I grew up eating lots of beets and fortunately I
married a man who loved them as much as I did.
What we loved, though, were pickled beets right out of the jar. Mine came from the grocery store, but Joe’s
were pickled and preserved by his mother.
Needless to say, I learned how to pickle my own!
Later in life, I learned to love warm Harvard
Beets, and even later, Joe and I grew to love roasted beets with just a little
salt and pepper and fresh herbs.
I recently bought some pretty golden beets at our
fresh produce market. You can boil
beets, but I wrap them in foil and bake them.
When I make lots of them to pickle or freeze, I use my regular oven, but
for the few I made this time, I used my countertop Nuwave. Four big beets took about 45 minutes. (When
you work with red beets, it is smart to protect your countertop, cutting boards
and your hands! Wear rubber gloves!)
Beets are a wonderful source of magnesium and
iron. Iron is good for our blood, so we
need to eat lots of beets. Unlike red
beets, golden beets are delicious eaten raw.
Thinly sliced, shredded, or spiralized … all make beautiful additions to
salads.
Beets are vintage!
There is no doubt about that. We
know that the Egyptians grew beets, primarily for the greet tops. In the 1500s, Italians and Germans cultivated
beets and began using the actual root.
In the early 1800s, it was realized that beets were a source of
sugar. Sugar beets competed against sugar
cane and sugar cane won! There are still
many places where sugar is made from beets and Russia leads that production.
The recipe I’m sharing today is so simple, but you won’t
believe how flavorful it is! Plan to
serve it as a side dish with a pot roast Sunday dinner! Actually, it is good topping a lettuce salad …
and as a side dish with most anything! I
like to include warm beets on mixed salads, too. A salad of mixed greens with roasted beets,
grilled chicken, pecans and feta cheese (or bleu cheese) makes a tasty
salad. Use the vinaigrette recipe I’m
sharing today!
Pomegranate Molasses Vinaigrette
Whisk together 4 Tablespoons of Pomegranate molasses
with 3 Tablespoons of balsamic glaze, a Tablespoon of Dijon mustard and 2
Tablespoons of honey. Drizzle in ½ cup
of olive oil. That’s it! I purchase Pomegranate molasses online, and
balsamic glaze is available in most supermarkets.
This post is a part of my 2020 Vintage Vegetable food project. If you'd like to see similar posts, just visit the 'Vintage Vegetables' page. I'll be sharing this post with a couple blog parties, so make sure you check my sidebar and visit those sites, too.
