"You have an awfully lot of vegetables" said the pimply faced young man who was checking me out at the Hannaford this evening. A little later he continued with "I’ve never even heard of some of these vegetables"; he was learning their names as he entered the PLU #s into the register.
Then he held up an unlabeled vegetable. "What is this?" "Beets; those are the organic ones so they will cost more" "I didn’t know beets had so much green stuff on them" was the reply.
I like to buy beets with the greens still attached. They are usually fresher. Besides I like the greens. But we are coming into the season of wilted beet greens. The organic beets had better looking greens than the others, but even they were a little wilty along the edges.
We had been despairing of finding good beet greens for a few months. Oh I know we should eat seasonally, but beet greens are so good, they have become a staple around here, not least because they are part of G’s favorite breakfast. (I will have to write about that some day).
So I was thrilled when I discovered that they had bagged baby beet greens in the store. They will not be the same as the thick leaves of mature beets, but they will still be great in a salad or a quick saute, something to grab in a hurry.
Later this evening, after dinner, I sauteed up the mature beet greens before they wilted further. As you will see, I like the stems too.
Usually I have rather large bunches of beet greens from the generous bunches of beets sold by the Migliorelli farm all summer. The greens on today’s bunch of beets is much skimpier so I adapted the recipe to a smaller quantity, more or less.
SAUTEED BEET GREENS
serves 4
11 ounces onion, minced
1 pound beet greens with stems
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup chicken stock or water
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon fennel pollen
Cut the stems away from the beet greens and reserve. Wash the beet greens and the stems very thoroughly in several changes of water. Slice the beet stems very thinly into tiny pieces. Cut the greens into thin strips. Keep greens and stems separate.
Heat olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute until soft and golden but not browned. Add the beet stems and continue to cook until the beet stems are soft and the onions are beginning to brown and caramelize. Add salt, marjoram and chicken stock. Stir well and continue to cook until the liquid is reduced by about half.
Add the beet greens to the skillet and saute until greens are wilted and liquid is mostly evaporated. Add balsamic vinegar and cook just until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and add fennel pollen.
Serve.
I have to admit I loved the beet greens before we discovered fennel pollen and they are excellent without it, but the fennel pollen elevates the greens to a magical place. I don’t think G would have thought of beet greens as one of his favorite vegetables until after we discovered the fennel pollen.