A couple nights ago we got to enjoy the first beets from our garden. Aren’t they beautiful?! This is the first time I’ve planted a real garden (something other than just potted plants), and so far I’ve been very pleased with the results. Even though we got a late start because of the weather, the garden is doing really well and we are starting to reap the harvest. More than anything, it’s been really fun having a garden for the kids, they have learned so much and have had lots of fun planting seeds, helping weed, and helping water the plants, and now helping harvest the plants. Well worth all the efforts!
I steamed the beets and then chopped them up (I wore gloves because the beets were so hot), then added butter, salt and pepper and they were delicious! I steamed them so much of the color leached out of the beets, but they still had lots of flavor. I’m anxious to try them again a different way. Probably more next week, I need to let the remaining beets grow some more.
Any suggestions on cooking beets? I know my mom’s should both have at least one or two. I can’t really do beet salad, can’t do the vinegar, so I have to stick to mild recipes. Specifically, how do you keep the beets from losing their color when you cook them? I steamed them in a veggie steamer, but I’m thinking that much of the color drained into the pot below? Maybe they aren’t ripe yet? Do they get more color the longer they stay in the ground? Anybody know anything about beets? :) As you can see, I’m still a learning gardener!
