Beets

Beets will be making frequent appearances in your share from early summer all the way until the end of the season. We grow red beets and a candy striped variety with concentric red and white circles, named "Chioggia" (pronounced chee-oh-ga).

Cooking Tips

Many people don't realize that beets can be delicious raw, either grated or sliced very thinly for a salad or slaw, or turned into a delicious juice. Alternately, they can be boiled or steamed for about ten to fifteen minutes, after which the skin should slide off pretty easily. You can also try tossing them in oil and roasting them for 40 minutes or so, or making borscht, the delicious Eastern European soup. When preparing red beets, be careful as the juice will turn everything it touches red. The Chioggia beets can be used interchangeably in recipes with red beets, but have the advantage of not bleeding at all. They have a sweeter, lighter, and simpler flavor, where the red beets taste earthy and complex. Early in the season we leave the greens on your beets, which can be steamed or sautéed like their close relative, Swiss chard.

Storage Tips

Topped and cleaned, beet roots will store in your fridge for several months. The greens, once removed, can be stored in a bag in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Nutrition

A very healthful vegetable, beet roots are very high in vitamins A and C, potassium, and folic acid. The greens are even higher in a great variety of vitamins and minerals.

History

Beets are actually the same plant as Swiss chard, but they were selected for their bulging root in Europe beginning hundreds of years ago. They are now an important crop in many places with cool climates because of their cold hardiness. In the United States, most beets are actually grown to be processed and turned into sugar. The Chioggia beets are an heirloom variety brought from Italy in the 1840's.