Harvest-Beetroot 2015

In summer, mostly the harvest is good to okay... and sometimes it is downright miserable when the roots in the pots are simmering, with an outside temperature of 40 degrees... in the shade...

But the plants in our raised bed next to the house do not suffer from the heat. Hendrik made window-frames where shade cloth can be pulled over. With enough water every day, this bed does its work outstanding. And then sometimes, the harvest surpasses all imagination...

A beetroot, as big as a large melon.

Usually large, oversized beets have some white on the inside... we always thought. Or so we were used to, when we still lived in the Netherlands. The taste is also not so good, not as sweet as the red ones. But this beet surpassed all this. Beautiful red and deliciously sweet.

A pan full of fresh sliced beetroot.
Certainly enough for six people.

My recipe for beetroot with apple?

I peel the beetroot whenever it is still fresh. So I never cook beets in a pan with water in order to peel them off after cooking. Then there will be too much loss of tasty substances, I think.

So:

Wash the beets, peel and cut them into (bite-sized) cubes.

Place in a large pan containing some olive oil on the bottom.
Add some bay leaves and a coffee cup with apple juice on top.
Cover the pan.

Put this on the fire until it becomes hot (starts making noise) stir the oil through the beets and let it simmer for about fifteen minutes on low heat.
Depending on the capacity of the fire (hard or soft), perhaps an extra cup of apple juice is needed.

Meanwhile, peel one or two onions and cut them into pieces, add it to the beets and stir again.

Peel a piece of ginger and cut it in very small pieces.
(To taste... and do not exaggerate in the beginning.)
Stir this into the simmering beets.

Meanwhile, all this takes about 10 minutes or a quarter of work.
Let the beets quietly simmer.

Now you can get one or two apples peeled and cut into small pieces.
Put them on top of the simmering beets.
If the beets are cooked you can stir all.
Basically now the dish is ready.

Add some clove powder, if you find it tasty.
Whole cloves go in the pan earlier (together with the bay leaves).

Often I add ground coriander and cumin to vegetables.
Mostly I skip the salt. Especially with beets. On your plate you can add Tamari.
Obviously, you can vary as you like. But if you start with lemon, be suspicious that this will blur the taste of the beet, which will ask for honey.

Good luck!

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It is enormously satisfying that our composting-approach has yielded such good beets-results. Of course, all the vegetables and beets tasted good, but this one... really is worth a spot on our blog :)

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Stella.