Beets

[momhappy]

I love beets! Pickled are my favorite, but I also like the earthy flavor they offer in a salad

 

[vc10um]

We managed to get little baby beets a few times in the garden and all of them got pickled.
My mom's with Bella; she thinks beets taste like dirt.
SO loves, loves, loves boiled okra. Pa-too-eee.

Pa-too-eee indeed! Okra is DISGUSTING. Slimy. No taste. Makes me want to barf on the table. Beets, lima beans, okra, ginger -- yes, should all be eradicated from existence.

Other veggies are good. I love brussels sprouts too -- eat them cold with mayo for lunch or snack, yummm. I also love kale -- can't sell it to DH, so when he goes out of town, I cook me some kale in a tiny bit of bacon grease for dinner. Heaven!

I wonder if Alton Brown (who's a southern boy) has done a show on okra. I'd love to know what's in it that makes it so slippery/slimy when boiled. I swear you could use that stuff as a substitute for motor oil. I'm with you on lima beans and butter beans too.

He did! Okraphobia! http://www.foodnetwork.com/good-eats/okraphobia/index.html I don't think that links to the video, just details and the recipes from the episode, but I'm sure one could find it on YouTube...

 

[packrat]

hate them! Beets, lima beans, and parsnips are pretty much the only veggies I don't like and beets are my least favorite of all! I think they taste like dirt

I think they taste like dirt too! People look at me strange when I say that but they DO. I've only had them once, and I was...14 maybe? I'll pass on the dirt consumption.

I do dig broccoli and cauliflower tho.

I hate when I don't like stuff that is good for you to eat. I've thought about one of those blender/juicer things, that maybe if it's mixed w/other things that I do like, maybe that would work.

 

[JaneSmith]

I do believe you are all referring to beetroot, which is a delicious vegetable. My daughter likes eating them because they turn her poo pink.

Brussels sprouts are utterly repellent, even with large amounts of butter and bacon. Blerg.

 

[texaskj]

We managed to get little baby beets a few times in the garden and all of them got pickled.
My mom's with Bella; she thinks beets taste like dirt.
SO loves, loves, loves boiled okra. Pa-too-eee.

Pa-too-eee indeed! Okra is DISGUSTING. Slimy. No taste. Makes me want to barf on the table. Beets, lima beans, okra, ginger -- yes, should all be eradicated from existence.

Other veggies are good. I love brussels sprouts too -- eat them cold with mayo for lunch or snack, yummm. I also love kale -- can't sell it to DH, so when he goes out of town, I cook me some kale in a tiny bit of bacon grease for dinner. Heaven!

I wonder if Alton Brown (who's a southern boy) has done a show on okra. I'd love to know what's in it that makes it so slippery/slimy when boiled. I swear you could use that stuff as a substitute for motor oil. I'm with you on lima beans and butter beans too.

He did! Okraphobia! http://www.foodnetwork.com/good-eats/okraphobia/index.html I don't think that links to the video, just details and the recipes from the episode, but I'm sure one could find it on YouTube...

Okraphobia! I love it. I'll have to carve out some time with a decent connection to watch it.
And true confession time, I will eat fried okra.

 

[Lulie]

Beets do vary in flavor, shape and colors. When beets are wider than 3’’ they tend to get woody testing. We have grown them for a bit, Red Ace is one of the mildest in that color. My kids like gold ones, Touchstone gold are the best in opinion, but this year we grew 'Golden' with orange skin and super rich gold interior, made some ‘pumpkin-not’ pie with some last weekend. The albino 'Blankoma' did not make it this year but they are the sweetest!
I also treat them just like potatoes; shave them over salads, or quick breads:

 

[Skippy123]

I honestly have Never ever seen beets at our grocery stores or farmers market, just radish!

 

[zoebartlett]

You don't hear about beets too often...

I just learned that there are yellow beets when I had a beet salad at a restaurant a few months ago while on vacation. It was really good! There's a somewhat local restaurant we like to go to, and there's a huge salad bar there. I always load up on the beets they have. I have no idea how they prepare them but I love them.

I've never had them but are canned beets okay or should you go for the real thing?

 

[April20]

Ugh. I hate beets. Hate them. My mom used to make us eat the sliced ones from a can growing up. I'm forever scarred. I don't care if you take baby beets, roast them and drown them in butter, I still can't get past that childhood scarring!

Now broccoli, I can eat that all day long. LOVE it. Cauliflower too.

I also loathe okra. I can't eat it no matter how you fix it- even fried.

I have a rule that every few years, I try things that I think I don't like. You never know when there's a method of preparing something that you'll end up liking. I tried fried okra a few years ago and you know what? I still hate that stuff.

 

[JaneSmith]

April20, that is a good idea, to re-try things you don't like. I loathed asparagus and mushrooms when I was young, but tried them a few years ago and liked them.

Zoe, canned beetroot tastes quite different from roasted. Nothing wrong with them, they're just going to be soft and with a different flavour. Pickled beetroot is nice, if you like vinegar.
There are all sorts of colours of beetroot, much like there are many colours of carrot. Have you ever had a purple carrot?

 

[Wednesday]

Like them! I roast them in foil, then let them cool in the fridge before slicing them up for use in salads. I also like beets as an ingredient in juice blends.

My husband hates them. He says they taste like dirt. I'm not sure how he knows how dirt tastes, but any beets in the house are all mine.

 

[Wednesday]

I do believe you are all referring to beetroot, which is a delicious vegetable. My daughter likes eating them because they turn her poo pink.

Yeah, and they can turn urine pink/red. Rather alarming to see until you remember you recently ate beets!

 

[Smith1942]

Pickled beets for me, along with picked onions. Yum!

I realise you don't have pickled onions in the States, but they are well-known (and well-eaten!) in England. They are not regular-size onions, you understand, but smaller ones. Not as small as cocktail onions, which are different again, but about an inch in diameter. I buy jars of Haywards pickled onions from the British shelf at Shaw's supermarket. We always had these pickles, along with pickled beets, piccallili and pease pudding on Boxing Day with the cold turkey meat leftovers and also a ham.

This meal was always completely normal and run-of-the mill to me, and then I moved to another continent. Only now, away from home, do I realise that this is a northern British dish with roots in Russian/Scandinavian cuisine. Until you move away from your own country, you take certain things as read, and you only fit them into their cultural frame one you've left.

 

[davi_el_mejor]

I am so happy to see all the beet love!

We have some in the garden this year and can't wait to use every bit of these bad boys! CAN'T WAIT!

-Pickled Onions! YUMMMMMMMMMM I love 'em quick pickled so I bet they're just as delicious jarred!

Maybe I just love all things pickled... Garlic, cucumbers, carrots, peppers, onions, cauliflower, beets... endless list! I may even do a quick pickle on the kohlrabi... now that sounds delicious!

 

[rosetta]

I don't like rhubarb or raw celery.

Beets, okra, pickled anything. Yum.

 

[Sparklelu]

I like Beets, DH hates them because his mom used to serve the canned sliced ones and he thought it was canned cranberry slices and was fooled. Doesn't like tricky veggies!!! So when I have them I warn him it's not cranberry!
I cannot stand Brussell sprouts. To me they smell like feet!

 

[hlmr]

YUM to the beet biscuits, and beets in general!!!

 

[NOYFB]

I'm a pretty new (16 months) vegetarian, and have tried to eat beets in a variety of meals. I have never once been impressed. They always just taste like dirt to me. I'm sorry, for all the beet lovers out there, but I just can't do it.

 

[monarch64]

I like Beets, DH hates them because his mom used to serve the canned sliced ones and he thought it was canned cranberry slices and was fooled. Doesn't like tricky veggies!!! So when I have them I warn him it's not cranberry!
I cannot stand Brussell sprouts. To me they smell like feet!

Hahahahaha! That is some serious trickery! I about died laughing just envisioning that scenario. Poor guy.

 

[Deactivated member 42515]

Davi and YT: I grow beets and broccoli in my garden (along with other stuff like tomatoes, Padron peppers - yum, herbs, corn, leeks, shallots, and more that I can't remember) and you are welcome any time to come on over and pick and eat! I love growing beets because I pick them when they are really little and tender and I roast them - or boil them - and eat them in salad or plain with vinaigrette. I eat their tender greens in sautes. Yum. I used to grow cauliflower, but I got tired of fighting over them with the bugs, so now its just broccoli and Romanesco (I think that's what its called - the big spirally yellowish green thing).

Sometimes, I can make a meal just from the garden, like a big salad with fresh peas, radishes and beets, and thinly sliced red onion. Yum. Now, if someone else would just pick them, wash them and cook them for me, I'd be in heaven. Any takers?

Oooooh! Will you adopt me!!! I come live with you and eat the fruit of your land!

 

[davi_el_mejor]

I like Beets, DH hates them because his mom used to serve the canned sliced ones and he thought it was canned cranberry slices and was fooled. Doesn't like tricky veggies!!! So when I have them I warn him it's not cranberry!
I cannot stand Brussell sprouts. To me they smell like feet!

BWAHAHAHHHAAH poor guy! I can only imagine expecting sweet jellied cranberries and getting a beet! That'd be a great trick to play on someone

 

[davi_el_mejor]

I'm a pretty new (16 months) vegetarian, and have tried to eat beets in a variety of meals. I have never once been impressed. They always just taste like dirt to me. I'm sorry, for all the beet lovers out there, but I just can't do it.

Love Beets does marinated beets that make a great snack... the ginger honey and sweetfire are delcious... but that's coming from a beet lover... my non beet loving friend tried and he said it was a lie. the outside was tasty and flavorful but the inside was a beet...

 

[Rosebloom]

I honestly didn't know that some people don't love beets! I wonder if its a genetic thing - the way cilantro tastes like soap to some (very unfortunate) people?

We ate them all the time growing up and I make them quite often for my family too. Pickled and roasted are my favorite ways too. I also like the prepared vacuum sealed bag of steamed beets that both Trader Joes and Whole Foods carry - great for tossing on a salad or in pasta with other veggies. One of my favorite appetizers is a slice of pickled beet, a round raw milk goat cheese, and a few blueberries on an artisanal cracker. They're often gone even before my other standard fare - lamb sausage in puff pastry!

 

[Deactivated member 42515]

I honestly didn't know that some people don't love beets! I wonder if its a genetic thing - the way cilantro tastes like soap to some (very unfortunate) people?

It's funny that you say that because I thought everyone hated beets because most everyone I know doesn't like them. Now cilantro... That's another story. Loooooove cilantro! And yes, very unfortunate for the people that says it tastes like soap cuz it's amaaaazzzing stuff! But nothing beats broccoli

 

[zoebartlett]

April20, that is a good idea, to re-try things you don't like. I loathed asparagus and mushrooms when I was young, but tried them a few years ago and liked them.

Zoe, canned beetroot tastes quite different from roasted. Nothing wrong with them, they're just going to be soft and with a different flavour. Pickled beetroot is nice, if you like vinegar.
There are all sorts of colours of beetroot, much like there are many colours of carrot. Have you ever had a purple carrot?

Thanks, Jane. No, I've never had a purple carrot. I'd like to try roasted beets sometime. I'd imagine canned vs. roasted beets is similar to canned vs. homemade cranberry sauce. Both are good, in my opinion, just different.

 

[monarch64]

I harvested my beets yesterday! I direct-sowed an organic, non-GMO variety on April 18. They do NOT taste like dirt. Apparently the key to this is harvesting them 50-60 days after sowing, before they get too big/woody, and before it gets really really hot. You can plant again for a fall crop which you harvest when it's cooler out, thus avoiding the dirt taste. I roasted mine in foil packets in the oven for about an hour at 375 and they came out perfect. Kind of fun to peel since the outer layer slips right off with a twist of your fingers! I have enough to julienne and make a few salads with, and some to juice.

 

[lliang_chi]

Yum! Looks delicious! I'm glad you loved them. If only I was near you, i'd totally hit you up for some freash beet goodness.

 

[monarch64]

LC, I would totally share!