her salad (I can’t stand ’em, but I don’t enjoy sweet pickles anyhow). They’re very sweet, a little bit tart, and taste a bit like dirt, in my opinion, but you could probably do one or two small beets as pickles at home easily and see if you like them. Here’s a recipe I googled for quickly – http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pickled_beets/ – and there seem to be several more beet recipes (beet hummus?) on there too. I’ve always seen pickled beets sliced in thinnish round pieces, although that picture shows them chunkier – thin might be better if you were to try it on a sandwich.
I roast them as Bald Soprano does, then let them cool, slice them, and eat them as a salad with feta cheese, basil, and olive oil.
Mmmmm @Joanna – I like a good feta/basil mix in salad so maybe the beets would add to that, thanks!
@all: I’m guessing I’ll just have to try roasting beets to taste them first! 😀
Seconding (or is it thirding or fourthing by now?) the call for simply roasted beets. They are TOO delicious – sweet and wonderful. As Alton Brown says, if you stick a knife in and it feels like a perfectly cooked baked potato… you’ve overcooked them.
Don’t want to eat roasted beets plain? Make a very delicious salad with greens/lettuce of your choice, roasted beets, some sort of crumbly cheese (feta is my preference), and balsamic vinaigrette. Other yummy additions to this include toasted pine nuts, chicken or beef, and whatever else tickles your fancy.
Let us know how it turns out…
I forget where I first saw this idea, but I love to combine equal parts sliced beet (steamed, simmered, or roasted) and sliced oranges. Toss with oil, lemon juice, and shredded ginger.
Raw, grated into a salad. Don’t forget if you eat a lot of yummy beets you may have pretty pink pee, this is normal!
@sandrad: Thanks so much for the coloration potential warning!! I do say I might have freaked out without knowing!!! 😀
A salad place that’s near my workplace makes a salad with diced cooked beets, goat cheese, mixed greens and toasted pumpkin seeds. It’s fabulous!
Roasted beets are delicious sliced and tossed with a honey-chipotle vinaigrette.
We roast them, make soup out of them (awesome), and make smoothies.
Beetroot dip/salad!
Peel the beets, chop into quarters and simmer until tender. Drain and cool.
Grate, or chop very finely. (Or put all of this into a food processor but not a blender.) Mix beets with 1 cup of Greek yoghurt per large beet, a bit of salt, and a squeeze of lemon. Really important to get thick tangy yoghurt, preferably pot-set, for this to taste truly awesome. 🙂
Chill! Eat with Turkish bread or any kind of tasty carb, spread on sandwiches, use as a side with grilled meats, etc.
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I would fifth/tenth the roasted beets idea. And mention that I’m super jealous you’re getting beets! My CSA was very limited this week, just napa cabbage, greens and rhubarb (sadness and tears…).
Jackie I’d have loved some rhubarb! But we’ll be beet-ing it up tonight and I’ll toast a roasted beet to you! 🙂