Dirty beets

Last year I finally realized that I could no longer say I didn't like vegetables. However, I certainly didn't take my new found like of vegetables to any sort of extreme. It was a while before I found a squash recipe that I liked, and it took another full year before I managed to find a recipe that I liked that used what I think of as the worst, most vile, why-on-earth-did-anyone-ever-think-these-were-edible root vegetable ever: Beets.

Yet for as long as it took me to find a beet recipe I liked, somehow, now I can't get enough of them. Yes, really! I've been making beets once a week for the past month now! I have a bunch in my fridge right now that I've been dying to make all week.

I am convinced that one of the reasons that I've started to like beets is because the beets I've been using are from my amazing CSA: the Growing Washington's Local Choice Food Box.

We've been shopping at the farmers markets often enough that many of the farmers know us by name now. We've watched our meat vendor's daughter grow up before our eyes and have a great relationship with the Growing Washington folks. They work hard (a lot harder than I do certainly) and they are always a joy to talk to at the markets.

The beets we'll use today are chioggia beets. I chose these because they are supposed to be slightly more mild in flavor. I figure if I'm going to eat something that tastes like dirt, I want it to be the mildest dirt possible.

So, onto the recipe!

Step 1: Get yourself some beets. Any sort of beets will do, but the chioggia beets are nice and mild, though any sort of baby beets will be pretty sweet as well.

Step 2: Get yourself some other sort of root vegetable. Purple potatoes make a dramatic dish, as do turnips.

Step 3: Dice all of the vegetables. The more you hate beets, the smaller the pieces of beet should be.

Step 4: Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.

Step 5: Add the beets and whatever vegetables you've diced.

Step 6: Cook until the veggies have shrunk a bit and look a little crispy and caramelized.

Step 7: Eat.

You can season the mix while it's cooking. I've tried salt and pepper, which worked pretty well. Paprika was even better though. A little bit of bourbon would also be a nice addition while cooking. Whatever you add, you want it to be slightly sweet and possibly smoky to mesh with the sugar in the beets. Hey, don't look at me like that! Trust me, when cooked down enough, these beets are really SWEET!

Ok, so occasionally I'll get a piece of beet that is a little bigger than it should be and that piece still tastes a little like dirt. But overall, this is a fantastic recipe for a vegetable that so very often gets nothing but dirty looks.