I Made A Beet...

Well...I cooked a beet, rather. I have started embracing the art of cooking. I am a self-proclaimed "terrible cook". It used to be, if I was making you dinner, we were having pasta or rice...something you can boil and call it good. Before a couple of weeks ago, I wouldn't even touch raw chicken! When we moved to Russia, Mark and I decided that I would try to do most of the cooking since he works all day. My goal is to shop and eat like the locals...for the most part. Another goal is to learn to cook and eat fresh and healthy. We have some options to buy imported items that we are used to but you definitely pay a premium for them. Surprisingly the produce here is very nice and if you buy local, it can be very cost efficient. Beets are one of the things that are very readily available and very cheap.

I had never eaten a beet before. I once tried the pickled variety, usually served on salads, and stayed clear of them after that experience. So, I wasn't even sure if I would like eating beets. Beets are known to be very good for your health. Check out  www.whfoods.com to see just how good they are. Since I had never even eaten a beet before, I had to do some research about how to cook a beet. Luckily, Google is my friend. I searched "How to make a beet" and I found this website that gave me step by step instructions. www.tipnut.com Here is how it turned out:

Step 1. Prepare the beets. Done.

I had planned on cooking the beet in its entirety...root and greens. But the greens froze in our fridge and they didn't look very good after that.

Step 2. Boil the beets. Done.

They took 45 minutes to boil but I went an extra 5 minutes for good measure.

Step 3. Plunge the beets. Done.

Step 4. Remove the skin and cut the beets. Done.

I used a rag that I was going to dedicate to beets since I planned on it being stained after this little experiment. To my surprise, no staining. Not the counter, not the cutting board and not even the rag.

Step 5. Serve the beets. Done and YUM!

We just ate them with a little butter, salt and pepper alongside chicken tikka and basmati rice.

I have to admit, they were pretty easy. They cook just like a potato but their texture is more like a carrot. Their taste is definitely unique. And to my surprise, they did not have any "dirt" taste whatsoever. Needless to say, this may just become a staple in our diet.