Beets are heavenly!

I love beets - especially the deep red ones that stain my hands as I clean and prepare them. Equally delicious and lovely to look at are beet greens. Full Belly provided me with tiny newly harvested beets and their greens. I generally just boil my beets, slice them and add a bit of salt and lemon. When the tops look nice and tender - I chop them and steam them until they are tender and give them the same treatment - salt and lemon. My husband does not have the same love affair with beets and their tops as I do. The following recipe was provided by Full Belly. I adapted it and it was a complete success with my husband - he loved it. And it stays pretty true to how I enjoy beets. Try it and see what you think.


Beets Constantine

Adapted from a recipe sent to Full Belly (http://fullbellyfarm.com/recipes/) in 2009 by Ariane Michas, one of the members. She said, "I have a beet dish from my Greek father-in-law that I would like to share. This dish takes no more than 20 minutes, and uses the whole beet -- greens and all... Garlic salt is an ingredient I used to turn my nose up at, but it is totally essential for this recipe. It isn't the same without it."

1 bunch beets
olive oil
sherry vinegar (other vinegars work, use what you have)
garlic salt (A co-worker's wife makes garlic salt for the holidays, she adds various herbs and pepper, I use that! If you don't have something like this just use garlic salt and pepper.)

Peel and slice beets into 1/4-inch pieces. Chop the greens and stems into 1-inch pieces. Put the beets in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring the beets to a boil and cook until almost soft. Add the beet greens and stems and cover. The layer of beets below helps steam the greens. When the greens have wilted and stems and beets are soft, drain. Put in a bowl and sprinkle garlic salt to taste. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar while the beets are still hot. The dish can be served warm or room temperature.