How do you eat that?

[canesisters]

SOOOooooo many good ideas, except turnips. Tried turnips, and came down with stomach flu a few hours later. The taste is forever mated in my head with the 3 days that followed....

 

[curly_kate]

I agree - beets are very 'earthy.' I think the same thing about turnips.

 

[NwMtGardener]

Wow, i'm surprised by the beet comments... Have you tried Harvard beets? Yuuuuuum! Kind of a sweet and sour sauce over beets served warm, delicious! But i like them just sauteed in butter or whatever, too. I'll admit i'm not a huge fan of radishes, and i see lots of positive comments about them here at TEG, so we definitely have different tastebuds!

 

[Mickey328]

Try raw coarsely grated beets with the juice of a lime and just a spoonfull or so of olive oil. The oil helps coat the beets. Leave in the refrigerator overnight. Oddly enough the tartness of the lime brings out the sweetness of the beets. I got the recipe from a Mexican neighbor.

Does it get rid of the dirt taste???? No matter how much I scrub a beet, even the beets from the store they always taste like dirt to me, I eat and like other root veggies they don't taste like dirt so I don't think it is in my head.

I'm with you! I absolutely loathe plain beets...now pickle 'em and I'll eat them by the bucket!

 

[so lucky]

I even thought the pickled beets in a can are good. But then I saw the amount of HFCS in them. Now I don't want to eat them. But I wonder if a person could create some "refrigerator pickles" like pickled beets, using stevia and/or honey? Anybody ever tried this?

 

[Mickey328]

I pickle my own...they're about the easiest thing to do ever. After picking, I cut the greens down to an inch or two from the beet, then cook them whole...usually do it outside so it doesn't stink up the house. When cool, the skins slip off nicely. Then I slice them and put 'em in a pan. Mix up some plain old white vinegar and sugar with just a dash of salt....I don't measure...just keep adding till I find a balance of sweet and sour I like. Pour it over the beets and bring them to a simmer. Can 'em up, water bath 'em and then store in a cupboard. In 2 or 3 weeks, the beets absorb the flavor and...you've got pickled beets. If you don't want to "can" them, you can simmer them in the juice for half an hour or so and then store the jars in the fridge...they'll keep there for almost forever.

We generally prefer to have ours cold as a nice complement to a hot meal, but if you want to heat them you can pour the juice into a pan and add a bit of corn starch to thicken...then put in the beets and warm them through and you have Harvard beets. Easy peasy

 

[Smart Red]

II wonder if a person could create some "refrigerator pickles" like pickled beets, using stevia and/or honey? Anybody ever tried this?

I prefer my beets anyway I can get them, but for the grands I had to make them more appealing so I added honey when I boiled them. My grandchildren would tell you they LOVE beets - when Grandma makes them.

I find Harvard beets too sweet for me. My honey cooked beets are not nearly that sweet. I would think a pickled beet would be easy to 'create'.

 

[897tgigvib]

Oh, Mickey, that does sound easy!

 

[vfem]

I love that this post is here. I thought I was the only one lacking growing up. My grandparents did and grew a LOT of new things to me as a kid. We really only ever tried those things over holidays meals, and I remember hating a lot of it. Brussel sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, swiss chard... ect. I remember trying it and saying I hated it, but couldn't for a moment remember the tastes or smells... and why not?!

I wanted to make sure my daughter would get a second chance at these experiences. I read you have to try something like 7 times in different ways before you actually know if you like it or not. So I offer things to my daughter over and over again. And at the same time, I would be trying things over and over again.

We've learned that she HATES tomatoes (she's tried a dz different kinds in TONS of ways), she's choke down tomato sauce, but still doesn't like it. Then last weekend she had a grape tomato off of a veggie platter at her birthday, and said it was REALLY good! Bless her heart for being so adventurous... she new she never tried a tomato like that, and just took it upon herself to TRY it. She totally blows my mind!

But through our garden, and farmer's markets, we've put together that my husband has to be held down and spoon fed new foods.... then only likes 1 out 20 things. My daughter adores brussel sprouts and asparagus, and now love them too. Turns out we all don't like turnips, so no more growing those! This year we're trying beets again, even though the thought gives me a gag reflex. My daughter insists I have to be more daring! But all that matters is at the end of the day, 3/4 of our dinner plate is now veggies. We like so many things, we do not have bare plates.

If we could actually do it, we'd grow olives! My DD can eat 1/2 a can of black olives as a 'snack' after school. She just turned 6 last week... I've created a monster!!!

 

[Smart Red]

My DD can eat 1/2 a can of black olives as a 'snack' after school. She just turned 6 last week... I've created a monster!!!

LOL! My monster was born not created. Her mother was vegetarian and she was born favoring veggies over meats. I swear that imp could survive out here all summer just grazing from plant to plant. Getting her to eat meat was a long and difficult process. Of course, now that she's ten I'm wishing she didn't like my bacon, steak or ribs quite as much.

Seems some folks are never satisfied, huh? Just got off the school bus! Guess it's time for a hug and after school snacks.