(photo credit: http://outofthegarden.wordpress.com/2006/09/24/beets-and-greens-pachadi/
Today I made pickled beets. It was alot of fun and we got 14 pints and 2 quarts (I wasn't planning on any quarts but when I had a bunch left, I had to quick wash a couple jars and all I had was quart jars left). Now we have pickled beets for the next year, YAY! The whole family loves them.
But, why eat beets? They are so nutritious and good for you. They have a detoxifying effect on the body and have huge amounts of folate. A body needs folate for a healthy cardiovascular system and it helps a pregnant woman have healthy fetal development (among the many things that promote healthy fetal development).
Beets also have cancer fighting agents (especially for colon cancer) and anti-inflammatory agents that help both of these affilictions among other great health benefits. I have put the link to the article I read about this in at the bottom if anyone would like to read more.
I love beets! They are great boiled with butter, pickled (as I did tonight), and made into soup. Russian people make a beet soup called Borscht and it is really good. I should experiment and find a good Borscht recipe to add here. You eat it cold and put sour cream on it (that is how I have had it anyway and was told that is how it is served, if that is not how it is usually served, please let me know, and post your serving suggestion for this wonderful soup).
They are hearty vegetables grown in spring and fall (they like a cooler temperature) and one of few tuber vegetables that you can eat the leaves too. Beet greens were never my forte'; however, they are also good for you and like spinach, very high in iron. They are easy to grow in the garden, but since I do not have a garden (I live in an apartment, there is no room here)I usually buy them at Farmer's Market here in Olympia. If anyone is reading from Olympia or Thurston County Washington; then go to Farmer's Market and go to The Wobbly Cart and their beets are the best I have had. They have very few blemishes if any and they hold up really well to pickling since when they harvest them, they have just the right amount of ripeness.
I will have pictures and a fantastic recipe for my pickled beets tomorrow, since its almost 1 am now (Pacific time) and I have to get up for work tomorrow so after I get home tomorrow evening, I will have pictures from my canning day and the recipe for my pickled beets.
RESEARCH CREDIT:
http://nutrition.about.com/od/fruitsandvegetables/p/beets.htm
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=49
2 comments:
Can't wait to read your post about the recipe for beets! Cause I never know how to prepare this fantastic vegetable!
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