Beets - "all of them"

[jmakinen]

I spotted a very fresh bunch of beets in Michigan with beautiful looking leaves.

I ate them last nite - they survived almost 2 weeks in fridge and suitcase quite well.

I washed the leaves - cut them into 3 cm pcs - and zapped them in HOT frypan - bit of olive oil/butter

bit 'green' Jozo low-Na salt - fresh ground black pepper

DELICIOUS and super-nutritious as well

what a waste when leaves are almost NEVER eaten and dumped in garbage.

+++

Then sliced beets (were young) - and fried in similar butter/oil - but added a few drops of a reduced balsamic vinegar (made myself from Lidl dark - pretty easy to do in micro)

again - great

++

note: one should be prepared for the 'red' results later - otherwise could be quite frightening.

[jmakinen]

Right - but was just in Cuba - and there you would think 'Granny's' principles would be used.

But they heave out all kinds of 'goodies' - and when I talk to them about it they think I'm nuts.

Mind you - this is the same place I've spent 2x 2 weeks enthralled how they repair and fix EVERYTHING (incl 1€ cigarette lighters) - one can see from the street all kinds of enterprises re-winding OLD OLD motors.

It's also a place where you really can't buy food items very easily or cheaply (1 liter of cooking oil costs a week's salary) etc etc. So you would have thunk they'd know how to use beet leaves.

(Tomatoes are about 0.30€ a kilo thank goodness)

[jmakinen]

http://keskustelu.suomi24.fi/node/4633098

http://smetana.fi/2009/perunaa-pinaatti ... a-resepti/

http://raakaruoka.com/2009/10/14/punajuurikaaryleet/

I suppose the best way to try to get the leaves would be to find a Torikauppias who actually buys 'closer to the ground'

One caution is they have oxalic acid - similar to rhubarb - so probably best not to make them a daily food.

[Rosamunda]

Beetroot leaves certainly taste like beetroot. And they look pretty in a salad. You can pick the small leaves off the beets as they are growing (as long as you don't pick too many off the same root).

I was always told not to put root veg in the fridge because it modifies the sugar content and makes them more starchy... a cool room is enough (I wish we had a maakellari) otherwise you can pack them in sand for long term storage. We leave ours in the ground until the hard frosts start. Beetroot must be one of the easiest veggies to grow in Finland... just plant the seeds, thin them out after a few weeks, then forget about them (maybe do a bit of weeding every couple of weeks). No herbicides, no pesticides, no fertilizers... just Finnish rainwater!