Beets. Beets. Beets. They happen to be one of our favorite vegetables, which is great because our CSA is chock full of ‘em. This week we got a handful of Forono (long purple) and Red Ace (round red) beets with beautiful green leaves.
Beets are a versatile veggie. We eat them chopped, cropped, sliced, diced, roasted, toasted. We juice them. We toss them in salads.
This time we went all сумасшедший and made chilled summer Borscht. The results were…pink.
The soup had great flavor, but I couldn’t get past the Pepto-Bismol hue. We ended up draining the liquid and eating the beets and cucumbers as a side dish. Add this to the list of Things We’re Glad We Tried But Will Never Make Again.
The leaves, on the other hand, were excellent. Much like their chard cousins, beet leaves are flavorful and packed with nutrients. They are great sautéed or mixed into soups, but we prefer to bake them.
Directions
After washing and drying the leaves, tear them into large chunks and toss with avocado oil and sesame seeds. Arrange on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes. Once the leaves are crisp, remove from the oven and sprinkle with salt. These chips don’t refrigerate well, so we usually eat them all at once. They can also be stored at room temperature in a paper towel-lined container for a day or two.
I like the look of your soup. Love that you posted something that didn’t work out for you though.
We’ve definitely had more culinary fails than we’d like to admit, but that’s one way to learn!
I have learned to love beets. Love our idea to bake the leaves. Will be trying that next time
I host a weekly CSA link party and would love for you to be a part of it. Come and check it out and add your link. http://inherchucks.com/2012/06/20/whats-in-the-box-31/. Hope to see you there!