Beets and Beet Greens
Root
Also known as: Beterraba (Portuguese), Remolacha (Spanish), Svyokla (Russian/Ukrainian), Barbabietola (Italian)
About this crop
A deep-red (or golden or candy-striped) cool-season root with earthy-sweet flesh, its leafy tops a green in their own right. Stores well through the cold; a Northeast spring, fall, and storage-winter crop.
Health information for this food is under review. Reviewed claims will include their sources and limits.
Traditional uses
The heart of Eastern European borscht (beet-and-cabbage soup of Ukraine, Russia, Poland); boiled and diced into Caribbean and Latin American ensalada rusa and beet salads; roasted with citrus and herbs across the Mediterranean and Middle East; greens cooked like chard. Long preserved to carry vegetables through winter.
How to prepare
Roast whole then peel; boil and dice for salads; pickle; blend into borscht; juice. Saute the greens like spinach or chard.
Recipe ideas
Share how you use Beets and Beet GreensBorscht with beets and greens; roasted beet and citrus salad; pickled beets; ensalada rusa