So beets are sold with huge, bushy tails because people actually eat those tails?? I had no idea and always wondered why I have to drag these tailed beets home only to chop off the tails and throw them in the garbage. Now it turns out that I’ve been wasting something edible for years? Given how often I buy beets (I’m Ukrainian), that’s a huge waste.
10 responses to “Beet Tails”
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The tails? Really? I eat beet greens. But I always chop off the tails. What do people do with them?
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Yes, I mean the long bushy green tails. The short red things I call “noses.” 🙂
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Jumpin’ Jehosapaht Girl! You’ve been living on the edge of the South for how many years and you don’t know about Greens???? Really?
Collard, Mustard and Turnip were my favorites. I don’t remember having beet greens but I’m inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.
You need to find a Soul Food restaurant to realize the culinary potential of your part of the country, ASAP.
The closest thing in Poland (not very close at all) is soup from szczaw (Щавель кислый in russian according to wikipedia). I used to make soup from radish greens to get my greens fix but it was kind of lacking…
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I love schavel (no Cyrillic alphabet on this device ) but I had absolutely no idea one could actually eat the tails of beets or turnips. I will look for recipes and try to make something with them.
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The greens, yes – also, even if you don’t eat the greens (I have a definitely non-Slavic digestive system which only tolerates small amounts of any of the leafy greens of the cabbage family, which includes stuff like beets and turnips and swedes as well as plants grown primarily for greens like the different cabbages, although thankfully it handles the roots and the buds – brocolli, cauliflower – better), the beetroot remain fresher if the leaves are left on until as soon before you cook and/or eat them as possible, so for local food places like farmer’s markets and the like, where transport costs aren’t prohibitive, leaving the leaves on means you are getting a better product.
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“the beetroot remain fresher if the leaves are left on until as soon before you cook and/or eat them as possible, so for local food places like farmer’s markets and the like, where transport costs aren’t prohibitive, leaving the leaves on means you are getting a better product.”
- I had no idea. This is fascinating! And here I thought nobody could teach me anything new about beets.
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My favorite kind of greens is chard (often incorrectly called Swiss chard.)
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I thought that was a type of cheese.
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There seem to be two schools of thought when it comes to beet (and other) greens: (1) Saute or lightly braise them with garlic and then tart them up with walnuts, goat cheese, dried cranberries, or whatever little bits and pieces come to mind or (2) put a lot of them in a big pot with a ham bone and boil the bejeezus out of them, then serve them with a generous lashing of vinegar. Method 2 + cornbread got my ancestors through the Depression and other hard times, so I have a certain fondness for it.
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” Saute or lightly braise them with garlic and then tart them up with walnuts, goat cheese, dried cranberries, or whatever little bits and pieces come to mind”
- Sounds perfect. I will definitely try it.
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