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Loving the beetroot

As I was driving home in the pouring rain last night I was thinking about my beetroot in the garden. Mainly about the fact that it would really benefit from the rain as it’s pretty much minature beetroot at the moment.

This is a veg I came to late in life, I think scarred by the pickled beetroot of my youth. That and stacking shelves with the stuff at my Saturday job at Gateway. It’s amazing how much of the floor you could stain with dropping one jar of the stuff! This roasted beetroot with feta and cumin recipe changed my love of the beets.

Nigel Slater’s beetroot chutney recipe seems to have been a popular search term, and I guess if you get a glut then it’s a great way of using it up. I can’t find an online source for the recipe, but would imagine that it would be in Tender. If you don’t want to make your own then Jamie Oliver does a beetroot relish, which looks great, and goes well with beef and cheese.

My other favourite use of beetroot is for the surprisingly delightful Chocolate Beetroote Brownies recipe from Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache, one of my all time favourite cookbooks. These make a lovely squidgy brownie that is incredibly moist and, of course, that combination of dark chocolate and beetroot must make it a health food in my book!

I’m amazed to find that there is a website dedicated to the return of beetroot to our plates. Love Beetroot has recipes, history and healthy facts about the beet. I’m quite tempted by the Beetroot Risotto with Lancashire Cheese, and also by the Sticky Ginger & Beetroot muffins. It’s a superfood that is incredibly versatile and also apparently Nature’s alternative to Viagra. Not noticed that one!

And the other thing about beetroot is there are so many different varieties, so you can make a really interesting looking plate just with mixed beets. Sarah Raven has a “regular” one plus a golden beet and a stripy one called “Candy Stripe”. Thompson & Morgan can top that with 17 varieties, including a very interesting looking albino one. And then there’s my other favourite source, Seeds of Italy, who have 5 on offer including the more unusual looking Cylindra. Time to start thinking about next year’s crop whilst enjoying this one’s! 

Image courtesy of Love Beetroot.