7/25/18

Harold's Nutty Beet Greens (Best way to cook beets!!!), and easy recipe from the garden


they are in a shiny pan, the beet juice is the same color as the flowers in the background of the picture. The greens are wilted nicely and ready to eat
Delicious beet roots, stems, and greens!
Look what we made!!!

Yesterday I helped dad thin out the veggies that were planted far too close together, he said if we didn't pull some out they'd overcrowd each other and never grow to their full potential.

So we pulled up and killed about half of the plants in the garden. I joked that we were no better than Thanos, but he didn't get it...

Oh well.

A lot of the plants just went right back into the compost...

Too bad.

but...

EVERY part of the beet is edible: the roots, the stems, and the leaves! So we cooked up the beets we pulled out- it's my dad's recipe, and it's one of my favorite meals from the garden!


INGREDIENTS: Beet greens, butter, lemon juice, pistachios

washing the beet greens outdoors in a large serving bowl
Cold water keeps them fresh
1) First we pulled up the overcrowded beets. (Save them all, even the ones that are only sprouts!)

2) Then we washed them in cold water, to remove the bugs and dirt and prevent them from wilting too soon.

3) We trimmed away any bad parts (There were hardly any), cut the stems from the leaves, and sorted them- stems and roots in one bowl, greens in another.

4) Prep your pan! On medium heat, we melted a lot of butter in the sautee pan, and sprinkled in a good amount of garlic powder.

a silver pan on a stove filled with beet greens
In the pan! Smelled so good
5) Once the butter melted, we threw a couple handfuls of salted pistachios! They give the finished dish a nutty, salty flavor and they soak up the flavor of the beets and butter!

6) After about 5 minutes, we tossed in the stems and the tiny beet roots only! We cut them to about 1/2 an inch and threw them in. Let them cook for a little while, till the stems seem tender. (Save the greens for last, they cook very fast)

7) Add lemon juice to the roots, stems, and pistachios; we used half a lemon.

8) Once the stems were tender, we threw in the greens! They only need to cook until they wilt, because they are so young. Dad said, if they were older plants we'd have needed to cook them longer.

8) Done!!! The steam coming off of them smelled so good!

This is my dad's recipe, but feel free to use it. It's my favorite way to have cooked greens, and one of my favorite dishes of all time.

at this angle the beet juice kindof looks like blood. Picture taken over garden, dirt and plants beneath the frame.
Harold's Nutty Beets
Check this page for more of my dad's delicious recipes!!