Beets!
We’re still eating greens, and not the least of them are the beet greens themselves, but the move from lettuce and spinach salads to more variety, including kale and Swiss chard, feels complete with the first beet harvest.
Last year I was skeptical about beets and planted fewer of them than this year. All it took was one taste of roasted beets with feta to convince me that I’d been misled about beets. They don’t have to be pickled, jellied or borscht-ed.
Two nights ago I roasted up the first few that, though small, were pushing out of the dirt and needed to come up. We ate them next to what has become my favorite salad of the season: lettuce, radishes, carrots, sunflower seeds and pickled herring. I dress it with this fig-infused balsamic and olive oil and it’s great (not everything is bad pickled– not even beets, as you’ll see shortly…) The pickled herring is from Morey’s Market in Motley, Minnesota. This store is some Minnesota Norwegian farmer’s dream, a well-stocked fish market and fish processing plant in the middle of Minnesota, on a desolate strip of Hwy 10 between Little Falls and Wadena. Yeah, those are the big towns. It’s been there in Motley since the 1930s and its mission is to provide consumers with restaurant-grade fish.
Lucky for me, the store is on the way to my sister-in-law’s log cabin. When I went out a few weekends ago, I did a major splurge and bought all sorts of stuff, including smelt (currently in the freezer) and delicious, succulent smoked salmon. I also bought a 2-lb tub of pickled herring in onion and white wine sauce that makes the perfect salad topping (if you’re out of smoked salmon).
Tonight, I took the beets a step further. I wanted to work with the greens as well, and found a recipe on Epicurious that fit the bill. It calls for finishing the beets in a stout sauce, but the reviewers recommended substituting balsamic vinegar or port, both of which I had. The greens are lightly sautéed in butter and garlic (I did it in batches, which worked well, and used just the greens attached to the beets, which were plenty.) I’ve adapted the recipe below for fewer people and fewer beets!
Beets with Wine and Sautéed Beet Greens
6-10 small to medium size beets including the greens trimmed, leaving 2 inches of the stem ends intact and reserving the beet greens
2 tablespoons port
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons butter
the reserved beet greens, stem ends discarded and the leaves washed well, spun dry, and chopped coarsely.
In a large saucepan, cover the beets with 2 inches cold water, bring to a boil, and simmer the beets, covered, until they are tender (20 to 30 minutes). Drain the beets and under cold running water, slip off and discard their skins and stems. In a skillet, bring to a boil the port and vinegar and whisk in 2 tablespoons of the butter. Stir in the beets, quartered, add the salt and pepper to taste, and keep the beets warm, covered.
In a large skillet heat the remaining 2 tablespoons butter over moderately high heat with garlic until the foam subsides, then sauté the beet greens (in batches, adding butter if necessary), turning with tongs, until they are tender, and stir in the salt and pepper to taste. Arrange the greens on a platter and mound the beets in the center.
Alas, my camera battery was dead and by the time it recharged, all beets were consumed! But here’s a photo of the earlier salad and beets…
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