Beets, Beets and More Beets

Most weeks I purchase a CSA (community supported agriculture) box from South Central Farmers. It's a huge box of organic veggies for only $15 (you can pay more if you would like to contribute more to the farm but the box is the same regardless of how much you pay). You never know exactly what is going to be in the box till you get it.

This week, along with many other veggies, my box contained 7 beets! I already had 2 in my fridge. So I have 9 beets I need to somehow plow through! The beets weren't all boring purple/red ones, there were two purple, two golden and two chioggia (candy-cane striped).

Miraculously I managed to get both kids to sleep at the same time this afternoon so I whipped out my beets to experiment with.


I have tried to make beet chips twice in the past. I burned them both times. I was following a recipe that had me cook them at 425 and they just kept burning. I decided to try again. I got a new mandolin this morning with a guard so I didn't slice my fingers off (which my old one didn't have). I sliced the purple and golden beets quite thin, but since the chioggia beet I had was so fat I had to slice it a bit thicker. I sprayed them lightly with oil and VERY sparingly salted them. You have to remember how thin they are and that they will shrink down when they cook, I learned this the hard way.


I cooked them at 375 this time and kept my eye on them constantly. I did the purple and golden beets together since they were thinner. I flipped them after about 8 mins and took them out after about 15-18 mins. I took some out sooner than others. I managed to not burn a single one! I can't imagine having the same luck if my kids were awake, though.

Then I cooked the chioggia beets. I cooked these for probably 20-25 mins. I did a full 10 mins on the first side and then flipped. I kept flipping them till they looked done. The chiogga chips came out the best. Next time I'll cut all the beets a bit thicker.


I took the remaining chunks of the golden and chioggia beets and julienned them along with a carrot (also from my CSA box). I added some sliced mint to the mix. I made a dressing with about 3/4 a tsp of horseradish mustard, 1/8 tsp of honey, a tsp of apple cider vinegar, and a tsp of olive oil. I also sprinkled the beets with salt and freshly ground pepper. Sooooooooo good!! The only reason I didn't use the purple beet, too, was because I wanted to see all the pretty colors in my salad and we all know how staining a purple beet is!


So, today was a very beety day. I'm not sure when I'll do the rest. I normally like to cut them up and roast them with some olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary, but after today I'm not sure when I'll feel like more beets!